The good and bad about biking in Portland — in PBOT’s own words

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

“While business and political support is strong it could be stronger, especially in key constituent groups.”
— Roger Geller, PBOT Bicycle Coordinator in a League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Community award application

Back in 2008 Portland became the first major U.S. city to be given a “Platinum” level Bicycle Friendly Community award by the League of American Bicyclists. Now, as per League policy, the Portland Bureau of Transportation must re-apply every 2-3 years in order keep its Platinum designation. (If you’re wondering, the League says the Diamond-level designation isn’t available yet.)

I recently got a glimpse of the current application and two questions stood out: “What are the three primary reasons your community deserves to be designated a Bicycle Friendly Community?” and “What are the three aspects of your community most in need of improvement in order to accommodate bicyclists?”

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Forest Park advocate Marcy Houle to speak at PDX Ecologists meeting

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Marcy Houle, the author and activist who has been actively opposing trail access for people on bikes in Forest Park will speak to PDX Ecologists Unite this Thursday evening (4/18). The talk will focus on Forest Park’s history as well as “the challenges that lie ahead.” The issue of mountain bikes in Forest Park will also be discussed during this event. More info below:

Our speaker will be the wonderful Marcy Houle, author of “Forest Park: One City’s Wildnerness”, who will take us on a rich journey through Forest Park’s history, and allow the voices of its founders to share their vision of the park, including the challenges that lie ahead. This is a unique opportunity to explore several key issues regarding Forest Parkand its long term sustainability, including:

– Invasive Species
– Dogs
– Landslides
– Non-native insects
– Trail Maintenance

As part of the Trails topic, we would like to save time to discuss mountain bikes and forest park.

Please come for the presentation (~45min) and/or the discussion to follow, as we would be blessed to have your knowledge and expertise. Things have a way of coming together in the end, with enough synergy and awareness, and I feel that many of the solutions (or adaptive management approaches) to the above mentioned topics lay in all our hands.

Should you have a particular topic of interest regarding Forest Parkand its care, please send it to me for our discussion piece. Anything not addressed at the meeting can be included on our blog page to help raise awareness and formulate ideas.

The meeting is at Willamette Riverkeepers HQ (1515 SE Water Ave in the Mt. Adams Room (3rd Floor)) from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Thursday, 4/18. More info here.

PSU students plan bike theft workshop, visual campaign

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Flyer for bike theft workshop on April 30th.

Bike theft is a major issue in Portland. So far this year we’ve had 259 bikes posted to our Stolen Bike Listings and the numbers are on the upswing. Now a pair of graduate students at Portland State University want to raise public awareness about bike theft and they’ve got a novel idea how to do it.

Erin Charpentier is a student working on her Master of Fine Arts degree in PSU’s Art and Social Practice program. “This means,” wrote Charpentier in an email today, “that my creative practice involves social engagement in some form. This can look like a lot of different things; education, activism, participatory performance, creative interventions.”

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Portland Parks seeks members for River View Natural Area advisory committee

Riding and working at Riverview property-3

A trail in River View Natural Area.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

If you care about off-road bicycling in Portland, take note that a very important planning process is getting underway.

Portland Parks & Recreation is seeking members of the public to sit on an advisory committee that will help plan the future of their River View Natural Area. This 146 acre parcel of land, which was acquired by the City of Portland in May 2011, holds great potential for off-road bicycling; but given the politics around trail access issues, it remains to be seen to what extent bikes will be allowed.

While off-road cycling advocates have already invested many volunteer hours helping PP&R clean up the River View site, and locals have ridden bikes on its trails for many years (when it was privately owned), the agency itself is making no promises about the future extent of bike access. It is clear, however, that a new trail system will be developed.

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White Bianchi Volpe 1980’s

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Year: 1980’s
Brand: Bianchi
Model: Volpe
Color:White
Size:53cm
Photo: http://i.imgur.com/EYQNpzp.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97212
Stolen:2013-04-16
Stolen From: 2738 NE 7th Avenue, Portland 97212. My car was stolen and the bike was inside.
Neighborhood: Irvington
Owner: Ashley Koger
OwnerEmail: a.b.koger( atsign )gmail.com
Description: 1980’s Bianchi Volpe. All White with purple lettering. Just rebuilt. New cables, housing, bar tape, and clean parts.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-30179
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

