🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Tonight! 10th anniversary Midnight Mystery Ride

Midnight Mystery Ride-6.jpg

The thrill of a MMRs.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Portland’s legendary Midnight Mystery Ride is ten years old! To celebrate, there will be a special edition tonight and you’re all invited.

Known as MMR, the Midnight Mystery Rides were created by Ayleen Crotty (yes the same Ayleen that spearheaded the Multnomah County Bike Fair, Filmed by Bike, and so on) in 2003. For many years, Ayleen led the rides and maintained a website chronicling each one. The idea behind the rides is simply to get out and explore the city with friends. And it happens at midnight of course, when the city sleeps, the streets are quiet, and mysterious locations wait to be explored and cherished with friends old and new.

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Cycle Oregon servers slammed, registration headaches ensue

Register! Just not all at once.

The servers handling registration for the 2013 Cycle Oregon ride collapsed shortly after people started signing up on Wednesday. Now the organization is still digging out of the snafu and they hope to have everything cleaned up by Monday.

Cycle Oregon went to online-only registration in 2012 and people clamored to sign up. They filled a record 2,000 spots in just 31 minutes. With that in mind, people wanted to make sure they didn’t get left out. Cycle Oregon used a new registration vendor this year (PreRace.com), and it seems they couldn’t handle the ride’s popularity.

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Editorial: Activism for safer streets underscores larger transportation debate

“Demands for new biking, walking, transit, and other system improvements are common, but do you ever see activists clamoring for paving and street maintenance?”

Twice this week citizens of Portland have taken action to raise awareness about unsafe streets.

Benjamin Kerensa emailed us a video (watch it below) he put together of the crosswalk at NE 79th and Glisan. Kerensa witnessed a fatal collision last week involving a woman who was walking across that intersection in the sidewalk when she was hit by someone driving a car. The video, which shows numerous people failing to yield to people crossing the street, was featured on The Oregonian’s Hard Drive blog on Wednesday.

In his description of the video on YouTube, Kerensa pressured City Hall to improve the crosswalk:

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Blue/Black/Yellow Gary Fisher Piranha 2007

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2007
Brand: Gary Fisher
Model: Piranha
Color:Blue/Black/Yellow
Size:17 Inch (Approx)
Serial: WTU240C0165B
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-01-25
Stolen From: North Portland, out of our Garage
Neighborhood: Piedmont
Owner: Ed Reagan
OwnerEmail: stumptowned(AT)gmail.com
Reward: Yes
Description: Blue-Black-Yellow Gary Fisher Mountain Bike.
Police record with: Portland
Police reference#: 13-10009
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Brushed Aluminum Specialized Sequoia 2003

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2003
Brand: Specialized
Model: Sequoia
Color:Brushed Aluminum
Size:54cm
Serial: P3AF90778
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-01-25
Stolen From: Our Garage in North Portland
Neighborhood: Piedmont
Owner: Ed Reagan
OwnerEmail: stumptowned(AT)gmail.com
Reward: Yes
Description: Rear Rack, Commuter pedals, front and rear full fenders with reflective tape on the rear fender and two pieces of reflective tape on the down tube of the main triangle.
Police reference#: 13-10009
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

What I learned from the PBOT Financial Task Force report

Cover of PBOT Financial Task Force report.
– Download it here (PDF) –

In December of last year, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) published a Financial Task Force (FTF) Report. The 22-page document (PDF) gives an overview of the bureau’s budget, outlines its vulnerabilities, and most importantly, gives recommendations for new revenue streams. The report should serve as an important resource in upcoming discussions about our transportation priorities. PBOT turned in their 2013-14 budget to City Hall on Monday and with cuts looming, the City Auditor questioning PBOT’s management — and a new mayor in town who has made it crystal clear he intends to take the bureau in a different direction — now seems like a great time to educate ourselves about PBOT’s finances.

The FTF report is the result of a directive from City Council given during last year’s budgeting process. With no end in sight to painful cuts and no new revenue ideas on the table, City Council tasked PBOT to put together a task force to develop a factual basis for future decisions. The task force that was ultimately formed and that signed off on the report includes 14 people from a variety of backgrounds. There are business leaders, representatives of government agencies (ODOT, TriMet, and so on), civil engineers, legal professionals, and others.

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Cream/Ivory Montgomery Ward OPEN ROAD 70’s/80’s

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 70’s/80’s
Brand: Montgomery Ward
Model: OPEN ROAD
Color:Cream/Ivory
Size:49 cm
Photo: http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp341/typewriterphone/NewBike_zps28f6ba3b.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-02-2
Stolen From: N. Greeley & Ainsworth, in front of Barlow Tavern & Madrona Hill Cafe.
Blue bike rack on Ainsworth.
Neighborhood: Arbor Lodge
Owner: Maria Jasso-Larraguivel
OwnerEmail: mismoreea(A T)hotmail.com
Reward: $250
Description: It looks as in the picture except now has PDW full metal fenders on and lighter colored cork bar tape.
Small off-white frame says Open Road in brown/orange/black. Soma Moustache Handlebars, Salsa 48t chain ring, Tektro silver R556 front brake caliper, Chrome front fork w/ fender eyelets cut off.
Police record with: PPD
Police reference#: 13-150836
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

PBOT’s next brown bag discussion: “High-wheels and Hot Mamas”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

PBOT’s monthly (and always illuminating) Brown Bag Series of talks will celebrate Women’s History Month on February 21st. See the event description below:

Women, Bikes, and History

Presented by April Streeter

Thursday,　February 21st,　 12:00 – 1:00 pm
City Hall – Lovejoy Room
1221 SW 4th Avenue, 2d floor
(bring your lunch!)

Celebrate Women’s History Month a week early!

Join us for a brown-bag lunch presentation, as April Streeter, author of Women on Wheels, presents “High-wheels and Hot Mamas.” This short history of transportational bicycling in Portland from a woman’s perspective includes some of the should-be famous female characters in early biking, plus a hearty helping of Portland bike culture’s early history.

More info on the City’s website.

Bike advocates respond to Obama’s Interior Secretary pick

Sally Jewell at her nomination announcement.
(Photo: Pete Souza/White House)

If you’ve been biking for a few years, chances are you have something in your closet from national outdoor retailer REI. Now the CEO of that company, Sally Jewell has been picked by President Obama to be Secretary of the Interior. With that job comes the rather large responsibility of managing our public lands — many acres of which include (or should include) bicycle access.

Not surprisingly, people who care about the outdoors and about bicycling are thrilled at Jewell’s nomination. REI is a company that has built a solid reputation for not only their commitment to selling bicycles and bike products (not to mention their highly regarded Novara brand), but they are also good partners in the communities they operate in. They regularly donate to bike-related non-profits and they host bike events and clinics at their stores. For many people, the local REI is also the local bike shop.

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