We as cyclists risk our lives every day on the streets of Portland. Many of us have had near-misses and other altercations that left us rattled, angry, and feeling vulnerable. Yet the only people that ever hear about these incidents are our friends, families and riding buddies. The media, the police and our elected officials … Read more
Boulder Colorado has just made a serious move in the race to be the first Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly City. According to their local newspaper,they have ponied up $140,000 to have MapQuest build them an interactive bike route map. Boulder is one of only four other Gold Level Bicycle Friendly Cities as designated by the … Read more
PUMP (Portland United Mountain Pedalers) is our local mountain bike advocacy group. They work to maintain trails and make sure the interests of mountain bikes are represented in often thorny land access issues. PUMP was also instrumental in putting together this great (and free) map of Forest Park (PDF). Now they’re gaining momentum for a … Read more
Tomorrow, the BTA will release a statement that outlines their response to the recent rash of bike/car collisions in the Portland metro area. I have received advanced permission to publish this press release to the bike community here on BikePortland.org. The release of their “Five Part Plan” follows their recent Op-ed that ran in the … Read more
Hats off to New Belgium Brewery for throwing a great party on Saturday! Their Tour de Fat is a traveling bike circus, concert, beer garden, fundraiser, and bike love-fest all rolled into one. It started out with a police-escorted parade through downtown (Portland must be leading the country in bike parades per year!). The New … Read more
Wondering what to do after the Tour de Fat tomorrow? Take your summer beer-buzz-bike-love over to Acme (SE 8th and Main St) to catch the Cyclecide Bike Rodeo. I haven’t seen them yet, but I think they’re sort of a mix between Chunk 666 and the Alberta Clownhouse crew. Here’s what the SF Weekly had … Read more
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has written an op-ed in response to last Friday’s Portland Tribune headline story on bike safety. The headline that ran on the front page was, “Walk, ride at your peril”. The BTA thinks this alarmist headline “irresponsible journalism” because both walking and riding remain relatively very safe activities. They go … Read more
Seems like cyclists can’t catch a break lately. Turns out Tri-Met caught several MAX riders beating up a cyclist back in June. The police have just released the video to the public to help them identify the perpetrators. KATU has more info and photos on their website. There’s a nice reward being offered if you … Read more
Some great news about a new bike lane marking called “sharrows”. From the Portland Tribune: Sometime in the next few months, the city will start using shared-lane pavement markings, known as “sharrows,” along 12 city blocks, mostly on Northwest 18th and 19th avenues. The markings will depict a cyclist as well as arrows, indicating motorists … Read more
I know the cyclocross fanatics in this town are getting ready for the season so I thought I’d share my photos from last December’s National Cyclocross Championships that were held right here in our backyard (PIR to be exact).
The Willy Week gets major street cred for choosing a reckless motorist their “Rogue of the Week”. Turns out one of their own reporters, Angela Valdez, was seriously injured by a motorist last week on NE 15th and NE Prescott. The driver turned right directly in front of her and still thought it wasn’t his … Read more
Ryan Hume at the Willamette Week did a great job with his story on the St. Johns Bridge and cyclists in this week’s Willy Week. I met with Ryan and exchanged several emails about the story and I can honestly say he is a solid reporter. But I can’t resist commenting on his line that … Read more