It’s patterned after the Portland flag.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
Two weeks after his first bike commute on the job, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales was back in the saddle this morning and ready for coffee with constituents at Ford Food & Drink at Southeast Division and 11th.
The inner-southeast hangout — which is in eyeshot of the new Tilikum Crossing, at once the newest asset to the city’s transport system and a $30 million factor in its transportation funding challenges — shares a building with Nutcase Helmets. The local company’s founder Michael Morrow was on hand to offer Hales a customized model from Nutcase’s new Portlander series.
Hales and his wife, Nancy (a frequent bike commuter to her own job), chatted with a handful of commuters and Nutcase employees.
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Hales Digital Media Director Sara Hottman said the entourage had met a family on the way in from the Hales’ Eastmoreland home who were concerned about the lack of bike infrastructure on inner Holgate, which they said was part of the route to their child’s school.
Hottman said Hales will be in touch with the family by email and plans to check the problem it out on his next monthly bike commute.
“Seems like something we need to work on,” Hales said.
After 45 minutes at Ford, the group was ready to head across Tilikum Crossing, which seems likely to be the Hales’ most direct bike route into downtown.
Obviously Hales’ bike-commuting regimen may be motivated in part by next year’s newly competitive election. If it is, that’s great news. Giving our leaders an incentive to experience the city the way the rest of us do is exactly how democracy is supposed to work.
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Using a cable lock to attach a bike to an illegal parking spot (what appears to be a street sign).
It doesn’t look like he values his bike very much. Perhaps the police should teach him a lesson by issuing him a ticket and confiscating the bike.
Editor’s note: To be clear, we’re not aware of any law against attaching bikes to street signs. Would love to know if we’re missing something. -MA
He’s just a beginner-give him a break.
I’ll give him a break for now. But, if he does it again, I will personally steal his bike to “start a conversation.”
And, he should know that there is a problem if he has to lock his bike to something illegally. I bet he never has a problem parking his personal car NOR his work car, why should he have to resort to illegal bike parking in order to lock up his bike?
It seems like there is not enough bike parking. Let’s see if he does anything about that. If not, just more evidence that this is simply for show and nothing else.
Whoa Ethan, Relax….
I thought the mayor wanted a real view on what biking is like in this city. Bikes get stolen and police will haul off bikes that are parked illegally. Why should the mayor be exempt from those things?
He’s in a position to fix these issues but he is just doing this for publicity.
Is it really illegal to lock to a street sign? I, and probably most BP readers, do that from time to time.
Good to see Hales riding more often. I hadn’t realized his wife was a bike commuter.
I have been to more than my fair share of area businesses that lack enough bike parking space, or the building’s racks are full, thus I lock up to a street sign.
What’s the harm? It’s not as though by locking up to the sign our bikes are blocking the message of the sign. Makes no sense if it’s true.
I can find no definitions about locking things to signs either way, no matter my search terms over at Oregon Laws: http://www.oregonlaws.org/?search=lock
On a more productive note, the city has a hotline for bike rack requests. I encourage everyone to call 503-823-CYCL, then press 3, to request bike racks in areas where the demand for bike parking is not being met.
I called them, and received voice mails from three businesses and the city that there was a single bike rack within 200′ from where I wanted it.
Ethan, it’s not illegal to lock a bike to a street sign in Portland. Perhaps you are thinking of New York City.
Steal the mayors bike, probably not the best idea you’ve ever had.
He will learn really quickly not to do that again. He doesn’t appear to be taking this very seriously.
I’m not optimistic that he is actually learning anything from his commutes that will make him change policies or the built environment. Perhaps by showing him that his bike is unsafe under current conditions, he might realize that he should actually do something about them.
Does anyone really believe that his two bike outings, both occurring 2 1/2 years after taking office, mean anything other than a challenger has just declared?
Not at all. I was hoping that it would mean something, but his responses to my emails have been weak at best, and non-existent at the worst. He vehemently defended his decision to drive to / from work / meetings up until the first time he rode his bike. Now it’s just a publicity stunt, with no follow-through.
If mayor, my reply to your petulant demands would never come. Just sayin’…..
I’d rather the mayor ride his bike to work a few times for publicity stunt purposes than not ride his bike to work at all.
