Lots of great rides and events happening in the next few days. Check out the listings below to plan your weekend adventures.
6:00 pm: Monthly Vegan Dinner Bike Ride
You don’t have to be vegan to join this fun social ride (but please don’t bring meat!). Follow @veganride on Twitter for the latest.
We had a great evening with Ginny Sullivan tonight. The room was packed and we had about 9,000 viewers online (according to our web/audio guy Dan Kaufman from Crank My Chain). We chatted about the U.S. Bike Route System, mingled with friends, enjoyed some fine food and beverage, gave away some raffle prizes, and fielded some excellent questions from the audience (including one from a woman in Sacramento watching online!).
Check the video below for the full show (the video isn’t great, but the audio is fine!):
Portland Mercury News Editor Matt Davis reported last night that Michelle Poyourow of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance is rumored to be leaving the organization soon.
Here’s the opening of that story:
“Rumors are swirling that the lead local advocate for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance will soon announce her resignation—possibly over the next week.”
When asked about the rumor, BTA Communications Coordinator Margaux Mennesson said, “We are really focusing on the [Build It] rally right now and so I have no comment on the Michelle Poyourow rumor… We’ll be happy to talk to you Friday about it.”
With the Obama Administration’s announcement of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects across America, I wondered if any of that money might help bolster our country’s trail network.
The Rails to Trails Conservancy seemed like a natural place to start, but it turns out that the development of new high-speed rail corridors involves a different set of players than the conversion of old railroad lines into bike trails (which is RTC’s specialty).
The Oregonian published a front page story today on the 2030 bike plan titled, Two-wheeled vision carries hefty price tag .
In my opinion, the article (which was also sold to the Associated Press and is being picked up nationwide) frames the plan as a massive expenditure that’s being shoved down the throat of Portlanders by Orwellian city officials with the full support of Mayor Adams.
Instead of helping to foster civil public discourse about a very important plan for our city’s future, I’m afraid this story will only serve to intensify the “bicyclist” versus “motorist” sensationalism that The Oregonian has admitted to “overplaying” in the past.
The eBike Store in North Portland has become the first dealer in the country to stock the Self-Balancing Unicycle — a.k.a. SBU. The SBU is an electric-assisted unicycle with “advanced angle sensing electronics and software” that allows it to balance and “pedal” for you.
The SBU was invented by engineer Daniel Wood of Camas, Washington-based Focus Designs. I met Wood last week for an up-close look at his amazing invention.
[Note: Based on the large number of helpful responses to a reader’s request for help back in December, I thought I’d make this a more regular feature. I’ll try to do an “Ask BikePortland” post at least once a month. If you have a burning bike question — whether it has to do with product recommendations or legal advice — drop us a line. Between myself and this excellent community of readers, I’m sure we can get you an answer.]
This one comes from reader N.M., who was unfortunately the victim of a dooring on N. Williams:
Contact:
Tara Corbin
Cycle Oregon
503-880-2912
tara@cycleoregon.comCycle Oregon Kickoff Party: New Routes, New Territory
2010 registration will begin immediately after announcement of all-new routes – and a venture into new places
PORTLAND, Ore. – Cycle Oregon, riding a wave of momentum after record-breaking sellouts for both its events in 2009, will reveal new routes for the Week and Weekend rides at its annual Kickoff Party, Feb. 4 at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike campus outside Portland. And, as with 2009, the Week Ride will venture into places it has never been.
The yearly Kickoff Party has become the traditional method of announcing the Cycle Oregon routes, which change each year. This year the event will unveil the routes of both the Week Ride (Sept. 11-18) and the Weekend Ride (July 16-18). The choice of routes is a major point of speculation among the cycling community and is a closely held secret until the official announcement.
The party’s doors will open at 6 p.m., with the route announcements at 7 and registration available at 7:45 both in person and at www.cycleoregon.com. In 2009 the Week Ride, typically limited to between 2,000 and 2,300 riders based on route logistics, sold out in the first 12 days, and the Weekend Ride sold out as well, with more than 1,900 registrations received.
