In dozens of videos posted to the keepingitlittlike06 account on Instagram, a man who goes by “Mr. 06” can be seen driving a pick-up truck with his legs while hanging out of the drivers’ side window and filming himself with his phone. In other videos, he can be seen doing donuts in public parks. Many people are worried that his highly distracted and dangerous behaviors while operating a motor vehicle could lead to an innocent person being injured or killed.
A man who posted dozens of videos of himself driving dangerously on Portland streets has been arrested. The Portland Police Bureau say 33-year-old Oscar Burell Jr. called in a report of a hit-and-run on Southeast Hawthorne and 37th on Friday, April 18th. But the officer realized the caller was actually a suspect in a series of crimes the PPB had been investigating since March.
The officer called for backup and responded to SE Hawthorne, where he ultimately arrested Burell. “The officer’s investigation determined that Burell was involved in a confrontation with another driver on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard,” reads a PPB statement. “The other driver sideswiped Burell, who was standing in the roadway, as he drove away. Burell did not report any injuries. The other driver has not yet been located.”
According to PPB, they’d been tracking Burell since March. As we reported, he showed no shame in doing donuts in public parks and driving with complete disregard for other road users. Then he would post the videos to Instagram for all to see. PPB says they’ve been investigating him since late March, following tips from the public about Burell’s posts. They noted how videos showed him, “speeding, passing illegally, failing to maintain lanes, hanging out of the window of his moving truck, driving through parks, and other reckless conduct throughout the Portland metropolitan area that put the community and himself at risk.”
Burell’s posts spread not only to his followers online, but to officers throughout the bureau.
Burell’s blue, 1994 GMC Sierra pickup has been towed and he’s been booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of Reckless Driving (3 counts), Criminal Mischief in the First Degree, and Reckless Endangering Another Person.
The investigation is ongoing. PPB wants anyone with first-hand information about Burell’s crimes and behaviors to email crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 25-89041. (“Please do not send social media posts, links to websites, or any secondhand information,” PPB says.)
James John bike bus organizer Jessica Fletcher (right) with volunteers (left to right) Nat West, Joseph Perez, and Brendan Price. (Photos: Jessica Fletcher)
Organizers of the James John Elementary School bike bus held a special Earth Day edition of their morning ride to school, and it was made even more special because of a temporary traffic diverter that kept car users off their route.
As I reported last month, there’s huge demand for the bike bus in the St. Johns and Cathedral Park neighborhoods. The one big thing stopping advocates from meeting it is that many families either don’t have a bike and/or don’t feel safe sharing the roads with drivers. James John Elementary school parents and school groups came together back in March to give out free bikes to kids and parents in need, and now they’ve taken concrete steps to make their route safer.
According to ride organizer Jessica Fletcher, they pulled off what the Portland Bureau of Transportation referred to in a meeting last week as a “community initiated diverter” this morning. Fletcher applied for and received a block party permit from PBOT and was able to prohibit drivers from turning on North Charleston between N Smith and N Hudson.
They used a combination of hay bales, “Street Closed” signs, and homemade bike bus route signs to communicate that drivers were not welcome. Further strengthening the route and the ride were PBOT’s brand new bike bus wayfinding signs that James John’s bike bus used for the first time. These signs were made possible thanks to a $50,000 grant delivered to PBOT from Metro that aims to shift travel trips away from cars.
“The diverter worked great,” Fletcher shared with BikePortland. “Our neighborhood association provided all the barricades and the ‘Street Closed’ signs. The SJNA [St Johns Neighborhood Association] and Cathedral Neighborhood Association are all about community and safe streets!”
To get the block party permit, Fletcher knocked on every door along the blocks and let them know what she was working on. She’s now sold on the idea of doing these quick and inexpensive diverters as a way to demonstrate their effectiveness and show how they are often well-supported by folks who live along bike bus routes.
Fletcher also enlisted the help of advocates at BikeLoud PDX, who showed up to help install the diverter and assist with the ride. Former city council candidate Nat West, Brendan Price, and active BikeLoud volunteer Joseph Perez were among the helpers. One of their jobs was to count car traffic as part of the PBOT-sanctioned diverter pilot program.
The cherry on top of this wonderful effort in St. Johns is that several of the students riding this morning received free bikes last month. Fletcher says a group of four fifth graders who received bikes ride their bikes to school every day (and even park their bikes in the racks together).
It’s so great to see how this bike bus effort in St. Johns has grown in such a relatively short time. It validates so much of what many advocates have been saying for years: if you just get bikes in the hands of those in need and make streets in their neighborhood safer to ride on, magical things will happen.
