2013 Archives

‘Trailfest’ success (recap and photos)

Our friends at Northwest Trail Alliance reported a big success at their recent Trailfest event. NWTA’s Kelsey Cardwell sent along the following highlights and photos…

Despite the forecast for a downpour, 18 riders showed up for our Forest Park poker ride on Friday night and we were rewarded with clear skies! We handed out prizes donated by Cyclepath and Nike to the best hands.

Kids and adults hopped on the pump track Saturday morning. Commissioner Amanda Fritz joined us as well. She wasn’t keen to jump on a bike, but she loved seeing how much fun it was for the kids (and their parents). She mentioned that she would like to see more opportunities in East Portland for kids to get outside and stay active.

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The good, the bad, and the ugly on the Oregon Coast Bike Route

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Sunrise in Newport.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Last week I joined about 50 other folks for a ride down the Oregon Coast Bike Route. In six days of pedaling, we covered about 370 miles — most of it along the shoulder of Highway 101. This route isn’t just one of the premier cycle touring routes in the world, it’s also an official Scenic Byway (as designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation), a key commercial corridor that fuels Oregon’s timber industry, and an artery for the many cities and towns it passes through.

During my ride I tried to pay special attention to how these widely different uses of the road are balanced both by the users themselves and by the agency in charge of Highway 101, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).

Screenshot from NACTO website.

The National Asssociation of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released their Urban Street Design Guide yesterday. The new guide is being hailed by its creators as, “a blueprint for the 21st century streetscape” and it couldn’t come at a better time for Portland.

This just in…

PSU awarded $2.83 million as U.S. DOT center for livable communities

(Portland, Ore.) Sep. 25, 2013 — Portland State University’s transportation research and education center has earned a $2.83 million federal grant to expand the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, or NITC, a program of OTREC at Portland State. The grant marks the center’s designation as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s national university transportation center for livable communities.

The grant enables the NITC program to include a new partner, the University of South Florida. With leadership and administration from Portland State, the NITC program also taps the research capacity of the University of Oregon, the Oregon Institute of Technology and the University of Utah.

OTREC at Portland State was one of 142 applicants to the federal University Transportation Centers program for 35 grants. Up to five national centers were to be designated, one for each of the Department of Transportation’s strategic goals: livable communities, safety, state of good repair, economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability.

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Local industry news roundup: King, Zen, Rapha, Dalton, Murphy and Kinn

Greg Hudson is featured in a promo shot for
Chris King’s new wheelset offerings.

With the big bicycle industry trade show (Interbike) just wrapping up, and with lots of local bike industry news piling up on my desk in the past few weeks, I figured it was time for another roundup…

Chris King Precision Components now offers complete wheelsets
Northwest Portland-based component manufacturer Chris King made a big announcement before Interbike: They now have a full-fledged wheel building program. The new line of wheels is built in-house and they offer models for road, cyclocross, and mountain bikes (ranging from $1,000 to $3,300 a set). They come with Chris King hubs (obviously) and are built up with an “intentionally selected” and “pedigreed list” of parts from respected industry brands. King’s wheel program is being overseen by Greg Hudson, formerly of Corsa Concepts. Get pricing info and learn more at ChrisKing.com.

Year: 2012
Brand: Giant
Model: Seek
Color:Black/grey
Size:XL
Photo: http://imgur.com/8MHP66X
Stolen in Portland, OR 97210
Stolen:2013-09-20
Stolen From: Stolen out front of Bamboo Sushi on NW 23rd.
Neighborhood: Alphabet distric
Owner: Jaison LeRoy
OwnerEmail: Jaisonleroy(replace with at sign)gmail.com
Reward: Yes $100
Description: Nothing really stands out except for the disc brakes and mountain bike bars. Mostly all black with some light scratches on the front right fork. Had a cateye light zip tied to the handle bars and a child carriage carrier quick release on the rear hub.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Bikes inspire re-birth of historic Portland business

Silas Beebe in his northwest Portland workshop.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Starting a new small business is always a bit stressful; but 40-year-old Silas Beebe has the added pressure of carrying on a family name that spans three centuries in Portland business circles. And he’s doing it with a line of bicycling accessories.

The Beebe Company first set up shop in Portland and Astoria in 1884 as a supplier to the shipping and fishing industries. Over the next 100 years, the family business evolved with the times. As the 20th century dawned, The Beebe Company became added hardware and boat-building to its operations in downtown Portland. From the 1950s to 1970s, the Beebe name adorned a marina on the west side of the Sellwood Bridge. In the 1980s, Robert Beebe — Silas’ grandfather — opened a shop downtown that sold and repaired knives, keys, locks, and so on. Silas worked in that shop as a kid; but after his grandpa retired in the 1990s, the family name went dormant.

