Alison and a few of her many inspirations.
(Photo: Zoey Abbott)

As often happens as I peruse the web for story ideas, I come across something wonderful and then forget how I ended up there.

That’s how I came across the work of Alison Farrell. [Read more…]

(Image: Lompoc Brewing)

Just in time for Sunday Parkways season, a local brewer has released a beer in honor of the annual open street events.
[Read more…]

Ramon Antonio found a nice jump line amidst the cherry blossoms in Waterfront Park yesterday.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Ramon Antonio (left), Matt Reyes, and Devin Tolman.

A reunion of old friends has sparked a resurgence in Portland’s fixed-gear freestyle scene.

Matt Reyes, Ramon Antonio, and Devin Tolman first met through the San Francisco Bay Area cycling scene. Lovers of fixed-gear freestyle, a discipline that combines flatland BMX tricks with the speed and grace of fixed-gear road bikes, the trio is happily established in Portland. Now they want to connect with other riders and create a community around fixed-gear riding similar to the vibrant scene they left behind in their previous home.

I caught up with them under sunny blue skies and cherry blossoms in Waterfront Park yesterday.
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Mom, bike commuter, advocate — it’s all in a day’s work for Kari Schlosshauer.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Even if you don’t know Kari (it rhymes with “safari”) Schlosshauer, chances are you’re familiar with her work.

As the Pacific Northwest Senior Policy Manager for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Schlosshauer has spent the last five years making our neighborhoods safer for walking and biking. Her position puts here at the center of discussions and deals about how and where our city, region, and state spend money for school-related transportation projects.

Schlosshauer lives in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood near Powell and 25th. Earlier this week I sat down with her around her kitchen table before riding downtown where she attended a meeting of the Vision Zero Task Force (she’s a member) at City Hall.
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Official poster.

I can’t believe someone made a documentary out of this. But I’m happy they did.

MAMIL’s are the oft-ridiculed cycling world sub-culture characterized by men in bright-and-tight lycra who speed around in packs chasing Strava segments and trying to recapture their glory days. Now their story has been told in a feature documentary, MAMIL, that will screen one night only in Portland. The screening is organized by Demand Film, a “cinema on demand” service that is showing MAMIL on 300 theaters across the country on the same night: February 21st. You can see it in the Portland area at: Regal Fox Tower Stadium 6, Regal Lloyd Center 10, and Regal Hilltop 9 Cinema (Oregon City).

The film is narrated by legendary Tour de France commentator Phil Liggett. Here’s the official blurb:

“MAMIL captures on film the spirit and the members of a movement that is growing throughout the world — middle-aged men taking to their cycles and biking through mountains, city streets, you name it, all in the name of CYCLING. Some do it for health, some for love, others just to clear their heads and face the world. And despite all the crashes, mega-pricey carbon fiber cycles, and wives worrying that they’ve been replaced by two wheels and a $1,200 bicycle seat, these guys wouldn’t have it any other way.

Filmed in the U.S., Australia and the U.K., MAMIL is a celebration of the love that can finally be shared – that of man for bike. You might be in an LGBT cycling club in New York or Christian in the Midwest; you might be a lawyer or a cancer survivor, you might be hauling your middle-aged belly over the next hill, or speeding along the open road, but you still thrill to the meditation of the bike.”

Here’s the official trailer:

[Read more…]

Sampling her handiwork, Ginenthal would often bike the Sunday Parkways course, as she does here in 2009.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Portland Bureau of Transportation employee Linda Ginenthal is retiring after more than 23 years with the agency.

Throughout her career, Ginenthal has been a force of nature in promoting biking, walking, and livable streets. Among the many programs, projects and events she played a major (often leadership) role in were SmartTrips, Safe Routes to School, Portland’s push for a Platinum award, the 2016 Open Streets Summit, and of course, Sunday Parkways.
[Read more…]

He knocked off 4,199 feet during a ride in the West Hills on Tuesday.
(Photos J. Maus/BikePortland)

How many feet of elevation do you climb each week? How many times do you ride per month?

These are the type of calculations that will weigh heavily on Paul LaCava’s mind for the next 11 months as he tries to accomplish his goal of 1,000,000 feet of vertical gain by December 31st.
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Drew Coleman in a still from his GoFundMe campaign video. Watch it below.

Sellwood neighborhood resident Drew Coleman has a vision for his next project. But he needs a bit of help to realize it.

Coleman is a filmmaker who started shooting local cyclocross races this summer. He’s also started a YouTube channel under the Local Cycling Network banner. Now he wants to cover the biggest race of the year: the Cyclocross National Championships which take place in Reno, Nevada next weekend. This time around he wants to do try something new: Coleman wants to shoot the race and the culture that surrounds it, on film. He’s bought a 1983 Canon 814 xl-s camera and he’s looking for support to buy the film which runs about $1.53 per second.

He’s launched a GoFundMe campaign and hopes to raise $2,500 for the trip and the film.

Here’s more from Drew about the project:
[Read more…]

In case you haven’t heard, Portland’s bike-centric holiday gift fair is back! BikeCraft 2017 is December 15-17 at the Bike Farm (1810 NE 1st Ave.)

This year our friends (and BikeCraft veterans) at Microcosm Publishing have taken over the reins and it’s sure to be one of the best ever.
[Read more…]

Simon Lyle and his SaunaVelo.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Powered by leg muscles and fire, the SaunaVelo is the manifestation of many passions for southeast Portland resident Simon Lyle. At its core, the cedar wood structure that sits atop a bicycle trailer is simply a place to warm up. But it’s also a mobile community builder. After all, it’d be difficult to enjoy its warmth — usually done wearing only your skivvies — without getting to know the people huddled next to you.

For Lyle, the 37-year old builder who grew up near the Buckman neighborhood of inner southeast Portland where I met him yesterday, the SaunaVelo is a fun side-project. But it’s also much more than that.
[Read more…]