Way to go Jessica, Joe, Brendan, Nat, and everyone else who’s working on this project and many others around the city!
Volunteer Nat West counting traffic as part of the PBOT pilot diverter program.
On TNR in 2021. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Flyer for tonight.
Portland’s big weekly social ride turns 10 today — and after surviving Covid, leadership vacuums, drama, and calendar delisting, its fans are more than ready to celebrate.
The Thursday Night Ride (TNR) began in the spring of 2015. One of its first organizers, former Portlander Nathan Jones, said he was inspired by large social rides he attended in Guadalajara that have thousands of riders each week. The ride is a socially-paced mass of folks who come for all different reasons. One year in and it was clear TNR had become an institution. It somehow managed to be massive and important like Critical Mass, but without the political baggage or police presence. It was just a fun, rolling party and it was reliable: every Thursday rain or shine at Salmon Street Springs. Meet at 7:00, announcements at 7:30.
But it wasn’t all hunky-dory. Drama spouted up here and there as original founders moved away and various folks emerged as self-proclaimed leaders. When events blow-up in popularity, they often also attract lots of different egos and ideas for how to keep the fun going. Intra-community drama eventually reared its head at TNR, with various types of dysfunction, usually centered around the fact that there was no central form of leadership.
In late 2023, the drama spilled over when there was an altercation at the meet-up spot that was recorded on video and shared widely in our community. As I reported at the time, the situation was serious enough that the ride was ultimately taken off the Shift Calendar due to violating the group’s code of conduct that exists to make rides safe for everyone.
TNR #28. October 23rd, 2015.TNR #28. October 23rd, 2015.TNR #52. April 7th, 2016,TNR #52. April 7th, 2016,TNR #52. April 7th, 2016,TNR #52. April 7th, 2016,TNR #319. May 14th, 2021.TNR #319. May 14th, 2021.TNR #319. May 14th, 2021.TNRs through the years. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
In our community, the Shift Calendar is ground zero for organizing. If something isn’t on Shift, it’s almost like it doesn’t exist. So Shift, an all-volunteer group of scrappy activists who believe bike fun makes the world a better place, plays a key role in mediating these complicated and emotional disputes.
This past week, after many hours of meetings and discussions, Shift and TNR organizers came to a resolution and the ride is back on the calendar. (Note that the ride never stopped happening, it was just delisted from Shift.) “TNR organizers stepped up, met with the Shift Code of Conduct (CoC) Committee, and addressed standing concerns,” reads a post shared on Instagram by Shift today.
The new calendar listing shows John “JR” Russell (who you might have met at Bike Happy Hour) as the person who’s “sort of in charge now.” JR calls TNR a “an energetic, party-paced, rolling dive bar of a ride for newcomers and regulars alike.” He says the ride has new leadership, but same positive vibes. He also wants to remind folks that if anyone displays behavior that makes other riders feel uncomfortable or unsafe, they will be held accountable.
So come out tonight and celebrate this great ride and all the amazing folks who show up to have fun on bikes. 10 years of a weekday ride that is held together by nothing more than a few dedicated folks and a shared love of community and cycling is something very special that no one should take for granted.
A view of the first phase of the project in August 2020, showing new bike lane and sidewalk treatments. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Bike lanes on Southeast Powell Boulevard east of I-205 are slated for upgrades as part of an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) project.
ODOT started work on a three-mile stretch of SE Powell from SE 99th to 174th (city limits) in 2019 at total project cost of $158 million. The project was allocated $110 million by the Oregon Legislature in 2017 with the condition that once the changes were made, ownership of the road would be transferred to the City of Portland. The first phase of this project was completed in 2020 and focused on Powell between SE 122nd Ave to SE 136th Ave. At a cost of $25 million, ODOT added new bike lanes (one side elevated to sidewalk level), new lighting, more crossings, upgraded traffic signals, transit stop improvements, new sidewalks, and more.
Phase two of the project consists of two sections, from SE 99th to 122nd and from SE 136th to SE 174th (city limits). ODOT plans to match the cross-section from phase one, which also includes one less driving lane. A key goal of the project is to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes and reduce conflicts between all road users.
New cross section.Phase two consists of the two outer sections in this graphic.
Once ODOT is done with this project, they’ll hand over ownership and maintenance responsibilities to the City of Portland as part of a jurisdictional transfer that was ordered by the legislature in 2017.