But what good does it do? It’s not taking any cars off the road (he previously carpooled with his wife, and still does when he’s not biking – which by my calculations is 80% of the time.
“Not taking any cars off the road … still carpools with his wife” I don’t think you realize what carpool means.
carpooling has evolved in meaning, both officially and unofficially. This is lamentable but it is no less true.
If he carpools, he and his wife share one car. If he bikes, she drives and he bikes. Either way, there is one car going from their residence to downtown. If they both biked in together, that would actually reduce the number of cars on the road.
yeah, and I’d like to see Novick on a bike too. 🙂
Never have met Hales, though having read some about him here and there, he sounds at least somewhat like the kind of ‘hands on’ guy that would like to ride a bike to work, just for the fun of it, as well as to get a first hand sense of what a bunch of the people he serves, experience on the streets of his city on a regular basis.
Just because a person has a nicer than average paying job and can drive a really fine car, doesn’t necessarily mean they like being cooped up in it or some other vehicle, every single working day.
Superficial campaign gimmicks get to be a dime a dozen. I get the feeling this isn’t one…but I suppose someone could figure out a way to make it one. Maybe someone will convince Ted Wheeler to get on a bike, and goad Hales into racing him from his home to City Hall.
I’m looking forward to Hales sticking with his at least occasional ride to work. He should do at least a few rides to work on days when it’s dark and rainy (this morning was a bit of that actually.).
For those conditions, I’d like to see how he’s decided to equip his bike and himself for visibility to other road users. Also, if he hasn’t already, to experience the routine difficulty in having the vast majority of people driving on the road, consistently acknowledge and allow people biking, safe travel on the road.
You are clearly taking things too seriously.
Nice helmet design. Yesterday at the Bike Beaverton community ride, a kid was wearing the nutcase watermelon design lid…looked great. Glad you got the word from Nancy Hales suggesting they do actually use U-locks instead of those thief invitation cable locks.
Wondering how the mayor will find his experience with the east and west side connections to the Tillicum bridgeheads that a number of people have been expressing concern and frustration over, in comments to bikeportland stories.
The more that city leaders, elected officials and so on, get first hand experience riding bikes on city streets, the better. Again, out in Beaverton yesterday, Beaverton’s mayor Doyle was out for the ride, which is a short, neighborhood ride rather than a city traffic environment ride, nevertheless, mayors willing to make that type of connection with the people they represent is very good to see.
Can’t wait to read what Bike Snob NYC says about this.
I am not qualified to comment on Mayor Hales’ policies, given my ignorance of local politics (I’m new here…). But he needs to get a new helmet if he expects to win a re-electon. Michael Dukakis made a similar
mistake (totally SFW) way back in ’88 and he lost big-time to Bush the Elder.
Mayor Hales, Sir, you need something more pointy, more aero, more aggressive for your head.
+1 for mentioning the Dukakis pic!
I’m not yet a very experienced bicyclist and I’m looking to be educated here, so please be kind. What’s wrong with using a cable lock? When I bike somewhere to meet friends, it can be really hard finding a dedicated bike rack that isn’t completely full up, and finding alternatives where a U-lock would work is hard, too. A cable lock provides a lot more flexibility. (I didn’t even know hooking up to the street sign was illegal.)
Also, why the hostile undertone to ethan’s comment? When an incumbent mayor bikes to work, why wish him misfortune for it?
It’s just that a cable is quickly and easily cut compared to a u-lock. It changes your position in the bike-theft food chain relative to those around you, such that your number is more likely to come up.
But I too question whether it’s against the law to lock to a sign pole or other non-rack thing *as long as you’re not impeding access to anything*. Can anyone cite the relevant law or ordinance?
http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?a=302317&c=28513
Downtown you can’t place objects in the ‘pedestrian use zone’ I would assume that includes a bicycle locked to a sign right at the edge of it.
Sure, but check out that link’s definition of the Pedestrian Use Zone: Measuring from the buildings, it’s the first six feet of width on a sidewalk ten feet wide or less, and the first eight feet of wider sidewalks. So if you lock on the street side of non-rack things, you’re pretty likely to remain outside that zone.
Any other relevant ordinances?
