Month: May 2011

Gray Giant OCR 1

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Brand: Giant
Model: OCR 1
Color:Gray
Size:M
Photo: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/img1255xi.jpg/
Stolen in Portland, OR 97206
Stolen:2011-05-24
Stolen From: Stolen from my back yard (Se 67th and se rhone, just south of powell on 67th).
Neighborhood: Foster Powell
Owner: Lisa DeGrace
OwnerEmail: duchessoflevity@gmail.com
Description: Giant OCR 1. Wheel size 700C. Front wheel has blue stripe as pictured, back wheel is all black. 2 water bottle holders, and a holder for a bike pump. Toe clips (the kind you use "regular" shoes with). It is silver with swooshes of pinkish-purple-y color.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T11003560
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Interview: Bikes, architecture, and “Cycle Space” with Steven Fleming

“100 years ago architects were fascinated by cars and how cars would transform cities… Now, architects are quite naturally looking at bicycles.”

Steven Fleming is an architectural historian, lecturer, theorist, and urban planning philosopher with a thing for bicycles. The well-traveled academic (he calls Newcastle, Australia home) is currently researching a book on what he calls, “Cycle Space,” a nascent field of his creation that looks at the connections between architecture and bicycles in cities around the world.

Like many smart bicycle thinkers tend to do, Fleming put Portland on his list of must-see cities. We sat down for a chat last week surrounded by exquisite handmade bicycles and photography at the Het Fairwheel Podium Gallery in downtown Portland. (When you read his quotes below, say them to yourself with a strong Australian accent.)

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Blue Trek 7.3 FX 2007

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2007
Brand: Trek
Model: 7.3 FX
Color:Blue
Size:20
Serial:WTU245C0593B
Stolen in Portland, OR 97211
Stolen:2011-05-25
Stolen From: The side of the I-405N on the Fremont Bridge. My bike rack broke, the bike fell off to the side – by the time I got back (20 minutes), someone had taken it. ODOT reports a white Chevy van loading it up – they just assumed it was his.
Neighborhood: N Portland
Owner: Jenny Malcom
OwnerEmail: jenny_semadeni@yahoo.com
Description: Blue Hybrid bike, with handlebar mirror on the left, fenders, and a back rack.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 11-152669
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Heading to the ‘Couve? Don’t forget your helmet

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Aloha Todd and Low Bar Tour - Pedalpalooza-4

Heading to the ‘Couve? Remember your helmet.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Back in 2008, Vancouver (WA) passed an all-ages, mandatory helmet law. While enforcement has been nearly nonexistent since then, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says that’s about to change.

Hoping to increase compliance with the law, VPD spokesperson Kim Kapp tells us new police patrols, will “focus increasingly on making sure all bicyclists are complying with a city ordinance requiring helmets be worn at all times.”

That’s something to keep in mind if you’re from Portland, where the law only requires helmets on children under 16 years of age.

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Local bike trailer designer looks to Kickstarter to launch production

Len Rubin has a dream to mass produce
these trailers in Portland, and he’s asking
the community to help him make it
happen.
(Photo: Tamara Rubin)

Remember Len Rubin? He’s the Sellwood resident whose one-of-a-kind, custom folding bike was stolen and then recovered a few weeks later.

Now Rubin is asking the community to help him take one of his other big projects to the next level. Rubin has launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign for his “M.O.M.™- the magically morphing multi-use bicycle trailer”. It’s a very nifty concept. Watch the fun video below to learn more…

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Portland’s oldest office building could house major bike parking facility

The Dekum Building could become
Portland’s first major public bike
parking facility.
(Photo: Naito Properties)

The Dekum Building on SW 3rd and Washington in downtown Portland was built in 1892. It’s the oldest office building in the city and the former home of famed global ad agency Wieden + Kennedy. Now, building owner and manager Naito Properties hope it gains distinction as the largest public bike parking facility in Portland (and it just happens to be right across the street from the bank vault bike parking in the Spalding Building).

Verne Naito, who’s managing the Dekum for his family’s company, Naito Properties (the same family Naito Parkway is named after), says the owner of the building has set aside 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space that has already been permitted by the city for bicycle parking and is already built out to fit 300 bicycles.

The idea would be something similar to a Bikestation, which, despite toying with the idea for years, no one in Portland has been able to pull off.

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48cm jamis satellite sport

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Brand: jamis
Model: satellite sport
Color:48cm
Size:black and white
Serial: u98u13605
Photo: http://www.citybikes.coop/bikes/jamis-satellite-sport/
Stolen in Portland, OR 97206
Stolen:2011-05-24
Stolen From: 70TH AND SE BOISE
Neighborhood: FOSTER POWELL NEIGHBORHOOD
Owner: Vanessa Gonzalez
OwnerEmail: talktovanessa@gmail.com
Reward: $100
Description: 48 cm
STILL HAS BLACK AND YELLOW KRYPTONITE LOCK LOCKED ON THE FRAME

“PUT THE FUN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS” STICKER ON FRAME
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Spreading the word, en Español

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Sing, play guitar, speak Spanish:
PBOT employee Timo Forsberg goes
the extra mile.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Transportation Options Division within the City of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation has published it’s biking and walking maps in Spanish for years (and they recently added five new languages to the mix).

It’s one thing to print resources in multiple languages, but it’s another thing to have City staff that can go on Spanish-language television and speak directly to the audience in their native tongue.

Portland is lucky to have at least one City staffer who is both passionate about bicycling and proficient in Spanish. Today on KUNP Television (Portland’s Univision affiliate), Timo Forsberg stepped up in a big way. Watch him in the news clip below…

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Portland bike shop boom continues with openings, expansions

Western Bike Works-7-6

New storefront for Western Bike Works
at NW Lovejoy and 17th.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Even in a down economy, Portland’s bike business boom shows no signs of letting up, especially when it comes to bike shops. Throughout the city — from Northwest to East Portland — shops large and small are expanding or opening their doors for the first time.

On the corner of NW Lovejoy and 17th, Western Bike Works plans to open their gleaming new, 10,000 square foot shop this weekend (ironically, the former tenant was a car dealership). I stopped by yesterday for a chat with co-owner and GM Jay Torborg.

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Language Matters: PBOT on Sunday Parkways

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

[Publisher’s note: As anyone who follows me on Twitter or who has read the comments and stories on this site closely over the years knows, I have a thing for language. In my opinion, the words we use have a very powerful role in shaping the narrative around transportation issues. I see examples of this impact almost every day. In Language Matters* (column originally called Language Police, but changed after some feedback in the comments), we’ll highlight communications from advocacy leaders, government agencies, and elected officials that offer examples of how transportation language is used — and misused.]

Sunday Parkways kicked off last weekend. To prep the media for the event, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) sent out a press release. Here are the excerpts that caught my eye (emphasis mine):

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