I-5 Bridge from the Vancouver side. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Now is the time in my recovery where I’m getting real sad about all the events I’m unable to attend and cover. Ladds 500, TNR’s 10 Anniversary ride tonight, the big transportation lobby day that’s happening at the State Capitol in Salem today, and so on and so forth. Ugh! All I can do is focus on getting better so I can get back out there sooner and start creating stories again. I think it will be early May before things are somewhat normal again (because I have a family trip in late April that was planned before my surgery).
Anyways, enough about me, below are suggestions for what to do this weekend while I stare wistfully outside my window at the spring sun and scroll through all the fun photos y’all are sharing…
Friday, April 18th
Summer Night Rides – 5:30 pm at Cyclepath Bike Shop (NE) Want a fun crew to spend Friday night’s with? Roll to the shop and then tackle iconic Portland climbing loops on this new weekly ride series. It’s like Friday Night Lights, but for bike people! More info here.
Saturday, April 19th
Bike Milwaukie Monthly Ride – 10:00 am at Milwaukie Bay Park (SE) Explore Oak Grove via the Trolley Trail and then end at the awesome new Pfriem Brewery in downtown Milwaukie. Make it a loop from Portland and this is a classic local route and the perfect distance for almost any fitness level. More info here.
Trek to Two Bridge Loop – 10:00 am at Trek Slabtown (NW) Join an experienced ride leader for this 40-mile route that will cross the Columbia River and connect bridges and carfree bike paths. Expect a medium pace of 12-14 mph. More info here.
Troutdale Travels – 10:00 am at Glen Otto Park (Troutdale) Explore the neighborhoods around downtown Troutdale with a wonderful local guide and ride leader named Frank Stevens (you might have met him at Bike Happy Hour or other Portland events). Ends at Mt. Hood Community College Farmers Market. More info here.
Earth Day Community Bike Ride – 11:00 am at Colonel Summers Park (SE) The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation invites you on this group bike ride to Laurelhurst Park where they’ve organized a big community gathering for Earth Day. More info here.
Sunday, April 20th
Reach the Beach Training Ride – 9:00 am at REI in Hillsboro Join experienced (but nice and friendly!) riders from Portland Bicycle Club for a beautiful route around Hagg Lake as you tone your thighs and bums for the Reach the Beach event. More info here.
Kidical Mass Easter Bunny Ride – 2:00 pm at Irving Park (NE) The merry-makers of Kidical Mass want to celebrate the season by decorating bikes and adding bunny ears to helmets for this fine Portland tradition. Ride from park-to-park with your little ones at this family-friendly event. More info here.
Very Merry 4/20 Ride – 3:45 pm at Colonel Summers Park (SE) Pay homage to Mary J on this ride that will include stops at dispensaries and will have fun music and a 10-mile route at an easy/social pace. More info here.
— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.
Early Sunday morning, as the springtime sun warmed the asphalt, a group of nearly 20 curious Portlanders, planners, and advocates gathered in hi-viz vests to roll up their sleeves—and then roll through a notoriously treacherous intersection at SE 7th and Sandy.
The event, listed on the Shift calendar as the Street Plaza Test Ride, was no ordinary community feedback session. Instead of just viewing plans on a board, participants took part in a live-action, hands-on “planning by doing” process: sketching new lanes, medians, and turn boxes with tape and cones, then test-riding different configurations to feel what worked best. The goal? Refine bikeway design options for a challenging five-way intersection that’s both a pivotal link in the 7th Ave Neighborhood Greenway and part of an evolving public plaza.
This area has long been a sore spot for people on bikes. In a 2023 BikePortland article, Taylor Griggs described SE 7th and Sandy as a “sketchy intersection,” where crossing Sandy northbound means darting across multiple lanes of fast-moving car traffic with limited visibility. “It’s one of the most complicated maneuvers I regularly make,” she wrote. “I dread the experience every single time.”
(Photos: Jamie Arnau / Mobycon)
Over the past few years, ongoing efforts have aimed to reimagine this space—not just for safety, but for public life. Depave’s 2022 block party previewed the potential of a people-centric plaza, and more recently, a BikePortland video in 2024 highlighted last summer’s creative reuse of space—and lingering concerns from riders about the safety and comfort of the temporary bikeway winding through it.
Sunday’s test-ride event built on all of that, bringing a new level of focus and nuance to the conversation. It was led by a unique collaboration: the nonprofit Depave, now in its fourth year of iteration on the plaza; Adam Zucker, an engineer who previously developed a landscaped plaza nearby; Mobycon, a Dutch firm known for high-quality bikeway planning; engineering consultants KPFF; and BikeLoud, the grassroots advocacy group that helped organize and facilitate the ride.