You’re assuming the sign isn’t already in the pedestrian use zone. Not sure every sign and street lamp has been installed according to design guidelines – most were probably installed before the guidelines existed.
Some places have had the pedestrian zones expanded.
http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?a=483266&c=31877
http://www.portlandmercury.com/images/blogimages/2015/06/11/1434055936-rich_seat_map.pdf
Then there’s this:
http://www.portlandonline.com/Auditor/index.cfm?&a=16278&c=28596
It says you aren’t allowed to obstruct pedestrian traffic. If your bike is in a space that would otherwise be used by people walking on a crowded sidewalk is it obstructing traffic even if it’s on the furniture or frontage zone? If it’s locked to a bike rack I would assume that would be a perfect defense, but if it’s street sign? I’m not so sure.
Sidewalk clutter is a regular annoyance for people walking around downtown, locked bikes included. Would be great to get rid of the last car parking spot or two at most intersections and put some bike racks in the street. Unlike a parked car/truck a row of parked bikes won’t block sight lines (or at least not as much) and getting bikes in the street will reduce sidewalk clutter. Then again the city put in a bike corral in the street on SW Stark at 10th but left up the on sidewalk rack on the narrowest part of the sidewalk on 10th by the movie theater so pedestrians spill into the street whenever someone locks up their bike.
Thanks. Agreed generally, but your last link does include specifically that you’re not allowed to “Leave a bicycle secured to a fire hydrant or to a police or fire call box.”
Because it *doesn’t* specifically call out sign poles and other kinds of non-rack fixtures, that only reinforces my suspicion that it’s OK to lock to them as long as you’re clear of the Pedestrian Use Zone.
It’s not illegal, but some sign posts may be easily removable or the lock and bike could be lifted over the top.
I didn’t expect this to get quite as much attention as it seems to be, but the argument goes that not only is it pretty easy to slice a cable lock, but the more bikes there are in the city locked with cable locks, the easier it is to make money as a bike thief. PSU’s bike shop doesn’t even sell cable locks, so students won’t be tempted to buy them.
You’re right about the downsides of U-locks. I’ve got an extra-long Kryptonite myself for better versatility. Folding bike locks are a sturdier flexible option.
Thanks, Michael. A folding lock sounds like a good purchase when I buy my next bike. For now it would be like using The Club on a 1979 Ford Pinto. 🙂
While u-locks don’t fit around large poles, etc, I find that 99 times out of 100 in Portland I can lock my bike to a bike rack or street sign within a block of my destination using the smallest of u-locks, the kryptonite evo mini. The downsides of u-locks not fitting around some poles is being blown out of proportion. Maybe there are isolated cases of bike rack deserts, but by and large Portland does a good job of providing bike parking. For those isolated cases we can call 503-823-CYCL (then press 3) to request bike racks.
John – I’m sure a number of other replies are in-flight, but in a nutshell, cable locks are incredibly easy to cut and are fundamentally not secure. I feel your pain on finding places to lock up, but if you use a cable lock don’t expect your bike to always be there when you get back. A thief can cut the cable in just a few seconds using a tool small enough to conceal inside a baggy jacket. Keep an eye out and you’ll start seeing remains of cables discarded around bike parking areas. Each one represents a stolen bike.
On your second question, and this is just my opinion, but over his tenure Hales has done seemingly little to respond to the concerns of people who bike around the city for their primary mode of transportation. So now that he faces a challenger with an (arguably) genuine cycling pedigree, his monthly bike commute seems a little self-serving and disingenous, lip service to a potential constituency. Still, good on him for doing it and for BP’s reporting.
Good to know, Jonno. Thanks for the thoughtful response!
Cable locks are super duper easy to break. Stupid easy. 8 years cycling and I’ve only ever used and never found it difficult to lock up a bike with a u-lock. Get and use a u-lock, IMHO there isn’t anything better out there and determined thieves still get the bike luckily most of the thieves are lazy and go for the easy stuff.
“Also, why the hostile undertone to ethan’s comment? When an incumbent mayor bikes to work, why wish him misfortune for it?”
It’s just a publicity stunt, unfortunately.
I’ve used a cable lock off and on for many years.
