2013 Archives

Go off-road in River View Natural Area

Riding and working at Riverview property-1

As we noted last week, the planning process for River View Natural Area is already well underway. This 146 acre parcel of land sandwiched between the Willamette River, Lewis & Clark College, River View Cemetery, and SW Palatine Hill Road, is being restored and re-imagined for public use and conservation. One of the uses being considered is off-road bicycling.

The non-profit Northwest Trail Alliance has a representative on the Project Advisory Committee and they want to get more people involved in the process. The ride is taking place this Saturday (November 9th) in advance of an official community meeting and open house event being hosted by Portland Parks & Recreation next Tuesday (November 12th).

Here’s more from the NWTA:

Two group bike rides have been planned to celebrate the lives of Anna Dieter-Eckerdt and Abigail Robinson. The two girls, who were half-sisters, were playing in the leaves in the street outside their home in Forest Grove on October 20th when an 18-year old woman driving a car inadvertently swerved into them. Anna, 6, died at the scene while Abigail, 10, died in a hospital shortly after.

The rides are scheduled for this Saturday, November 9th. There’s a family-friendly “4K Cycle of Life” ride and a 40-mile, “Maggie’s Buns” bike ride led by the Portland Wheelmen Touring Club. The rides are part of a fundraising effort aimed at creating a new playground at Central School (1728 Main Street in Forest Grove), a place where both of the girls loved to play.

Here’s the event flyer, followed by more details on the rides:

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2003
Brand: Rodriguez
Model: Custom Built
Color:silver
Size:54cm
Serial:02C53
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-11-05
Stolen From: Garage.
Neighborhood: Arbor Lodge North Portland
Owner: Zac Imboden
OwnerEmail: family@invisibility.com
Reward: 500
Description: campagnolo components, unpainted except for peeling powder coat. lots of rust "worms" on frame. Sella SMP saddle with big hollow in middle. Steel frame but because of powder coat, could be mistaken for titanium.
Police record with: Portland Police
Police reference#: 13-93578
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

New bike-friendly ‘micro-apartments’: 200 square feet and no car parking

A rendering of the new micro-apartment building
permitted for Northwest Thurman near 23rd.
(Image: Footprint Investments)

The tiny house movement for apartment dwellers has arrived.

Think 200 to 300 square feet, and a kitchen shared with five similar units.

It’s a new milestone for the Portland area’s off-the-charts rental shortage, the third-tightest in the nation in the third quarter of 2013. And it might also be the key to a new model for apartment living that’s designed to deliver relatively affordable rents for tiny units in highly desirable neighborhoods.

Far from home: Bangalore bike shop entrepreneur
Pavan Muthanna on N. Williams this week.
(Photos © M. Andersen/BikePortland)

Pavan Muthanna starts his story in a way that a lot of Portland bike shop owners would recognize — maybe a lot of Portlanders in general.

“I decided that I hated my corporate job,” said Muthanna, 40. “And I quit it.”

Today, the eleven-month-old, five-employee shop that Muthanna launched afterward is one of a handful of commuter-owned bike stores that are feeding a “movement” in Bangalore that he said is new to his native city (metro area population 8.5 million, something like the size of Chicago’s): the idea that bicycles are something you use for transportation not because you have to, but because you want to.

With one week left in his course at Portland’s United Bicycle Institute, Muthanna sat down with BikePortland to have a drink and talk about intersections, helmets, auto parking prices and other oddly familiar topics from a perspective I’d never heard before.

Brand: Swobo
Model: Hybrid
Color:Sage Green
Serial:HOHZ099
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-11-06
Stolen From: Burrage Ave
Neighborhood: Arbor Lodge
Owner: Zac Imboden
OwnerEmail: family@invisibility.com
Reward: 100
Description: Internal hub and disc brakes, front and read racks, small basket on front rack. Burley trailer hitch. Eggbeater (crack brothers) pedals.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-93578
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

In Washington state, two election results worth watching

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, pictured here last year,
went down hard in Tuesday’s elections.
(Photo: Seattle DOT)

In Portland, voters mostly take odd-numbered years off. But two races to Portland’s north ended last night in interesting ways, for better or worse.