Importantly, the most recent design options were drafted by KPFF and Mobycon, and the on-the-ground feedback session was led by me on behalf of BikeLoud. After completing a heatmap-style study showing that people on bikes mostly use the shortest path to cross the site, biking this stretch myself multiple times per week, and seeking the next breakthrough in community-focused planning and design, I felt it was important that this exercise be driven by action-oriented planning: an underutilized method that trades static renderings for real-world testing, especially when the stakes are high and the space is complex.
And this site is very complex. It’s not just the five-way geometry, but the steep grade, the blind turn, the vehicle speeds, and the mix of travel modes that make this a crucial test case. It’s also a space in transition—from redundant roadway to public plaza—meaning that transportation and placemaking need to coexist, not compete. For other plazas in Portland and future segments of the Green Loop, this type of engagement could be a model.
The three design concepts by KPFF.
The conversations on the pavement were practical and cooperative. Volunteers debated the best turn angles for visibility and lane placements. Some emphasized the need for more direct routes for vehicular cycling; others focused on how to make the Sandy crossing intuitive and reassuring for all users. Everyone brought a valuable lens: riders who use the intersection daily, planners steeped in Dutch cycling infrastructure—even freight operators like B-Line Urban Delivery are invested in the bikeway and the plaza’s success.
The design team is reviewing the feedback collected that day and will use those observations to shape the next temporary buildout of the plaza, scheduled to open August 9 through September 19. Hopefully, Depave will secure the additional funding needed to finally build the plaza using permanent materials—and by that time, the design will have been thoroughly tested through all these trials.
Yes, action-oriented planning can take more time and resources than traditional methods—but it also surfaces better ideas. When people test out designs in real life, they give more useful feedback. They notice things you can’t see on paper. They revise. And they come away with a sense of shared ownership. There were some regrets expressed that this design approach wasn’t used at other complex junctions in the bike network—but also hope that it might be going forward.
As we packed up cones, barriers, and rolls of four-inch white duct tape at the end of the day, there was a feeling that something important had happened—not just for this intersection, but for how we approach street transformations more broadly. We didn’t just talk about best practices. We created them as we pedaled. Together.
—
Want to help shape future designs at SE 7th and Sandy or other locations? Keep an eye out for upcoming test rides and plaza events. And if you have thoughts about this intersection or ideas for balancing bike access with public space, add your comments below.
Are you interested in joining our well-rounded crew of talented and diversely-skilled mechanics? At Joe Bike, we pride ourselves on providing excellent service and communication with every customer. We like making personal connections and finding solutions to meet customer needs and budgets. Our team also knows how to have fun and enjoys collaborating on projects. We offer competitive wages based on experience, paid time off, health benefits, and a retirement plan.
How to Apply
If this sounds like you, please send an email to info@joe-bike.com with your resume and answer the following questions to help us get to know you:
1. What are your best mechanical strengths when working with bikes, and what areas are you less confident in?
2. Our bike shop is a busy and dynamic environment. How would you prioritize your time when deciding between working on bikes, helping customers with test rides and product selections, and working on cleaning, organizing, and completing side projects around the store?
3. What is your ideal bike shop environment and why?
Hi again everyone! I know it’s Tuesday, but I wasn’t feeling up to working yesterday. I had my total knee replacement surgery Friday and after a really great first day, I had two hard days of pain and pill fog. I’m feeling better today so, fingers-crossed, I should make only forward progress from here on out. And I’m eager to get back into the work groove!
Here are the most notable stories that came across my desk in the past week…
U.S. bike production: A company that makes bicycles in Santa Barbara, California is surging just as Trump’s tariffs cause cold feet throughout the bike industry. (Bicycle Retailer)
Bentonville’s bicycling: Turns out when billionaire heirs of the Walmart fortune are passionate about something and they treat one city like a petri dish to see how much of it they can grow, amazing things happen. (Also, isn’t this really old news? Portland lost two companies to Bentonville in 2019 and 2020 respectively.) (NY Times)
Bike lane lawsuit: In a case with parallels to BikeLoud’s lawsuit against the City of Portland, a safe streets advocate in Los Angeles is suing that city for what he says is a failure to build promised bike lanes. (LA Times)
Houston, we have a problem: It’s bad enough the City of Houston tore out protective elements of an important bike lane, but then they added salt to the wound by saying they’d replace it with sharrows. (KHOU)
Tokyo > Boston: An American professor and his family who’ve lived several years in Tokyo are able to be carfree thanks to the Japanese city’s focus on transit and its strong regulations and pricing mechanisms on car use. (WGBH)
Cargo bike buying guide: This is a very solid overview of the most popular cargo e-bikes and what you should think about when you’re thinking about them. (Ars Technica)
Stop the madness: A columnist implores everyone to “stop the car-brained insanity” of buying oversized SUVs and trucks and hopes that the Trump tariffs might put smaller cars in a more favorable light. (The Guardian)
Speed governor progress: Washington is the latest state to pass a bill that requires reckless, speeding drivers to install a speed governor device in their car as part of their probationary period following conviction. (The Urbanist)
Video of the Week: Everyone was buzzing about this excellent video that breaks down why expanding roads and freeways is a terrible decision and how it leads to so many negative outcomes — yet despite the science that backs up those views, we continue to do it. (Global Cycling Network)
On October 4th, 2020 I crested an eight-mile climb, high above the village of Spitzenberg on a dirt road in a rural part of Columbia County about 10 miles northwest of downtown Scappoose when I stopped and had an epiphany. I was 30 miles from home at that point and was just about to descend even deeper into the woods and logging roads between Highway 30 and Highway 47. With the “bullshit miles” behind me, the ride was just getting good.