blue Schwinn Traveler 1974

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Year: 1974
Brand: Schwinn
Model: Traveler
Color:blue
Photo: http://i.imgur.com/scL40Ib.jpg
Stolen in Springfield, OR 97477
Stolen:2013-04-15
Stolen From: Willamalane Recreation Center on 32nd and Main Street Springfield OR
Owner: Lauren Neel
OwnerEmail: lauren.neel83( atsign )gmail.com
Description: Blue frame with Stickers (One says “Native Roots” on is yellow and says”Blathazar” one is back and says “VD is OK” one is blue and says “Pisces Project: An Aquatic Center for Norman”) Burnt Orange Deep V Velocity rims with wood grain image printed on them, 3 spoke cards (One says “Snake” one says “Rebel 8” one is a little artsy characature) Long straight bars with black oury grips, a new belgium brewing company bell, a holster for a flash light on the right side of my handle bars, black seat with leopard print stripe down the middle, black cages on pedals, fixed gear, white Vittoria Randoneur Tires 723c, red blinky just under the seat
Police record with: Springfield PD
Police reference#: 13-3733
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

BLACK Bianchi Volpe 2009

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Year: 2009
Brand: Bianchi
Model: Volpe
Color:BLACK
Size:52cm
Serial: H0FR01520
Photo: http://i.imgur.com/YOnK0TA.jpg
Stolen in Happy Valley, OR 97086
Stolen:2013-04-15
Stolen From: In fornt of REI at Clackamas Town Center. They clipped the cable lock.
Neighborhood: Happy Valley
Owner: Dallas Jamme
OwnerEmail: Neuropolitics( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: Yes
Description: Black Bianchi Volpe D2. Has front and rear racks as well as fenders. White grip tape. A sticker on the downtube that reads “i fixed my bike at the bikeworks. Silver City, NM”. Has SPD pedals. 36 spoke Velocity Deep V wheels with Shwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Front hub was Phil Wood, rear hub is White Industries. Was stolen along with my girlfriend’s Green Opus Largo touring bike.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

army green Opus Largo 2010

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Year: 2010
Brand: Opus
Model: Largo
Color:army green
Size:Large (52cm)
Photo: http://nomadiccycling.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/img_6355.jpg
Stolen in Happy Valley, OR 97086
Stolen:2013-04-15
Stolen From: It was locked to a bike rack in front of REI at Clackamas town center.
Neighborhood: Happy Valley
Owner: Sarah Thomas
OwnerEmail: sarah.roseanne.thomas(AT)gmail.com
Reward: yes
Description: army green and brown steel touring bike with brown cork bar tape, spd pedals, brown saddle (not the same as the orange saddle in the photo). There also was a silver pump strapped to the frame, and three black water bottle cages. The handlebars have two camo colored bags strapped to them, with a mount for a light and a small black bell in between the two bags.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Black Specialized Globe Vienna 1 2010

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Year: 2010
Brand: Specialized Globe
Model: Vienna 1
Color:Black
Size:Large
Serial: WUD096011750E
Photo: http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/archive/2009/vienna/globevienna1
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2013-04-12
Stolen From: SE 29th and Belmont
Neighborhood: Sunnyside
Owner: Juliet Howard
OwnerEmail: juliethoward( atsign )gmail.com
Description: Specialized Globe Vienna 1 – All black. No fenders or extras. Black bell on handlebars.
Police record with: Portland PD
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Feel like climbing 16,000 feet this weekend? Just follow the lions

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Tour of Flanders, Portland-Style - De Ronde-4

You’ll be seeing this lion in
your dreams — or nightmares depending on your fitness.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

This weekend will be an excellent chance to test your early season fitness. Or your sanity.

Organizers behind Saturday’s unsanctioned De Ronde PDX ride have just told us that they’ve also marked a companion ride for Sunday dubbed La Doyenne (after the famous European classic Liège–Bastogne–Liège). We hinted at the ride in our story about this year’s De Ronde back in January and today we learned the La Doyenne will take riders on a 50 mile jaunt through Happy Valley (south of Powell Butte Nature Park) on a course with 8,000 feet of climbing. The De Ronde route is about 47 miles with 7,800 feet of climbing.

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Fearing parking loss, downtown business group stops ‘Street Seats’ program

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The Downtown Retail Council, a Portland Business
Alliance affiliate, opposes parklets in the downtown core.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

After a successful pilot program last summer, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) recently announced an update of their Street Seats program. While the newly proposed guidelines show the scope of the program has broadened, a group that represents downtown businesses successfully lobbied to prevent the conversion of parking spots in the downtown core.

The Streets Seats program allows business owners and non-profits to convert public parking spaces into seating and patio space. For restaurants this means more dining tables, and for non-food establishments the program is an opportunity to use space for something other than private vehicle storage. In a PBOT survey published in January, 90% of businesses said Street Seats were good for their business and 80% of survey respondents said the program has a positive impact on street vitality.

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