Thought I’d take a minute to remember five years ago today, when I wrote my first blog post about biking in Portland.
Back on April 8th, 2005, I emailed some text to an editor at OregonLive.com (the website for The Oregonian newspaper) and they published what became the first post on their “Bike Fun” blog. Just over three months later, I left OregonLive.com and started posting on BikePortland.org.
To say a lot has happened since then is an understatement. I could very easily get all emotional and start reflecting on a lot of stuff, but I’ll resist that temptation for the time being. Suffice it to say this has been an amazing journey — and I’m nowhere near the end yet!
Thanks for sticking around all this time. I know the posts and a lot of other things about BikePortland.org have changed a lot over the years, but the core remains the same. To inform and to inspire, and hopefully to have a lot of fun doing it.
I’m curious, is there anyone out there who has been reading since the beginning? 6,000 posts and 100,000 comments ago? If not, I’d still love to hear how long you’ve been reading…
And P.S., It’s sort of cool that Treehugger awarded @bikeportland as the “Best Bicycling Twitter Feed” today. That definitely helps with my little 5-year anniversary celebration.
Thanks for reading.
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I’ve been reading this site for about a year and a half, maybe longer…….
Great job, Jonathan.
Congrats on 5 years! Here’s to the next 50!
All The Best!
Read pretty regularly since last summer. Thank you for blogging…
Five years!? Christ I’m getting old… got get my curmudgeon on…
Congrats Jon! You should be proud of what you’ve created. Keep up the wonderful work.
I started reading it about the time you covered the story of the Trimet passenger decking a cyclist on the Burnside Bridge (did they ever find that guy?). I guess that would be around 2006. I was living in SoCal at the time and BikePortland.org was one of the factors that led me here in late 2007. Great work….here’s to the next five!
I’ve been reading since mid-2006 – almost 4 of your 5 years. I’m looking forward to reading here for many years to come.
Not sure when I started reading, it feels like at least 5 years, wait that can’t be… thanks Jonathan for BikePortland.
Today is my dear daughters Birthday and we got her a new bike. We purchased it from Citibikes and with the trade in bike it cost us $400 and she loves it! We rode a bunch of bikes and she sat on this one and said, “Mom, this is it”. I was impressed, it was not a big name or special color that attracted her but the fit and her comfort on the bike!
Happy Birthday to BikePortland!
Why don’t you go ahead and reflect on the past five years and tell us what you think.
Keep up the great work.
You’ve been an inspiration to us all and you’re a one man cycling advocacy machine.
I hope to RyNO Dan. I want to. It’s just something that takes some thought and I want to do it right when I do it.
You helped to “inform and inspire” me to move to Portland a little over a year ago. I have to say, it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Thanks!
congrats Jonathan!
Congrats on 5 great years. I’ve been reading for about half that time. Bikeportland is always one of my “go-to” sites to read during my lunch break.
I can’t count the times I’ve told people to “look it up on BikePortlandOrg”, or, “I got it from BPOrg”. Goes to show nothing beats “word of Maus” (sorry, couldn’t resist). Here’s to you and the rest of the gang. Thanks.
Congratulations Jonathan. Quite an achievement and brand you’ve built here. I’ve been reading for 3 years, as long as I’ve been commuting. Fellow bicycle commuters turned me on to BP.org.
Forgot to mention I’ve been a reader since 2006.
Jonathan: I distinctly remember you chatting about this at the Tour De Fat 5 years ago. In your ‘ah ha!’ moment, you said something like: “There is no ONE place for a bicyclist to go to get all the information they would need to ride their bike in this town!”. BikePortland was born, and the inspiration was fueled by a few Fat Tire Amber Ales.
Way to go, and keep up the good work!
Congrats Jonathan.
I remember you covered the opening of the new Greenway Trail segment on Swan Island in October 2006. Hope you can get by for a story and photo of the new bike/ped facility on the Going Street Bridge…wider, safer, better…opening soon.
You and your team continue to do a great job keeping us informed and inspired. BikePortland is THE place to go to find out the latest. Thanks.
In a little over an hour you’ve had 12 comments. Wow! It’s time to take a minute and thank you for all you’ve done for so many not just in Portland but around the world. Information is key to living well and you bring it all together for us here. I’m proud to say I’ve known the site since “day one” and have watched its birth and growth. Congratulating you and your readers for keeping this site vibrant and stimulating. May the next five years bring you to the vision you hold so prominent for BikePortland.
Congratulations Jonathan. And thanks blogging all these years.
Props, Jon!
