Month: August 2014

Virtual ‘bike travel agency’ hosts Portland party and seeks local bike wisdom

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Bikabout.com founder Megan Ramey, left, with her family.
(Photo courtesy Ramey)

Partly inspired by a visit to Portland last year, a Massachusetts woman has launched “a free travel agency for bike travel” across the United States.

Bikabout.com founder Megan Ramey will host a party at Velo Cult in Portland next week to gather information on the city and invite contributors.

Ramey said in a phone interview Monday that she started referring to Portland as “Graceland” after a 2013 visit with her family. She, her beer-loving husband and their young daughter traveled the city with a copy of Hop in the Saddle, a locally written guide to enjoying Portland breweries by bicycle.

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Bikini-themed promo for local bike tour deepens criticism of industry’s gender issues

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Screenshot of an email promoting a local bike event.

One of the Portland area’s biggest bike event companies apologized Wednesday for sending a promotional email dominated by a big photo of a weathercaster in a bikini.

“Frightening Poll,” said the email from Good Sport Promotion (screenshot at right). “47% of Romanians did not expect today’s heatwave despite having watched the weather last night.”

“Remember Nadia Comaneci?” the email’s text began, referring to a Romanian athlete (but not the woman pictured). “She got the first perfect 10 in the Olympics. (Montreal 1976) This weekend we have a perfect 10 on the weather forecast.”

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Steel Bridge lower deck will close for inspection at 7 am Wednesday

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The current forecast for Wednesday morning.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Update 2:20 pm: PBOT reports that the lower deck will reopen by 5 p.m. The original post follows.

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If you usually bike or walk across the Steel Bridge’s lower deck in the morning rush hour, try another route on Wednesday.

It’s being closed at 7 a.m. for an inspection, according to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. PBOT added that it’ll announce the reopening, whenever that might happen, in a follow-up tweet from its @PBOTinfo account.

When a camera failure closed the lower deck one year ago this week, the bridge remained closed for four days.

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With biking sidelined at Portland City Hall, BTA strategy shifts to long term

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Elizabeth Quiroz, one of the BTA’s 16-person staff and four-person advocacy team, fits a helmet at a Southeast Portland bike skills class.
(Photo: M.Andersen and J.Maus/BikePortland)

For a moment this spring in the community room of the apartment building at SE 122nd and Halsey, the most important thing the Bicycle Transportation Alliance was doing was asking nine children a question.

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Uber’s operations in Vancouver are illegal, city attorney says

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(Screen capture from Uber’s Vancouver website)

The ride-hailing service Uber has hired contract drivers and is providing rides in Vancouver, Wash., illegally, according to a July 25 memo from the city attorney’s office.

“Essentially,” assistant city attorney Brent Boger wrote in the memo to city council and staff, transportation network companies such as UberX and Lyft “are taxi services operated out of personal vehicles.”

UberX costs about 35 percent less than a traditional taxi ride. Last month, Uber’s CEO said he hopes “to get UberX pricing below the cost of owning a car.”

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The Monday Roundup: Beauty from Cleveland, dancing by the Seine and more

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This week’s news roundup is sponsored by the Barlow Road Ride, the scenic 100-mile tour along the Oregon Trail Aug. 23-24.

Here are the great bike links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:

Cleveland bikeways: Cleveland has some beautiful plans for its former on-street streetcar routes.

Left Bank renaissance: One year after Paris closed an expressway along the Seine to cars, it’s a space for soccer lessons, backgammon games and an impromptu Michael Jackson dance party.

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Lifestyle column: You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone

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Lifestyle columnist Cathy Hastie in a 2013 photo.

Editor’s note: Lifestyle columnist Cathy Hastie was a remarkably healthy cancer patient. Then she stopped bike commuting. Here, she describes what happened next.

Six months ago, I was healthy.

At 5’11” and 160 lbs, my body was capable of just about anything I asked it to do, from hoisting boxes to dancing the two-step to running a few miles through the neighborhood. I wasn’t overly demanding, forcing myself to reach for some calculated heart rate or working towards 9 percent body fat. I simply had a body that worked, and worked well. Even though I had cancer.

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Weekend Event Guide: Bridge Pedal, alleycat, and more

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It’s that time of the year again… Bridge Pedal will take over the city on Sunday.
(Photo J. Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.

It’s Bridge Pedal weekend. The massive ride that dwarfs all others in Portland (except for the Naked Bike Ride). Yes, this Sunday is your chance to ride with 20,000 other bike lovers on bridges where bikes are forbidden every other day of the year. That alone is worth the price of admission.

And if Bridge Pedal isn’t your cup of tea, we’ve got some other great options for your consideration…

Friday, August 8th

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Latest Headlines

Police to PBOT: Remove traffic diverters in the name of public safety

Recap and Photo Gallery: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly ride

What are your three big wishes for Portland’s transportation system?

Transportation Commission says state can move forward with I-5 Rose Quarter project

From the Archives

What five people say about living outside along the Springwater path