Jonathan Nicholas, one of the event’s founders, will reveal the course routes in a multimedia presentation in front of an anticipated crowd of more than 1,000 people.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of Cycle Oregon is the chance to take our riders to places they may never have been, to enjoy experiences that capture the essence of the people, places and cultures we treasure here,” Nicholas said. “This year we can promise riders they’ll see towns, and have experiences, that Cycle Oregon has never included before. And, of course, we’ll still have all the amenities that make Cycle Oregon the Best Bike Ride in America.”
The freshly updated Cycle Oregon Web site will go live at 7:45 p.m., the same time in-person registration opens. Because the events draw riders from across the U.S. and abroad – in 2009, 39 states and 10 foreign countries were represented at the Week Ride – simultaneous online registration gives everyone a chance to sign up before the events sell out.
Cycle Oregon’s 2009 events were among the most successful ever. The Week Ride, covering “The State of Jefferson,” crossed into California for the first time, starting in Medford and stopping in Yreka and Happy Camp, Calif., then returning to Oregon for stops in Lake Selmac, Glendale and Grants Pass before looping back to Medford. The Weekend Ride, dubbed “Cycle Oregon University,” was based in Monmouth on the campus of Western Oregon University.
Cycle Oregon was founded in 1987 to boost bicycle tourism and provide financial support for Oregon’s small rural communities. Each year the Cycle Oregon Fund supplies grants to support bicycling in Oregon as well as the communities through which it rides. The fund, which totals more than $1 million, typically donates $100,000 or more per year to projects around the state.
-End-
I hope you’re planning to join us tomorrow night (2/3) for an evening with Ginny Sullivan from the Adventure Cycling Association. Ms. Sullivan is leading ACA’s efforts to develop a U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS) that would blanket our country with a network of signed and numbered bike-friendly routes connecting urban and suburban areas.
It’s a dream that’s closer to reality than you might think.
This just in from the Portland Parks Bureau:
– PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT –
Repairs to Eastbank Esplanade to begin Tuesday, February 9
Construction vehicles will require intermittent, but brief, closures to trail
(Portland, OR) – Repairs to a sagging section of the Eastbank Esplanade will begin next Tuesday, February 9, and are expected to last a minimum of two weeks, pending any additional emergency repairs that might be discovered during the project. During that period, the trail may be closed periodically for approximately 15 minutes at a time for safety issues as construction vehicles move in and out of the repair area.
Construction will be done weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but any temporary closures will be restricted to between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to limit the impact on pedestrians and cyclists who use the Eastbank Esplanade as a commuter route to and from downtown Portland. Work will discontinue on the weekends and will not affect special events such as the Worst Day of the Year ride on February 14.
On November 6, Portland Parks & Recreation closed a small portion of the Eastbank Esplanade to bicycles and pedestrians for safety purposes after a 400′ section of the paved portion of the trail experienced some sagging. The location of the repairs is roughly 500 feet north of the Morrison Bridge. SE Stark Street is an east/west directional indicator of the location of the closed section.
ODOT repairs to affect trail
Later this winter, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) crews will perform concrete repairs on the Morrison Bridge pedestrian undercrossing that crosses under the Interstate 5 Morrison Bridge off-ramp. The undercrossing work will also require closing the pedestrian undercrossing and intermittently closing the Eastbank Esplanade for up to 15 minutes as crews perform overhead work and move equipment. ODOT will distribute more information about the pedestrian undercrossing project before work begins.# # #
People in the greater Portland area now have another option for bicycle roadside assistance. Rob Unger, owner of Gresham-based Rob’s Roadside Service, got in touch recently to tell us he now offers “bicycle towing.”
Says Mr. Unger: “We offer bike towing to any customer who needs to be picked up and taken to a shop or if your’re on a trail and have a flat we’ll bring air so the customer can get home.”
“The bicycle soldiers of Portland are as giddy as a cabal of neo-cons plotting regime change in 2002, and with good reason. There is a good chance that this week the City Council will approve the 20-year bicycle master plan…”
— Letter to the Editor in The Oregonian
With just a few days before Portland City Council adopts the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030, it will be interesting to see how the local media tries to spin it.
Case in point: Respected columnist for The Oregonian, Anna Griffin, mentioned the plan in her column on Saturday. The piece took issue with Mayor Adams’ governing style and said he needs to “Toss Twitter and get back to the big picture for Portland” among other things. The Twitter bashing was strange enough, but here’s the paragraph that caught my eye (emphasis mine):