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.