But something didn’t feel right. A bump on the inside of my right knee had become too obvious for me to ignore. So I aborted my route and headed home. I had two hours to think about what was happening and I’d been down this road before (literally and figuratively). I knew I’d reached a point of no return. ‘Here we go again,’ I thought.
30 years prior to that ride, when I was 16, I tore the ACL ligament in my left knee in a junior varsity basketball game. I remember going to launch off the gym floor and looking straight down at my thigh while my foot was way off to the outside. That injury cost me an entire year of high school basketball. I spent a year rehabbing. Then just a few games into my final varsity season, I tore my other ACL. I knew I’d reached a point of no return. ‘Here we go again,’ I thought.
Not being able to play varsity basketball was a huge disappointment in my life (I’m still not over it!). But cycling helped steer me out of my funk. When I found competitive cycling in college, I didn’t even care about basketball anymore. I just wanted to be the fastest guy in town. I rode and trained and raced hard for years. Then I buckled down to graduate, got married, had kids, moved to Portland, started a blog.
I started racing again in 2011, doing Short Track at PIR and cyclocross races whenever I could. I raced most years between then and 2019, but I mostly loved big, solo rides. The more climbing, the better. And if it wasn’t hard it wasn’t fun.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was wearing out my knees. Those two ACL replacements and three other knee surgeries 25+ years ago meant I’d been gnashing bone-to-bone all those miles all those years. I remember in 2000 or so, one of my knee doctors told me after an exam, “You should probably not ride out of the saddle anymore.”
I obviously didn’t take that advice. Partly because I was young and arrogant and felt like my body could do anything. But also because climbing out of the saddle was my favorite part of cycling. And isn’t cycling supposed to be good for your knees?!
In hindsight, and in light of what happened at the top of that climb in 2020, I should have chilled out a bit. When most people say, “Cycling is good for your knees,” they’re not necessarily talking about a 100 mile ride with 8,600 feet of climbing.
It’s been nearly five years since I put on the spandex and did a real big ride. It was strange at first to just quit cold turkey. But I love all the extra time I have. Getting away from serious cycling has allowed me to find new perspectives, new parts of my life, and to rediscover old ones I’d sacrificed at the altar of training rides. That’s the upside.
The downside is my health and fitness have suffered. I don’t get much exercise riding around town for work. As my concerns about my knees worsened, I began riding electric bikes almost exclusively, something I’ve done for a few years now. I could feel the spiral setting in: avoid the pain, don’t exercise, get older, feel worse, avoid the pain, don’t exercise, get older, feel worse, and so on.
In 2022 I saw a knee doctor. He basically said there was nothing he could do. I was too young for a knee replacement and I didn’t have a severe injury requiring surgery. Just manage the pain and wear a big brace if I need stability, he said. I didn’t like that diagnosis, but I was too exasperated with it all to do anything about it. I’d given up until a few months ago at Bike Happy Hour I overheard someone (hi Scott!) talking about their knee surgery. It went great, they said, and they were back to riding hard and feeling good. I got the name of his doctor and grabbed an appointment.
After some imaging and an evaluation, this new doctor said I was a great candidate for total joint replacement surgery. We scheduled both knee replacements at that first visit. I go in for the first one tomorrow.
Photos of me dunking on a nine-foot rim when in 1990 when I was 15. And after my first surgery in 1991.
35 years after my first knee surgery, I’m choosing to go through it again. Twice. It sucks to be missing a bunch of bike events this spring and summer, and it will not be good for my business, but I’m tired of having “bad knees.” If all goes according to plan, they’ll be good again (after some hard days and lots of physical therapy), for the first time since I was a teenager.