In Seattle, the deeply bike-friendly incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn lost in a 56-43 rout. And closer to home in Vancouver, Wash, the bike-and-transit-friendly but also Columbia River Crossing-supporting incumbent Mayor Tim Leavitt is headed to a second term.

Year: 1982
Brand: Huffy
Model: Sweet Thunder
Color:Pink
Size:20″
Photo: http://bmxmuseum.com/forsale/img_0866_copy4_blowup.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97213
Stolen:2013-11-4
Stolen From: Roseway Heights elementary school locked up near the playground. The lock was smashed.
Neighborhood: Roseway
Owner: Tommy Spann
OwnerEmail: coti(AT)spagory.com
Reward: 100
Description: This was my wife’s bike as a kid. It’s a classic girls Huffy with a pink banana seat. At the time it was stolen it also had a pink barbie basket in front.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Aqua blue Puch road bike 1990s

Year: 1990s
Brand: Puch
Model: road bike
Color:Aqua blue
Size:16-19
Stolen in Forest grove, OR 97116
Stolen:2013-11-3
Stolen From: FOrest Grove, Sunset Ave
Owner: Tanya Trowbridge
OwnerEmail: trow0069(AT)pacificu.edu
Description: It is a aqua blue road bike from the late 90s with bright GREEN TIRES and white taped handle bars. very distinct. The style is more of a man’s, with the straight across top bar. it is a 12 speed with gear shifters on the diagonal bar between your legs.
Police record with: Forest Grove Police
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Black Stromer ST1 Step Thru 2013

Year: 2013
Brand: Stromer
Model: ST1 Step Thru
Color:Black
Size:Medium
Serial:ST1S2J1912
Stolen in Portland, OR 97205
Stolen:2013-11-05
Stolen From: PSU Campus: Corner of SW Mill and 5th Avenue
Neighborhood: University Disctrict
Owner: Bassem Kudsi
OwnerEmail: bassemkudsi@me.com
Reward: 100
Description: Black Ped-electric bike with Big Ben Schwalbe Tires and Supernova Black lights
Police record with: PSU Public Safety Office
Police reference#: 13-001613
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Blue Giant Escape I 2012

Year: 2012
Brand: Giant
Model: Escape I
Color:Blue
Serial: CB2J0183
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2013-11-6
Stolen From: SE Morrison and 20th, Portland
OwnerEmail: Valeska.s.sanders(A T)gmail.com
Reward: Yes
Description: Brand new blue with metallic, shiny, GIANT women’s medium size city bike hybrid.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Bike lane news roundup: SE Stark, Lloyd District, Williams and more

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has been busy making bike-related tweaks and additions to several streets across the city. We’ve noticed a few of them lately and figured it was time for an update…

Go off-road in River View Natural Area

Bike rides will remember girls killed while playing in Forest Grove street

silver Rodriguez Custom Built 2003

New bike-friendly ‘micro-apartments’: 200 square feet and no car parking

Q&A: A visitor’s perspective on India’s shifting bike scene

Sage Green Swobo Hybrid

In Washington state, two election results worth watching

Pink Huffy Sweet Thunder 1982

Aqua blue Puch road bike 1990s

Black Stromer ST1 Step Thru 2013

Blue Giant Escape I 2012

Bike lane news roundup: SE Stark, Lloyd District, Williams and more

Latest Headlines

Transportation bill passes committee (again), now heads to floor vote

Oregon Court of Appeals rules against City of Portland in parking setbacks case

Weekend Event Guide: Loud n Lit, bike swap, Sunday Parkways and more

Dems fish for votes with changes to transportation bill in final hours of session

From the Archives

How a young urbanist turned a slip lane into Portland’s newest plaza