Nobody else has ever stolen my bike with a cable lock.
I’ve stolen my own with a cable lock twice. Both times when the combo lock broke and the lock jammed shut.
First time was at City Hall, Portland Oregon. I returned at 4:45pm with a hacksaw and liberated the bike with 5 minutes. Nobody saw me, nobody asked any questions.
Cable locks are good. Cable locks may also be bad if its someone else with the bolt cutters.
Ted Buehler
(I’ve also liberated my own bike after losing the key to my U lock. Somewhere near SE 6th and Ash. Battery powered angle grinder. Took 4 minutes, made a lot more noise than the hacksaw, but also didn’t attract any onlookers).
I use a cable with one of my bicycles, but it’s accompanied with a cafe lock and locking front fork (<yes you read it right the fork locks). The cable usually is just wrapped on the Brooks., though I have used it for locking up to larger object.
They are actually quite handy, but I should add the cheap combo ones can pretty easy to pick to if you know how.
I actually will not use an appropriate and legal bike rack (with my U lock that I use on other bicycles) in favor of two fairly common utility options. Gas meters and tension cables for utility poles – both of which force the attack to the lock and not what it is attached to.
As far as illegally, I'd guess most that get removed and are parked illegally are ones that interfere with wheelchair ramps and access. This is first (in over 25 years of riding bicycles in Portland) I've ever heard of anyone removing an "illegally" parked bicycle
I feel you’re underestimating the rate at which bikes locked with cable locks get stolen. I say this especially because bike theft in Portland is much worse than it was ten or even five years ago. PSU has stats on bike thefts on campus over the years. Something like 95-98% of stolen bikes were locked with cable locks. This is especially telling because you’ll notice that very few students on campus use cable locks. Most have u-locks.
Personally I wouldn’t trust a cable lock anywhere. If locking in high-theft areas such as downtown, oldtown or Lloyd Center a cable lock is just begging for the bike to be stolen.
Ding. Ding. We have a winner!
But, seriously, thanks Gerald for that statistic. I assume it is a good number? This is exactly the ratio I’ve been asking for, and speculating about here, for some time.
I’ll have to dig up the exact statistic. I wrote it down in my notes while meeting with some of the heads of the PSU transportation department. Feel free to bug me offline if I don’t post it here.
No wasn’t mistaken, and nowhere did I say I used one exclusively. But I will use it to tether the bicycle to an object that a U lock wouldn’t work. I was pretty specific, because I mentioned the cafe (frame fitted lock) and the locking front fork as part of the combination.
So in my case to steal my bike you must go through the cable, and the cafe lock which if you mangle the frame or rear wheel (good luck), then they likely wouldn’t know or notice the front fork lock, which though you can still get on and pedal, you won’t be able to steer the bicycle Which means potential thief wipes out within 10 feet of trying to ride it off, Then if given time they’d have to figure what stopped the steering and how to beat that lock which they have likely never seen before.
Pretty sure my bike lock set up (and the cable is part of it) is much harder to steal than anyone running around with even the best u lock.
You win!
🙂
If there’s no bike thieves around, no bike lock is necessary. May as well leave the cable lock at home if that’s the case. If the bike is dumpy enough, bike thieves likely wouldn’t be interested in taking it. Though the kind of yahoos that take shopping carts and push their drunk buddies around in them, then throw the cart in the crick, might take a dumpy bike for a joy ride.
Call it anecdotal evidence but there’s a 1:1 correlation between the number of locked-up bikes I’ve had stolen and bikes I’ve used with a cable lock. Never lost a bike with a U-lock.
I, too, have cut my own bike free of a broken Kryptonite U-lock with an angle grinder. Takes a few minutes, throws a lot of sparks, and makes a lot of noise. No one tried to stop me, but I wasn’t in a very public location.
You can cut a cable lock with a pocket knife in like 2 seconds. They are worse than useless: might as well leave it unlocked and leave a big, safety-orange sign that says “FREE BIKE – I NEED A GOOD HOME” on it.
Oh, now, come on. Mine’s a centimeter thick and is made of braided steel. I’d like to see you or anybody cut through it with a pocket knife. You’re not going to be able to, and the dude with the special tool concealed in his jacket is going to ignore my bike and go after the one next to it that costs several times as much.