Maybe I’ll trying dunking again. Just kidding! I just want to ride bikes and not think about how my knees will feel the next day.
So things will be slow around here for the next week or so as I recover. Hopefully I’ll be back out on the streets in May. Then I go back under the knife in mid-June for my other knee. A shitty summer for an amazing (hopefully) rest of my life. I’ll take it!
Metropolis Cycles on N Williams and N Page. (Photo: Metropolis Cycles)
Yesterday I shared how Trump’s tariff policies are impacting a Portland-based bike company that imports its apparel and bicycles from China and other markets overseas. But what about local bike shops? For that perspective I called Brad Parker, owner of Metropolis Cycles on North Williams Avenue.
Here’s a slightly edited version of our conversation:
How has all the Trump tariff news impacted your business so far?
“So far, we’ve noticed distributors and manufacturers are telling us prices will increase. For instance, we just got an email a few weeks ago from the company that owns the Blackburn tools and racks, telling us that there is going to be a price increase at the beginning of this month. And our QBP [Quality Bicycle Products, a major distributor] rep did tell us that steel is going to go up.
One of the main things in the bike industry that is steel and important is chains and cassettes. So we have already just started [preparing for Trump uncertainty]. I went into my sales history and tried to do estimates of how many chains we sold last year, and we’re trying to purchase those now for the entire year to help us survive. So those are the main things that we have done so far to get us through these price increases that are coming.”
Shop owner Brad Parker. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Have you seen any reaction from customers yet? Are people panic-buying bikes or anything like that?
“That’s a good question. It’s been a really weird year for us so far with bike sales. Right after the election and right after the inauguration, we sold a lot of bikes. It was almost like, for a lot of people, when they get depressed with stuff, they’ll go and they’ll buy something to make them feel better. And then February and March, we sold almost no bikes. It was really weird.”
So people aren’t coming in asking for used bikes? Or wanting to buy before tariffs kick in?
“We had a few customers purchase e-bikes in January who were like, ‘Hey, I want to get these before tariffs start hitting.’ I think we sold three bikes like that and we usually sell one e-bike every three months, so it’s kind of weird to sell three in January.”
You don’t seem very distressed. Are you worried that high prices and uncertainty will send a chill through costumers and they’ll stop coming through the door? How would higher prices impact your business?
“I don’t know about saying I’m not distressed. This keeps me up quite a bit every night, but it is what it is. It’s something that I personally can’t control.
We do a lot of tune-ups and service, and, you know, that’s where we’re going to have to increase our prices. We don’t really make too much money, so that means we have to push the price onto the consumer. The margins in the bike industry have shrunk significantly in the last 10 years. Either bike shops go out of business, or they have to push those costs onto the consumer. Will that affect how many people are coming in the door? Absolutely.
The other thing too is when things get more expensive, people go to bikes. When gas has gone up, or it’s hard to get a car, we’ve noticed a little bit of uptick of people pulling that bike out of the garage and relying on that more. We’re hopefully going to get a little bit of that to help us with the people that are maybe not biking because they can’t afford that new chain.
I’m pre-buying a year’s worth of chains and I’m going to keep that inventory up. So if I sell a chain right now, and I look and that price was still the old price, I’m going to keep ordering that. So when those tariffs do happen. I’m not going to, like, increase the price of my chain to be a dick. You know? I’m doing this to help my customers out. And when those chains run out and I have to buy expensive ones, that’s when I’m going to start increasing my prices.”
You’ve said you’re ordering more chains. But isn’t cash-flow a concern?
“The thing that’s hard is, you know, this is spring. This is when I have to pay all my manufacturers for all these bikes that I’ve bought. A lot of bikes come out in the fall, and manufacturers know that bike shops need to save their money to get through the winter. And so they’ll be like, ‘You got to pay us in the spring,’ and that’s right now. So I don’t have a lot of discretionary income. And the other thing too is the amount of new bikes we have in our bike shop is about twice as much as we had last year at this time. And it’s because we’ve been talking about these tariffs for a bit. And as soon as Trump got elected, I pre-booked up all these bikes. So I have to pay for them now. Ideally I would buy pallets of cassettes and pallets of other items. So would other bike shops. But they can’t, because they’re in the same boat I am in with owing all this other stuff like taxes, workers comp bill, all that stuff is due in April, you know?”
Anything else you want to share about all this?
“The whole bike industry is kind of like in this, ‘What do we do? We’re just gonna’ have to figure it out as we go,’ moment and that’s kind of where we’re at as well. We don’t know what’s gonna’ happen or what these costs are going to be. Everything’s gone up in price since I’ve been owner of the bike shop. One of the rear racks we used to sell was $45 and within five years, it’s now $75 for the same exact rack.
