The new treatment — meant to speed up buses and make cycling safer — starts at 4th and lasts two blocks. (Scroll down for full gallery and video) (Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
When the Portland Bureau of Transportation revealed their plans for SW Madison last week, there was at first rejoicing. Many of us are desperate for any change to our streets that makes bicycling and transit safer and more efficient. Dedicating a wide lane solely for transit and bike riders on a major downtown corridor is an exciting step in the right direction.
But almost as soon as we posted about the project, there were concerns about how this new lane would be shared by people operating such dramatically different vehicles. [Read more…]
Staged photo of a bike crash. (Photos: Madi Carlson)
Last week I took the corner into my backyard too slowly, caught my front wheel on a flagstone, and slowly tipped sideways against the side of my house. As time slowed down and/or my brain sped up in the heat of the moment, I thought about my crashes of years past. [Read more…]
Once home to the Molalla Tribe before white immigrants forced them out, this area east of Dufur is now dotted by large farms and ranches — and perfectly groomed gravel roads. This view is from Roberts Market Road looking northwest toward the Columbia Hills that rise above the Columbia River in Washington. (Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Dufur City Park was our host.
With its second year in the books, it feels like the Gravel event has found a home with Cycle Oregon. After three decades of their signature, 7-day “Classic” event, the nonprofit has found a sweet spot around one of cycling biggest trends: riding unpaved backroads, a.k.a. gravel grinding.
The tiny eastern Oregon town of Dufur (est. 1893, pop. 604) was home base for two full days of riding. The routes traversed land where the Molalla Tribe lived for generations before being banished to a reservation by the U.S. government in 1851. Today the land around Dufur is wide open country dotted by farms that raise livestock, wheat, and other crops. [Read more…]
Hillsboro resident Aaron Harrison (he goes by Rambo) has a commuting style all his own. Rambo has worked in Portland bike shops for decades and he’s also a decorated track racer.
I’ve known about him for years now (I can recall he and his Orange bike flying past me with whooosh during Cycle Oregon years ago); but I had no idea about his love for music and artistic flair on Instagram. Let me explain…[Read more…]
The Portland Bureau of Transportation announced the construction of its first Central City in Motion (CCIM) project today: SW Madison – one of the busiest bikeways in Portland — will get a dedicated bus operation and bicycling lane that will be separated from other traffic. The project aims to speed up bus trips, make it safer to ride a bike, and lower the the stress of drivers by giving them clear separation from other road users. [Read more…]
Portland has a new bike shop whose owners hope to be a part of the local fixed-gear and track riding scene.
Retrogression (2315 SE 11th Ave, just north of Division) is owned and operated by Dave Gattinella and Angie Beaulieu. Fixed-gear riders themselves, Gattinella and Beaulieu couldn’t find track-related parts and gear at local bike shops, so they started sourcing their own.
Retrogression started as an online-only shop in 2009 and opened a brick-and-mortar location in Massachusetts shortly thereafter (they are both from New England). They moved the business to San Diego a few years later; but quickly outgrew their space and went on the hunt to find a new location that would offer them a combination of warehouse (for the online business) and retail shop. [Read more…]
Time to plan an escape from the city. This scene is from Westfir, a few miles north of the Office Covered Bridge on the North Fork of the Willamette River (I’m here for the Sasquatch Duro Saturday, then headed to Dufur for Cycle Oregon Gravel on Sunday!). (Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Welcome to our weekly selection of the best things to do on a bike, with a bike, or with bike people.
Oh, and happy National Bike to Work Day! [Read more…]
“We will be watching,” was the warning from Sunrise PDX activists. (Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Concerns about climate change were made loud and clear to Metro’s Transportation Funding Task Force at their meeting last night. Metro is leading an effort to raise what some say could be as much as $20 billion for transportation infrastructure around the regional via a bond measure that could go to voters in November.
As lines are drawn on maps, lines are being drawn in the sand by electeds and advocates looking to stake out positions for debates to come. [Read more…]
The plan includes a new bridge over Tryon Creek where it empties into the Willamette. (Image: Tryon Creek Cove Trail Master Plan, Metro)
An ordinance in front of Portland City Council this week will hasten implementation of a plan that will improve the biking and walking connection between Tryon Creek State Park and Foothills Park in Lake Oswego and build a new bridge over Tryon Creek adjacent to the Willamette River.[Read more…]
Metro’s map of highest scoring investment corridors.
We’re now three months since the official launch of Metro’s effort to raise funds for transportation infrastructure via a bond measure that could go to voters in 2020.
This is likely to be the most consequential transportation funding decision in our region’s history. With activism heating up and outlines of the measure being drawn, it’s time to put T2020 on your radar.[Read more…]
(Designed by Portland-based graphic artist and photographer Gavin Rear. Photos by Gavin Rear.)
A kit designed in Portland (by Gavin Rear) and made by a Portland-based company (Castelli US) for a Portland-based team has been singled out for recognition by America’s sanctioning body for bicycle racing.[Read more…]
This is the intersection of NW Skyline and Moreland, where Joe Harris called 911 to report what he calls a “bike stalker”. The suspect was waiting for him in the turnout in the upper left when he summited the climb (from the right). (Photo: Joe Harris)
Northwest Portland resident Joe Harris says he experienced a nightmare. [Read more…]
(Video of suspect taken by a witness and released by Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office needs help finding reckless driver who hit an innocent person, gave them the finger, then fled the scene. The victim was on a bicycle and had stopped on the side of the road to check his map. [Read more…]
Here are the most notable items we came across in the past seven days…
But first, a word from our sponsor: **This week’s roundup is sponsored by our friends at Treo Bike Tours in eastern Oregon, who encourage you to book your all-inclusive, dream cycling vacation today.**
David Schermer remembered on Lawyer Ride Facebook page.
Cycling was a huge part of 69-year old David Schermer’s life. All the way up until the end.
Schermer died while riding his Giant TCR road bike down Pete’s Mountain Road in West Linn last Friday. According to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office there was no other vehicle or person involved in the crash. Evidence suggests Schermer lost control on the steep downhill portion of the road where it ends at the junction of SW Riverwood Drive and SW Hoffman Road (see photos below). The turn to Hoffman is nearly a right-angle and the turn to Riverwood is quite sharp as well. The last section of Pete’s Mountain Road drops over 100 feet at an average grade of about 7% in just three-tenths of a mile.
Sergeant Dan Krause from the Sheriff’s Office told me yesterday that a crash reconstruction and forensics team responded to the scene last Friday around 1:30 pm. Sgt. Krause said they found no skid marks and no other physical evidence of another bicycle or automobile. “It appeared to be an unfortunate incident,” he said. “We found nothing at the scene that would have caused this crash.” Schermer was found in a ditch about 20-30 feet from the intersection. He died on the scene from head and neck-related injuries. [Read more…]