Maybe not a pocket knife, but even small boltcutters will cut through any “braided steel” cable lock, within seconds. Newsflash: Bike thieves use tools like boltcutters.
I’m not worried about semi-pro or pro bike thieves because my bike won’t be worth their effort. I am tired of the “cable locks are worse than nothing” arguments, though. It’s like arguing that you shouldn’t bother locking the front door of your house because anybody determined could simply kick the door in.
There are some people new to biking on here. It is not productive to make them think that u-locks are only slightly better than cable locks. The PSU Bike Hub doesn’t even sell cable locks, as a matter of policy, because 95% of the bikes stolen on campus are locked with cable locks. Maybe you live in a low-theft area or maybe you only lock for short stretches during the daytime, which could explain why you think cable locks are adequate. In high-theft areas even crappy bikes get stolen left and right … if they are locked with cable locks. These are just the facts.
Good to see our mayor riding a bike!
I had trouble keeping track of bike lock keys too. Now I use a combo U-lock
He could have simply held a campaign stop at any bike light on the west side Tillicum connection. Plenty of time while waiting.
I was surprised at the length of the wait there too – for no obvious reason. But after missing a red light last week in that crazy recently redesigned SE 11-12th area and getting pulled over by a motorcycle cop, I waited. And waited…
Today was my first time riding in the South Waterfront area (yay for the Tilikum opening!), so I’m not yet familiar with light timing on the west side. However, I fully agree that the lights along SE Tilikum Way stay red for an absurdly long time! Especially when the orange line is rolling through and the light is green for those traveling along SE 8th, but they can’t proceed because there’s a train in the way.
[Sidenote: I was pulled over by a couple of cops in an unmarked SUV in that same area and I had a green light (the cop actually admitted that he didn’t see the light, he just saw that I hadn’t pushed the button to cross). Unlike many who pass me, I wait at all red lights in order to avoid being “that cyclist” that gives drivers a reason to bitch & moan…]
Coming form the north I missed the light on Moody so I rolled slowly in the crosswalk across moody to get to the west bound side of the bridge, there were a handful of people on the sidewalk and it was just a few dozen feet so I walked my bike to the crosswalk for people getting to the transit stop going the other way but got there just as the light went red. Peeked around saw nothing but didn’t go because there were a couple of those chaperons there and I didn’t think I should cross in front of them. One of them waved me through anyway since nothing was coming and apologized for the light. Based on some of the comments here that was a much more pleasant interaction with a trimet employee than I expected.
“But I like cable locks.”
– Every bike thief
Great minds, thinking, etc. 😉
“But I like cable locks,” said every bike thief in Portland.
Will nutcase give me a free helmet too or is that offer for public officials only?
Support them. Go buy one.
A public official?
best laugh here in a long time. Nice one, Alan 1.0.
He has a cute smile – he’s got that “bikey face” thing going on. And I like the helmet. And I’m THRILLED he’s riding his bike to work, at all, ever. It’s a step in the right direction. And it’s great publicity for the bike world. And yes, the cable lock is a set up for a lost bike. But, he’ll learn! I hope he reads the article listed in today’s Monday Roundup about what makes a good/bad lock. I learned a lot from it.
Hopefully the Mayor can add some heft to the problems surrounding SE Holgate Blvd from SE 28th to SE Milwaukee. Many safety issues, many problems for peds/cyclists. Many issues surrounding the international freight moving industry using these local streets to garner high profits for far off corporations and foreign businesses.
They have built the Orange Line, now if they could figure out how to get people across the UPRR Brooklyn yard to access it.
SE Holgate bridge over the UPRR needs new, wider sidewalks, utility pole removal, barriers separating cars from the sidewalks, access improvements to the East side of this bridge at 26th, 28th and consideration for speed control, traffic enforcement and calming, etc. This area is not a safe part of town to be on foot or on bike.
I don’t think the mayor is actually wanting to fix any safety issues. He just wants nice pictures and shiny new helmets in photo ops.
Photo Ops are his go to move. Protesters outside? Quick snap a photo with me smiling in front of them.
I know I’m going to get flack for this….