You know, you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do. You got to get up in the morning and just see what’s happening that day.”
Scene from Ladds 500 last year. Should be even bigger and zanier this time! (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Portland is so back! This is one of the best event and ride lineups I’ve shared since last summer. You are going to have such a great weekend! The only downside is that I’ll be on a couch the entire time, nursing my knee after total joint replacement surgery which I’m having tomorrow. Please have fun for me and be sure to tag @BikePortland in your photos and videos!
Friday, April 11th
Backyard Blam Gold Sprints – 6:00 to 9:00 pm at Chris King Precision Components (NW) Start it off with happy hour at Simworks at 3:00 and then head upstairs to the CK Cafe where the sprint machines will be locked and loaded for a battle of the ages. Who has the fastest sprint? It’s a “party with a purpose” that will raise funds for Jake Tong who’s devoted a lot to our community and needs help with some medical expenses. More info here.
Saturday, April 12th
The Ladds 500 – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at Ladd Circle Park (SE) The Big Day is here! Ride laps around the park among thousands of wonderful people and hang out in the park as you watch the whirling mass of happy humanity take part in this “stupid” Portland ritual. More info here.
Marine Drive Path Cleanup – 10:45 am at I-205 path near Home Depot (NE) If Ladds 500 isn’t your thing, roll out to a SOLVE-sponsored cleanup and help pick up litter from the path. All bikes welcome, but if you have cargo bike, organizer Mark will be even more excited to see you. More info here.
Sunday, April 13th
Street Plaza Test Ride – 8:00 am at SE 7th and Sandy (SE) Remember the Depave project that brought a plaza to the awkward intersection of SE 7th/Sandy/Washington? They want to make sure bicycle traffic flows smoothly through when it returns this summer and advocate Aaron Kuehn has organized a bike test drive event to test various designs. More info here.
Abernethy Bike Fair & Grounds Party – 9:00 am at Abernethy Elementary (SE) School PTA is organizing a fun, family-friendly bike fair where there will be a raffle and free bike fits and tune-ups. You can also help build cool stuff on the playground. More info here.
Cyclepath Roubaix – 9:30 am at Cyclepath Bike Shop (NE) Watch the spring classic Paris Roubaix at the shop and then head out for a 38-mile loop to Skyline and back. More info here.
Slabtown Roubaix – 10:00 am at Trek Portland Slabtown (NW) Show up to the shop at 9:30 for waffles and coffee and then head out for an 18-mile riverfront loop in honor of Roubaix Day. More info here.
A Sunday in Helles – 10:30 am at Sellwood Cycle Repair (SE) The fine folks from CX Pistols Cycling Team, Gigantic Brewing, Sellwood Cycle and Endurance PT have put together an entire day of Roubaix aura. Start with coffee at the shop, then roll out for a 27-mile loop that ends at the brewery to watch Paris-Roubaix on the big screen with a big pint. More info here.
Bikepacking Meet & Greet – 11:00 am at Abernethy Elementary (SE) Join fellow bikepacking fans for a session of knowledge sharing and inspiration as you have a few snacks and socialize. A perfect place to start planning those summer adventures. More info here.
— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.
PBOT is hitching their wagon to bike buses. Who can blame them? (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The bike bus movement has been a decidedly grassroots phenomenon. Moms and dads have stepped up to organize rides at local schools and families have shown up to ride together. But as the trend matures and looks to expand beyond early adopters and reach its true potential, it needs a stronger foundation that must include help from local government to keep roads safe and welcoming for everyone.
“We’re saying, ‘Bring it on!’ Let’s figure out how to do this even better. We really welcome the partnership with bike bus advocates.”
– Kristin Hull, PBOT Planning and Project Delivery Group Manager
At a meeting of its Bicycle Advisory Committee last night, the City of Portland made it clear they are “all aboard” when it comes to the bike bus. Staff from the Portland Bureau of Transportation outlined three active projects worth about $650,000 that they’re working on to make bike bus routes safer.
“We’re saying, ‘Bring it on!’ Let’s figure out how to do this even better. We really welcome the partnership with bike bus advocates,” said Portland Bureau of Transportation Planning and Project Delivery Group Manager Kristin Hull.
