November 2013 Archives

Opinion: American bike infrastructure on steroids

This is your bike infrastructure on drugs.
(Screenshot from Boston Globe)

The latest twist in America’s effort to retrofit our auto-oriented infrastructure so that it’s suitable for cycling comes from Boston. That city hs deployed what’s being called “super sharrows” or “sharrows on steroids.” Here’s a blurb about them from a story published in the Boston Globe on Wednesday:

I first noticed the markings last week while driving through Allston Village. Running down the right-hand lanes on both sides of Brighton Avenue are bike-priority icons, known as “sharrows” in cyclist parlance, hugged by two sets of dashed lines along either side that make the lane look more like an airport runway.

My first thought: Sharrows on steroids!

And Boston bike czar Nicole Freedman said that’s exactly what they are. (Well, except that the former Olympic cyclist wasn’t too happy about the doping analogy.) Officially, the markings have a more dignified name: Priority shared-lane markings.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

After raising over $50,000 in a successful Kickstarter campaign last month, the folks behind the Bike Index are wrapping up a five-city West Coast tour tonight in Portland. To celebrate the launch of their new national bike registry, they’re hosting a party tonight at The Lumberyard Indoor Bike Park (2700 NE 82nd Ave).

If you haven’t heard about the Bike Index, it’s humbly described as “an open source bike registry to fight bike theft and save the world.” The site is based in Chicago and its goal is to get more people to register their bikes before they’re stolen. Since the existing National Bike Registry charges a fee and uses outdated technology, few people actually use it. To encourage more widespread registration, the Bike Index crew has made their tool open-source, free to use and mobile-friendly. They also partner up with bike shops and other bike organizations to get bikes registered at the point of sale.

Here’s their promo vid:

Downtown Portland needs more of this.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

This is a guest article by Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman.

This year’s PARK(ing) Day has come and gone, but to those who had a hand in the event or just took advantage of the day-long parklet on SW Stark, it was a happy memory and an example of what a public space can truly be in Portland. It was a day filled with friendly conversations, strangers uniting over a game of ping-pong, and citizens enjoying a place to work or eat their lunch. For me, I consider it a great accomplishment, and passing the street today seems bleak by comparison.

Republicans disagree with Rep. Earl Blumenauer on
plenty, but can find common ground with him on bikes.
(Photo by J.Maus/BikePortland)

Last week we wrote that “biking and walking safety should be a bipartisan issue.” Today we got a reminder that it still is — and just how rare such issues are recently.

On the same day the Senate recut its rules to fit the current slash-and-burn politics of Washington, Politico published a profile of U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland), puzzling over how one of the House’s most liberal members got two Republicans to cosponsor his bill to ensure that bike safety is officially one of the ways to measure a federal road project’s success.

Year: 2010
Brand: Surly
Model: Steamroller
Color:Black
Size:59cm
Serial: M9042625
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-11-19
Stolen From: N. Denver Ave x Lombard
Neighborhood: Kenton
Owner: Andrew Heckcrote
OwnerEmail: aheckcrote(at sign)yahoo.com
Reward: $100
Description: Black Surly Steamroller
Ahearn chrome bars
Black Brooks Saddle
Continental Gatorskins
Planet Bike Black Fenders

There are numerous stickers on the rear of the frame. I have a Rebuilding Center green sticker, Scum Skateboard stickers, and Usurper Skateboard stickers all on the rear of the bike frame.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 1398055
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Red Trek Madone SL 5.2 2007

Year: 2007
Brand: Trek
Model: Madone SL 5.2
Color:Red
Size:56cm
Serial: WL3437250
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2013-11-17
Stolen From: 7th and Burnside, at Farm Cafe
Owner: Kevin OGara
OwnerEmail: kevinogara84(replace with at sign)gmail.com
Description: The handlebars were wrapped in white, and it had fenders on it when it was stolen.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Travel Oregon wants to develop a statewide ‘gravel riding network’

First meeting of the Oregon Gravel Riding
Working Group.
(Photo by Kristin Dahl/Travel Oregon)

In the latest sign that gravel road riding is poised to be the Next Big Thing in cycling (just wait until you see how many major bike brands will offer “gravel bikes” in 2014), Travel Oregon (a.k.a. the Oregon Tourism Commission) convened an official working group yesterday to, “Create a strategy for promoting and further developing Oregon gravel riding network.”