But I prefer taking the lane (make sure you ride to the left side or middle of the lane, you can not leave the cars enough room that they will attempt to pass you in the lane) on Holgate over the sidewalk on it – especially the bridge over the yard.
That sidewalk is way too narrow beat up and too many obstacles in the path for riding a bicycle on – and quite frankly more dangerous to ride on than the traffic on Holgate is.
Holgate needs bike lanes its entire length…
for the section you mention remove the outer motor-vehicle lanes and put in Jersey-barrier-protected bike lanes… that will give bikes a nice route and force people to stop driving 40 mph in that 30 mph zone (and speeding ahead in the right lane to jump the queue in the left lane)…
Inner Holgate Bikeway is project #70033 on the Transportation Systems Plan, budget of $2 million and would construct a bikeway from McLaughlin to Caesar Chavez. It is projected out in the 11-20 year timeline.
https://www.portlandmaps.com/bps/mapapp/maps.html#mapTheme=tsp
My personal viewpoint is that building a MAX station at 17th and Holgate with Reed college and elementary schools nearby without this project was irresponsible on PBOT’s part. There is no other “bike friendly” crossing for two miles between ByBee and Powell over the railroad tracks. The double elevator of the new bridge doesn’t count. It should have been included in the orange line construction.
http://news.trimet.org/2014/07/construction-of-new-lafayette-street-pedestrian-overcrossing-begins-with-demolition-of-old-structure/
Is this so unusable?
Not unusable, but not that convenient.
1) Way closer to Powell than Holgate. If you’re going from somewhere near Holgate & 30th to somewhere near Holgate & 99E (for example) the Lafayette St. bridge is a huge detour.
2) No ramps, just elevators. We know that elevators are not that reliable. (Search for “Gibbs elevator” in BikePortland archives). Yes, there are wheel gutters too but U.S. wheel gutters are not very user-friendly because of ADA requirements (and no wheel gutters work very well for e.g. two-wheel trailers).
3) Wayfinding is a huge issue. If someone wants to drive from near 30th & Holgate to near 17th & Holgate, they just… drive down Holgate. The big street that looks like it’s going to go through. If someone wants to bike that same trip, they should investigate the infrastructure online, and then follow the (much longer) route on Google maps to the Lafayette St. bridge? That’s a huge difference in convenience. No wonder 94% of Portlanders don’t bike to work.
I’m not sure I understand, what do ADA requirements have to do with the wheel gutters?
I’m purely guessing, but studying the photo, I would bet that handrail requirements make placement of a usable wheel gutter impossible. I.e., to make the hand rail reachable/usable, the wheel gutter must be roughly directly below it, creating a good deal of handlebar interference, which requires holding one’s bike at an excessive lean angle.
Sounds like the Mayor experienced the same problem I have in the past. Losing the key to your lock is a major hassle and wastes valuable time. I grew tired of always searching for a key to my locks. So, I invented a product that kept my lock and key together. Check it out at http://www.LockLanyard.com
Great for u-locks as well as many other locks. Great for bicycle commuters!
I just use a mini carabiner with my bike lock on it… it hangs by my bedroom door… when I’m riding it hangs on my belt-loop…
I never forget it because I lock up my bike to itself in the garage… I can’t bike away without my bike key…
Good to see Mayor Hales out on his bike again.
If you like his new commute pattern and want to give him an electronic high-five — or if you want to tell him about any pressing issues you may have — his contact info is on his website.
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/mayor/60975
Ted Buehler
That remains to be seen…..
Even if it’s window dressing, I applaud the mayor for at least pretending to care about bicycling on personal level. Walk the walk…so to speak.
Ethan, it’s irresponsible to write what you did..something that can be copied and read for years. I encourage you, or the mods, to delete it.
Huh?
Great that Mayor Hales is riding more — even if just for publicity. I hope this gives him a better perspective on bike issues.
I almost could not care less what his motivations are. It is good for the public’s perception of biking if they see the mayor doing it, it’s good to raise public awareness, and it is good for him to better understand infrastructure issues. If he also gets publicity out of it, then great. Maybe that will encourage other politicians to do it.
Not looking good for Charlie Stales
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/portland_mayor_charlie_hales_n.html#incart_river_mobile