Hull attended the meeting along with PBOT Traffic Safety Section Manager Dana Dickman. Their presentation was a direct response to Bike Bus PDX, a coalition of advocates who launched a pressure campaign directed on Portland City Council back in February. Their Bike Bus Friendly Neighborhood Greenway Resolution calls on PBOT to lower the average daily auto traffic volume threshold (from 2,000 cars per day to 500 cars per day) on 25 neighborhood greenway routes where active bike buses exist prior to the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
PBOT map showing bike network with neighborhood greenways in green and existing bike bus routes in orange.
While PBOT strongly supports the concept, they revealed last night that they’ll only have funding to work on four corridors by next year. To help soften the blow of that reality, Dickman and PBOT Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller outlined three active projects they’re working on to improve bike bus conditions: a $50,000 Metro grant for wayfinding and signage on bike bus routes, $100,000 from the General Fund for intersection safety improvements, and $500,000 from Fixing Our Streets program for improvements to neighborhood greenways used by bike buses.
The signage project is funded by Metro’s Regional Travel Options program. It will stoke bike buses at 10-11 schools by paying bike bus leaders and installing new signs and markings on the routes. The new signage is aimed both at drivers and bike riders. PBOT hopes people will drive more safely when they’re on a bike bus route, and they want people who participate in the bike bus to know where it’s safe to ride even beyond the school day. Bike bus leaders have heard from families that kids love riding and want to do it more often, but they face more dangers outside the safety of the group and aren’t sure where they should ride.
Slides from PBOT presentation on signage project.
PBOT has developed lawn signs, rider signs (on existing street signs), “caboose signs” to be warn by bike bike bus leaders, and pavement markings that should start showing up sometime this summer. A pilot project to gauge impacts of the signs will begin this fall. Bike bus leaders will be paid $500-$750 to participate in the pilot and will be required to take surveys and stay in close communication with school communities and PBOT staff.
The $100,000 from the general fund will target intersection updates where bike bus routes cross busy streets. Any funds left over from that work will go toward daylighting intersections. PBOT says they’re looking at two intersections: SE 34th and Hawthorne and SE 34th and Division.
The biggest project will spend $500,000 to implement modal filters and other forms of traffic diversion on four (possibly five) bike bus routes along neighborhood greenways. PBOT says they’ll spend $100,000 this year developing the projects and doing any necessary public outreach and the remainder of the funds will go toward construction.
Geller said PBOT planning and engineering staff have already ridden with seven bike buses to observe conditions and receive feedback. “We’re hearing there are too many cars, side-street incursions, people not stopping at stop signs, poor motorist behavior, difficult intersections and chaotic conditions near schools where greenways overlap with parent drop-off.”
Since this project will include diverters and other infrastructure elements designed to constrain driving access, Geller told BAC members he believes they must help build community support to avoid driver backlash. “Some of the things [we want to build] are likely to be controversial in the community, particularly diversion,” he said. “So we really want to work to expand our constituency for these improvements and develop champions for identified projects.” Geller wants the BAC and local bike bus advocates to organize weekly bike rides at the schools to curry favor and spread awareness.
Geller says it will take a groundswell of community support to shake loose enough funding to treat all bike bus routes throughout the city. “We’re going to need more funding and decision makers are going to need to decide that they want to provide more funding, and that comes from political support,” Geller said. He warned against moving too quick with changes and said, “We cannot shove things in peoples’ neighborhoods,” because, “That kind of thing comes back to bite us and we don’t want to be one-and-done which threatens the long-term vision.”
“I just want to thank the bike bus advocates for creating this space for us to even have this conversation. Thank you. What an opportunity we have to seize their hard work to make a difference for what we want to do.”
– Jim Middaugh, Bicycle Advisory Committee chair
BAC Vice-Chair Joe Perez said the group should push back on PBOT and recommend treating more than four greenways by next year. But Chair Jim Middaugh urged support for PBOT’s proposal. Middaugh said given PBOT’s dire budget situation, the BAC should embrace the city’s support, even if it’s not as robust as activists are calling for. “That combination of external [Bike Bus PDX] and internal [PBOT] alignment is a really strong foundation for long-term gains,” he said. A majority of the BAC seemed to agree and will now work on a letter of recommendation for city council so PBOT can take their work to the next step.
In the end, this is a classic example of how community activism can speed up progress from PBOT. After all, we are all pushing for the same thing.
“All these kids that are out there biking are all future adult cyclists in Portland, and that’s really what we want,” Geller said. And BAC Chair Middaugh added: “I just want to thank the bike bus advocates for creating this space for us to even have this conversation. Thank you. What an opportunity we have to seize their hard work to make a difference for what we want to do.”
PBOT will choose at least one school from each council district. The schools have yet to be chosen. Expect a public engagement process to begin later this summer and work on the bike bus greenway improvements should begin in 2026.