I started bike commuting in August 2008, after about an 8-year hiatus from cycling (arthritic back). I found your site soon after, and I’ve been following it ever since. It’s one of the first places I head to on the ‘net.
Congrats and well done!
I found bikeportland first through Marion Rice’s Carfree Families Column, back when I was trying to figure out how we would get around once we had a kid and moved to Portland. Now we are moved, living without a car (for 9 months) and with a baby (for 4 months) it’s amazing to think how much has changed, and what a big role this website has played in our transition. Thanks for what you do.
Also, I miss the more frequent coverage of carfree and car-light families!
Bikeportland is incredible resource that’s largely responsible for bringing together the various groups who are working to make Portland the best place to ride a bike in the country. It elevates our movement and has inspired traditional media to take notice of investment-worthy transportation options like walking, biking, and transit.
Looking forward to commenting on the 10yr anniversary post.
I actually remember reading the Bike Fun blog (I think someone else was doing it before you, in fact.) BikePortland has proven to be a much more useful and influential tool than I could have imagined. Great job, BikePortland team!
Go Jon!
Congrats on 5 years. I’m pretty sure I’ve been reading for all five years. In fact, I owe you a debt of gratitude for helping me sequester a rickshaw/pedicab for my sister’s wedding. The wedding party loved seeing the bride and groom whisked off via pedal power through downtown to their hotel.
Keep up the good work!
I have been reading since 2005. There are not many blogs with public comments I can reliably stand reading from start to finish. This sense of community and general civility can be credited to you, Johnathan, for setting the tone, and careful editorship, and the readers who continuously share information and humor. Thanks
Three year reader here (as long as I’ve been a bike commuter). Thanks for all the information and inspiration. You’re doing a great job of seving up both!
I’ve been hanging around here at least since 2007, and I think I swiped some stuff for my old MySpace blog in 2006 o off and on since 2006 and nearly every day my computer was up since 2007. Yeeks!
been only reading for a couple of years,been commuting and or riding almost daily for 10. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Its pretty amazing to see that Bikeportland has inspired people to move to our fair little city. That really say’s it all
cheers, Think I’ll go for a ride to the pub.
Congrats Jonathan and crew! Y’all do fantastic work and do an excellent job in covering the news. I starting reading this site about two years ago while I was living in Sacramento, CA because bikeportland.org is such a great authoritative bike news source. Your blog is part of the reason we chose to relocate to Portland. My partner and I wanted to be part of a city that supported our car-free lifestyle and political beliefs and bikeportland.org introduced us to the great Rose city. 🙂
Great to see you on the “news beat” at the adventure cycling new route launch at REI last night! 🙂
Cheers,
Congratulations! Big fan since at least 2006. Go bikes!
Well done, congratulation on the anniversary.
Ciao
Paolo
I’ve been reading since the summer of 2007, as long as I’ve been regularly cycling. Keep pedaling!
I recall reading you on OregonLive blog, probably not the very first posts,but early on. Gotta say staying with this as long as you have, and making it a career and something that pays the bills is a great leap of faith, and heres to continued success and prosperity.
At the same time, I have to note that the ‘bike community’ has elected you,informally, as a central source of information and as a forum for local bike issues. BPs ability to mobilize readers, frame issues, and inform Portland cyclists ( and non-cyclists too) has contributed greatly to our City.
Best wishes!
Congratulations Jonathan! Impossible to measure your effect on bike community cohesion and related bike community political power, but I suspect it’s rather huge. I feel it and cherish it.
5 years?!? Wow, that’s amazing. I peeked back at your archives, and while it’s hard to peg, I think I’ve been a reader since nearly the beginning…I still have my “cycling is sexy” bike portland sticker on my frame.
It’s interesting how several commenters mentioned your influence in them moving here. I’ve always appreciated having a place to get all the bike news – and having faith in your voice to tell the story fairly and let us, the community, have a place to discuss it. This has been especially important when we have needed a place to grieve, but also it has been a great place to celebrate bikes & the fun people to ride them – your photos have really made this site.
p.s. thinking of my own transportation anniversaries – this memorial day makes my 9th anniversary of being car-free! I’ve been a bike commuter for nearly 8 yrs.
Big ups J. Maus! I read your blog (almost) everyday!! Every bikey town needs a blog like yours.
Congrats! Earliest reference I could find in my e-mails was a Jan. ’07 message with links from BikePortland, but I’m sure my addiction from afar (Baltimore, MD) started long before that.
Thanks for the amazing coverage you provide for all of us around the country that monitor BikePortland to check on the best practices in Practically Perfect Portland (slight sarcasm) and the need and methods for continuous improvement on these issues everywhere.