As we’ve shared on a few occasions, Oregon is full of amazing unpaved roads through farms and forests that only a handful of people have ever pedaled on. Therein lies the potential of gravel riding (which is really nothing more than riding on unimproved/unpaved roads): It opens up hundreds of miles of new route options and adventures in every corner of the state.

Screenshot from the web survey.

Last month, we reported that local academics were polling people in Portland’s newest protected bike lane to learn who likes it, who doesn’t, and if or how it’s changing people’s behavior.

Now, it’s the Internet’s turn. You, too, can now take the 20-minute online survey about NE Multnomah Street between Wheeler and 16th avenues.

“After conducting targeted ‘intercepts’ of bicyclists on NE Multnomah (you may have received a postcard invitation from us already), we are now opening the survey up to get as much feedback as possible,” Portland State University’s Chris Monsere writes on the survey page. “Hearing from bicyclists like yourself is a very important part of this study, and we hope you will participate. We will share our findings with the Portland Bureau of Transportation and hope that the results will help in future plans for improving bicycling in cities around the United States.”

Year: 2011
Brand: Scott
Model: CR1
Color:WHITE
Size:58CM
Serial: STR 08D25809070103
Stolen in Portland, OR 97206
Stolen:2013-11-20
Stolen From: SE 45th & Johnson Creek area.
Neighborhood: Woodstock
OwnerEmail: dburton225( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: $250.00
Description: Stock Scott CR1 with white handle bar tape. Has a worn white Sella Max Italia Flite saddle with the cutout. Time ATAC pedals.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-97844
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Collision raises questions about changes on Hawthorne Bridge

View from the standard vehicle lane. The bike-only lane is to the right of the white delineators and riders cross right-to-left.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

A man whose right elbow was broken in a collision on the recently redesigned Hawthorne-Madison viaduct last week says he thinks the new design is confusing for motor vehicle operators and puts bicycle riders like him at risk.

A fix is coming to the Terwilliger teardrop.
(Red marks the narrow spot that is
currently a safety issue.)

A nerve-wracking and dangerous pinch-point on a heavily traveled section of SW Terwilliger Blvd will be the site of Portland’s newest separated bike path. The location is the northeast corner of the intersection of Terwilliger and Capitol Highway (map) — or what is affectionately known by some local residents as the “teardrop”.

This small parcel of land is managed by the Portland Water Bureau and they’ve sought changes to it for years due to problems large truck and bus operators have negotiating the curve it creates on Terwilliger. The curve is also quite dangerous for people riding bicycles because it narrows the road suddenly and there’s not room for a large motor vehicle and a person on a bicycle to fit side-by-side.

It’s coming!
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

The ninth annual BikeCraft holiday gift fair is set for next weekend, November 30th – December 1st, and we’re excited to announce Velo Cult (1969 NE 42nd Ave) as the new venue! Event organizers Aaron Kaffen and Amos Hunter have once again brought together a stellar line-up of local gift-makers that will entice you (and your pocketbook) with their bike-inspired wares.

To make room for all the great vendors (34 of them so far, see list below) and general holiday merriment, Sky Boyer and the Velo Cult crew will transform their entire, 5,000 square foot bar and bike shop into BikeCraft central. A relative newcomer to Portland, Velo Cult has established itself as the cultural hub of Portland’s diverse and vibrant bicycle scene. Their open floor-plan, the renown bike collection that hangs from the ceiling and rafters, and their welcoming bar and seating areas should make for one of the best BikeCraft venues ever.

Opinion: American bike infrastructure on steroids

Tonight: Register your bike in the ‘Bike Index’ at The Lumberyard

Guest Article: PARK(ing) Day and Portland’s future for public space

Biking continues to have bipartisan appeal, baffling D.C. media

Black Surly Steamroller 2010

Red Trek Madone SL 5.2 2007

Travel Oregon wants to develop a statewide ‘gravel riding network’

Researchers launch online survey for feedback on NE Multnomah cycle path

WHITE Scott CR1 2011

Collision raises questions about changes on Hawthorne Bridge

City will build new separated cycle path around treacherous Terwilliger ‘teardrop’

BikeCraft opens at Velo Cult next weekend (11/30)

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From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike