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Month: July 2014
As Uber launches in Vancouver WA, Portland is one of just two major U.S. cities without ride-hailing
(Screen capture from Uber’s Vancouver website)
Portland is now the largest major city in the United States where the private ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft aren’t operating — but as of last week, one is now up and running in its largest suburb.
Uber Vancouver, WA launched last week, just ahead of today’s vote by Seattle City Council to fully legalize the services, which remain illegal under Portland’s taxi regulations.
The Monday Roundup: Self-driving bikes, Uber vs. drunk driving & more
Mobility that matters in China.
(Photo: GothPhil)
(Photo: GothPhil)
Good morning! Here are the bike links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Self-driving bike: Chinese search giant Baidu says it’s one-upping Google by prototyping an autonomous bicycle by the end of 2014.
Better taxis, fewer DUIs: In Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle, ridesharing and hailing apps (still illegal in Portland) seem to be reducing drunk-driving arrests.
Comment of the week: Conquering the fear of starting to bike
(Tuesday’s comment of the week was a catch-up from last Friday’s holiday, so we’re now back to the regular schedule.)
Talia Jacobson’s guest post about biking while clumsy — in her case, the result of learning to ride in adulthood — drew a heartwarming wave of true confessions and upbeat encouragements from readers to Talia and (mostly) to one another. The one that stuck in my own head was probably this short recollection from Dave, who fearlessly described his emotions as he learned to ride.
6 questions for the man behind Oregon’s bikepacking revolution
Donnie Kolb’s new site, OregonBikepacking.com
is sooo good.
is sooo good.
People have been sleeping in the woods with their bikes for over a century. It’s nothing new. But in just the past year or so, doing off-road overnighters — a.k.a. “bikepacking” — with a few frame bags attached to a mountain-bike (or a beefy road bike) has skyrocketed in popularity. Especially here in Oregon.
There are a number of things to explain this phenomenon; but one inarguable catalyst has been VeloDirt.com. Now Donnie Kolb, the man behind the site the has done so much to help popularize gravel riding and camping-by-bike, has launched OregonBikepacking.com.
Kolb launched VeloDirt in 2010 with his friends Suzanne Marcoe and Aaron Schmidt. It began humbly as a blog to catalog rides on “those lonely dirt roads you pass on your regular road rides.” That same year, Kolb organized an unsanctioned, 123 mile race on one of his signature backroad routes called the Oregon Stampede. It was a huge success, so Kolb added a few more events the next year and he hasn’t looked back since.
Minneapolis is a very nice city for biking but it is definitely no Portland
A woman lounges on the bike-frame bike rack outside Modern Times, Minneapolis’s answer to the New Deal Cafe. “Can I take a photo?” I asked. “Hell yeah,” she said.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
Now, don’t get me wrong: Minneapolis is a great place to ride a bicycle.
It has lots of things that Portland can and should learn from. And yes, those things they do in the November snow and the August sweat are seriously impressive. But is Minneapolis a better biking city than Portland?
Don’t be silly. It is not.
Jobs of the Week
I’m not sure why, but all four of our latest job listings come from outside of Portland. This is great news if you’re looking to get out of the city and explore the bike industry in a different part of our region. Just remember to come back and see us every once in a while.
Check out all the latest jobs via the links below…
- Mechanic/Sales – Bike N’ Hike Beaverton
- Store Service Manager – Bike Gallery (Lake Oswego)
- Full Time Bike Mechanic – Santiam Bicycle (Tigard)
- Full Time Bicycle Mechanic – Allegro Cyclery, Walla Walla, WA
Backyard homes are almost as car-lite as apartments on transit lines, study finds
Sally Spear, 63, moved into a 200-square-foot backyard cottage designed by her son-in-law Schuyler Smith, 33, in 2010. Smith now designs ADUs for a living.
(Photo by M.Andersen/BikePortland)
(Photo by M.Andersen/BikePortland)
When it comes to cars, accessory units in backyards and basements are nearly as low-impact as big apartment buildings next to bus lines.
That’s the conclusion of a new state-funded analysis (PDF) that combines the results of a survey of Portland accessory dwelling owners with other recent studies to start examining one of Portland’s newest real estate trends.
The average rental unit in Portland brings 1.31 cars on site, according to the U.S. Census. For transit-oriented apartment buildings, that falls to 0.83 cars — and for accessory dwelling units, it’s 0.93 cars.
TriMet adds new Beaverton Creek bike parking after Nike bike share takes off
Quite a lineup of bike parking near the platform.
(Photos courtesy TriMet)
(Photos courtesy TriMet)
TriMet has doubled its public bike racks at Beaverton Creek MAX Station after the popularity of Nike’s new corporate bike share system swamped the station’s staples.
In May, we shared the news that bike parking at the light rail stop was sometimes being overwhelmed by the red bikes now being used by the sportswear maker’s workers as they headed to and from the company’s nearby headquarters.
Weekend Event Guide: STP, brevets, Burnt Bridge, and more
The Tour de Aufderheide down in Westfir (south of Eugene) offers roads beyond compare.
(Photo J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo J. Maus/BikePortland)
Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.
Judging by this weekend’s events it’s clear that it’s time to stretch your legs a bit. If you’ve been putting in some miles, now you get to put your fitness to good use by enjoying the stellar roads and trails around the Portland region. And as luck would have, our warm and dry weather shows no sign of abating.
I’ll be heading far east to Hardman, Oregon this weekend for a stay at the Treo Bike Ranch where I’ll be the embedded journalist on a new type of service they’re rolling out. What are your plans? If you need some ideas. check out our selections below…
Riders react to new bike lanes on 52nd
I had my maiden voyage on the new se 52nd bike lanes today. Nice. @BikePortland pic.twitter.com/35eHXfePN1
— Shawna Pair (@ShawnaPair) July 10, 2014
The overlooked barrier to biking: me and my fellow klutzes
This skill (standing up on the pedals) was several years in the making for the author. Yes, she still feels really cool every time.
(Photos by L. Mitchell.)
(Photos by L. Mitchell.)
Part of our series of guest posts, America’s Next Bicycle Capital, where we share community voices about the future of biking in Portland.
This week’s guest writer is Talia Jacobson, a transportation planner and ten-year Portland resident.
For those who sort the world by the four types of cyclists (the Myers-Briggs of bike advocacy), most indicators would mark me “enthused and confident.” I’ve been a full-time bike commuter for six years. I take lanes, haul groceries, and ride in just about any weather until ice gets involved. Run down the list of traits, and there’s only one place I break type: skill level.
I could legally vote before I learned how to ride. Years later, there are still days when I’m a slapstick routine on two wheels.