This guest article is from Jessica Fletcher, the organizer and leader of the James John Elementary School Bike Bus. Jessica just returned from a trip to Davis, California where she became a League Certified Cycling Instructor. She wrote this in Davis while waiting for her train back to Portland.
I attended BikePortland’s 20th anniversary party recently and bought a $20 hat. Simple enough purchase. But every time I wear it, I suddenly feel like I’m on duty, like I’m representing something bigger than myself.
And lately, maybe that matters.
With Jonathan Maus in transition at BikePortland, there’s a feeling that a beat in Portland journalism may need to evolve. Not disappear, just look different.
The bike beat.
Because maybe the bike beat was never only one person covering meetings, infrastructure fights, ribbon cuttings, crashes, and community victories. Maybe it has always also belonged to the people riding the lanes, teaching safe cycling, organizing rides, advocating for better streets, and simply showing up.
I’m writing this from Davis, California, after returning from a ride from Woodland where I earned my League Cycling Instructor certification through League of American Bicyclists. I’m waiting for the train home, wearing that Bike Portland hat, feeling strangely accountable to an idea.
Not Portland-the-place, exactly.
But Portland-the-practice.
The belief that cities can be shaped around people instead of just cars. That transportation can build community. That local stories about bike lanes and crossings and near-misses matter because human beings move through them every day.
Maybe the future of Bike Portland, and local bike advocacy generally, is more distributed. More participatory. Less about one newsroom voice and more about a network of people paying attention where they are.
A teacher in East Portland.
A commuter in Beaverton.
A parent biking with kids in Lents.
Someone waiting for a train in Davis, California after a long ride.
The beat continues because we continue.
And maybe wearing the hat means accepting a little responsibility for that.
Thanks for reading.
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Perhaps there’s still a place for a all things bikes in Portland, Not my call, not my interest at this point.
However, one thing I do know for sure and I’ve tried to communicate to Jonathon, often maybe clumsily or not very clearly, is how & BikePortland transformed me from being someone who was just all about bikes in 2088 to much more of transportation wonk/advocate now.
I’m grateful for this evolution and it has made me a better person, community member and citizen. It has also complicated my thoughts & feelings around transportation planning as trying to design & build a transportation network that serves people from all walks of life in a fairly large geographical area is a complex undertaking that requires an advanced knowledge of laws, politics, city history, people’s transportation needs for safety, accessibility, timeliness as well as trying move people around town in an energy efficient manner that’s also in alignment w. climate change goals that will address socio-economic inequities like air pollution, noise, heat islands, affordable housing, access to natural areas, food deserts, etc.
Jonathon & BikePortland got me here to this place, but now I feel a bit stranded here.