Monday Roundup: Car lane satire, food loop, and more

Welcome to the week. I hope you were able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather we had the past few days. I got out to Gateway Green Saturday with my teenage son and his friends and it was wonderful.

Here are the most notable stories our community came across in the past seven days…

JT on a bike bus? Coach Balto is in the news again as his mission to get Justin Timberlake to join the Alameda Elementary School bike bus has gone viral. JT is set to perform at the Moda Center January 13th. (🔒The Oregonian)

Food route: Is there any location in Oregon where we could create and promote something like Quebec’s “Veloroute Gourmande” food trail? Maybe southern Oregon? Or maybe we do an urban-version and call it the “Portland Food Loop”? (BBC)

Gravel privateers: A look into the fascinating changes to professional cycling inspired by the gravel boom and how it’s impacting the career trajectories and pocketbooks of some of America’s fastest cyclists. (The Guardian)

**Sponsored by Bike Tires Direct**

The cost of (parking) cars: America’s problem housing its people is directly related to its policies for housing cars. This interactive article is a really good explainer about how parking minimums destroy cities. (NY Times)

Joyride ban: The tradition of riding the carfree NY Marathon course before the runners take over now faces a crackdown by the authorities after organizers say are safety concerns from past years. (🔒NY Times)

When cultures collide: You know when car and police culture collide, the result will not be pretty. In this case an off-duty officer in Boston who slammed into a family while driving drunk has since been promoted. (NBC Boston)

Brilliant satire: Please read this satirical spin on the classic auto-centric opinions often expressed by folks who oppose cycling and the lanes it requires. (The Spinoff)


Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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PS
PS
1 month ago

Food Route: Through the Chehalem Mtns. would be so easy. Mellow country roads, gravel, great food, wine and scenery.

Surly Ogre
Joe Bicycles
1 month ago
Reply to  PS

sounds like a good candidate for a L’Eroica event !

david hampsten
david hampsten
1 month ago
Reply to  PS

What cuisine is uniquely Oregonian? Are there any ingredients that are unique to Oregon?

Micah Prange
Micah Prange
1 month ago
Reply to  david hampsten

Filberts.

Steve C
Steve C
1 month ago
Reply to  david hampsten

Camas bulbs?

SolarEclipse
SolarEclipse
1 month ago

In regard to the 193 parking spots, maybe the apartments should be designed (and extra-large elevators) so that people have to keep their cars in their apartments. All that wonderful car smell should be very welcome to car owners along with the space it takes up they’d have to pay for with rent.
If it’s good enough for bike owners to have to park their bikes in their apartments due to lack of secure areas, then it should be good enough for car owners.

Watts
Watts
1 month ago

If a developer is building housing for people without cars, they absolutely should not have to provide parking for residents (and, sorry Carmen, all buildings should be required to provide parking for bikes).

dw
dw
1 month ago
Reply to  Watts

Why should developers have to pay to build bike parking if they’re building housing for people without bikes?

Watts
Watts
1 month ago
Reply to  dw

Why should developers have to pay to build bike parking if they’re building housing for people without bikes?

Good question. Maybe Rubio was right, and we shouldn’t accommodate bikes everywhere.

PdxPhoenix
PdxPhoenix
1 month ago
Reply to  dw

Just because the people you’re marketing too now don’t have bikes, does not mean that they won’t want one later… Or that the tenants after them won’t have a bike…

In any case, it is called “an amenity” that the landlords can upcharge for…

X
X
1 month ago

Postal workers and transit operators can’t drink in uniform. I’d argue for a higher standard for police officers, 0.00% blood alcohol when behind the wheel.

You’re right, it’s not enforceable.

Lois Leveen
Lois Leveen
1 month ago
Reply to  X

The police officer “arrived at the [bar] after consuming ‘3-4 vodka tonics at an earlier social event with the Brockton Police Relief Association.” Why is a POLICE UNION EVENT allowing officers, or anyone, to drink so much that they are already too drunk to drive legally … before this particular officer then arrived at a bar to drink more and drive off into a family? Seriously, are police unions even pretending they believe in obeying the law?

Dan
Dan
1 month ago

I’ve often thought that a physically separated cycling path between vineyards in the Dundee / Newberg area would be a great attraction for Oregonians as well as visitors from further shield

david hampsten
david hampsten
1 month ago

“Induced Demand” has finally made it to the CBC website, Do bike lanes really cause more traffic congestion? Here’s what the research says: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/bike-lanes-impacts-1.7358319

SolarEclipse
SolarEclipse
1 month ago
Reply to  david hampsten

It’s why I think F cars, F Max trains, take a lane in each direction from any street that has 4 or more lanes total, and dedicate it to buses and bikes. Make sure they are well protected as well. That might go a long way to increasing ridership on buses and bikes. A total Win Win.