Tolls and traffic projections for the CRC project
raise new questions.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Economist Joe Cortright says new traffic projections from a previously undisclosed report reveals an inconvenient truth about the Columbia River Crossing project. The plan to toll the existing I-5 bridge span (starting in 2016) would lead to nearly 50,000 people per day opting to drive over the I-205 bridge instead. As a result, not only would I-205 (and its feeder routes I-84 and SR 14) become jammed during rush hour, but there would be a significant decrease in traffic on I-5 which raises new questions about the wisdom of spending $2.7 billion to significantly expand its capacity.

This analysis is detailed in a new, 12-page report by Cortright’s firm, Impresa Consulting Inc. (PDF). Cortright obtained the underlying data via a public records request from the CRC and the records come from a traffic modeling report performed by CRC contractors CDM Smith.

Here’s more from the summary of Impresa’s report:

We hope you had a great weekend. And now, to kick off another week of bike news and information, check out the best stories we came across last week…

Toddler bike ban: “A three-year-old girl has been banned from riding her Barbie bike in a quiet cul-de-sac by a Dagenham [England] housing association because of fears the tearaway toddler might damage residents’ cars.”

Freight reform: A European Union-funded project has some cool ideas for urban freight, including standardizing small, modular shipping containers.

Secure basket: The $195 Buca Boot will combine “the flexibility of a bike basket with the storage security of a car trunk.”

Year: 12/13
Brand: Trek
Model: 7.3FX
Color:Black
Serial: WTU184C1953D
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyeofthedolphin/9887474735/
Stolen in Portland, OR 97232
Stolen:2013-09-23
Stolen From: Portland Convention Center, East Entrance Bike Parking.
Owner: John Ashcraft
OwnerEmail: bookwheel(at sign)gmail.com
Reward: $200
Description: Black Trek 7.3FX, it has a purpler rack, double kickstand, a green spoke light on the front wheel, a red spoke light on the back wheel, a bell, front and back bike lights, and a noseless bike saddle.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T13009568
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Black/Silver/Red Fuji Cross Pro 2005ish

Year: 2005ish
Brand: Fuji
Model: Cross Pro
Color:Black/Silver/Red
Size:56cm
Serial: TFGH004940
Photo: http://i.imgur.com/bpqF1sU.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97232
Stolen:2013-09-22
Stolen From: NE 22nd & Wasco (Between Lloyd Center and Hollywood Fred Meyer)
Neighborhood: Sullivan’s Gultch (lloyd/irvington/hollywood)
Owner: Cody Hughes
OwnerEmail: cody.hughes503(A T)gmail.com
Description: Men’s Fuji Cross Pro, black/silver/red with red bar tape. Shimano ultegra components, Ritchie stem/Seatpost, wine corks in the bar ends
Police record with: Portland Police
Police reference#: 13-80116
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

black nishiki alamusa

Brand: nishiki
Model: alamusa
Color:black
Size:26
Serial: aca130502392
Photo: http://dsg.becho.biz/product/index.jsp?productId=17298786&010=SKU-14642819&003=3933188&camp=CSE%3AGoogleBase%3A17298786
Stolen in GRESHAM, OR 97080
Stolen:2013-09-20
Stolen From: Trimet Blue line, Gresham City Hall stop bike rack next to parking lot. Stop ID: 8361.
Neighborhood: Gresham Shopping Center, near best buy and the Gresham City Hall
Owner: jeffery coen
OwnerEmail: jeffcoen0313( atsign )aol.com
Description: 26 in. Hard trail mountain bike. White stock front suspension/fork. White Cable casing. handle bars had a mount for a headlight. Silver bottle cage.
Police record with: Gresham PD
Police reference#: 13-0710326
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

‘Trailfest’ success (recap and photos)

The good, the bad, and the ugly on the Oregon Coast Bike Route

Portland takes note as NACTO releases ‘Urban Street Design Guide’

PSU transpo research center nabs $2.8 million federal grant

Local industry news roundup: King, Zen, Rapha, Dalton, Murphy and Kinn

Black/grey Giant Seek 2012

Bikes inspire re-birth of historic Portland business

Report: Traffic projections ‘invalidate the transportation rationale for the CRC’

The Monday Roundup: Toddler bike ban, tiny urban trucks & more

Black Trek 7.3FX 12/13

Black/Silver/Red Fuji Cross Pro 2005ish

black nishiki alamusa

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From the Archives

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