🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
The City of Portland announced this afternoon that they’ve narrowed their choice of vendors to manage the city’s $4 million bike sharing system to just two candidates: Alta Bicycle Share and B-Cycle.
If you ride on Portland’s vaunted network of “neighborhood greenways” you have likely experienced one of their less glamorous sides: potholes. A combination of severe weather, city policy that prioritizes paving of large arterials before neighborhood streets, and a general tightening of transportation budgets over the years has led to many roads become littered with nasty potholes. (Two that I frequent, NE Holman and N Michigan, are especially bad.)
If you’re tired of waiting for potholes to get fixed, Tigard-based business Coast Pavement Services has a nifty way make it happen. They got in touch with me recently to share “Potholes for Poverty,” an initiative they launched to fill potholes and do some good in the community at the same time.
This morning the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) responded to what was first reported as a collision involving someone driving a car and someone walking; but upon arrival, they realized the driver had collided with a man riding a bike.
According to PPB Sergeant Peter Simpson, the collision happened this morning at around 6:59 am at 45th and Harney Drive in southeast Portland (near Errol Heights park and just north of the Springwater Corridor path). Sgt. Simpson says that 30-year-old Robert Downs was riding westbound on Harney and 27-year-old Patrick Jackson was driving his Subaru in the opposite direction and turned left to go north on 45th. As he completed the left turn, Jackson’s car struck Downs.
This is a guest post by Seattle-based writer and yoga instructor Kelli Refer. Kelli specializes in yoga poses for people who bike, blogs about it at Yoga For Bikers, and is the author of the new zine (published by none other than Elly Blue’s Taking the Lane Media), Pedal, Stretch, Breathe.
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Usually when we hit a wall it’s a bad thing. But after a long bike ride, the wall is your friend*.
Taking time to recover after a long ride is an important part of self care for cyclists. You let your muscles relax after strenuous riding to build strength and replenish your energy for the ride tomorrow. This practice is called an active recovery. You may already know Shavasana, the corpse pose — which is how you end each yoga session, by laying flat on your back and relaxing into the floor.
Here are three of my favorite restorative poses for cyclists:
Year: 2007
Brand: Trek
Model: 7.3
Color:blue
Size:57
Photo: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/3179565505.html
Stolen in Portland, OR 97212
Stolen:2012-07-29
Stolen From: From our home, on the corner of 36th and Stanton
Neighborhood: NE Hollywood District
Owner: ilie mitaru
OwnerEmail: mitaru23@gmail.com
Description: Blue glossy finish, with black components and metal fenders over both wheels. The bike also had a black “rack” over the back wheel to mount stuff on.
Police record with: portland police
Police reference#: pendind
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike
It looks likes years of citizen activism might finally bear fruit. Yesterday, Betsy Reese — the co-owner of the Paramount Apartments situated on the peninsula formed by the intersection of N. Broadway, Flint, and Wheeler streets near I-5 — announced that PBOT is set to host a special public meeting next week to come up with safety fixes for the notoriously dangerous location.
I first reported about serious safety concerns at this intersection back in December 2007, when the Portland Water Bureau (who has their headquarters just northwest of the location) decided to prohibit their employees from making the right turn from Broadway onto Wheeler. Water Bureau safety officials made the decision out of concerns about right-hooks following two fatal collisions just months prior.
Year: 90s
Brand: Trek
Model: 800 Sport
Color:Black
Size:smallish
Stolen in Portland, OR 97211
Stolen:2012-08-01
Stolen From: NE Rodney and Prescott
Neighborhood: King
Owner: David Blake
OwnerEmail: dneilblake@gmail.com
Reward: $40
Description: It was a black 90’s style mountain bike with some red accents and the "Trek" and "800 Sport" logos intact. There
was a small dent with a bit of rust on the right side of the top tube, a
Specialized split saddle with a tear in it, a small anti-theft cord
connecting the seat to the frame, a Vittoria touring tire on the rear, a
front rack, a black plastic rear fender attached to seatpost, Specialized clip in pedals, a black
plastic mount for a handlebar bag, a mount for a speedometer on the
bars, and black bar ends extending the ends of the handlebars upwards
for an upright riding posture. The frame is a bit on the small side.
Police record with: Portland Police Bureau
Police reference#: 12-154700
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike
Year: 2007
Brand: Raleigh
Model: Rush Hour Pro
Color:gold
Size:57cm
Photo: http://ubesicecreamshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/IMG_0024.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97211
Stolen:2012-07-31
Stolen From: my house on Ne webster and 36th ave.
Neighborhood: North East Portland, Concordia District
Owner: Brighton Hall
OwnerEmail: brightonh3321@sbcglobal.net
Reward: Yes there is
Description: Its a gold custom painted 07 raleigh rush hour pro, The frame is the same as in the picture but the back rim is now a red deep v velocity b43, The pedals are red 8inch fixed gear pedals with brown 8inch toe straps. I have deda pista track drop down handlebars and a soma crank set. In the back rim I had picture’s, 1. No limit records greatest hits album picture. 2. kobe bryant meme picture 3. picture of Mac from its always sunny in philidephia
Police record with: Portland Pd
Police reference#: t12006420
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike
Year: 2005
Brand: Raleigh
Model: C40
Color:Green & white
Size:U17
Serial: U44K59797
Photo: http://www.bikepedia.com/quickbike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2005&Brand=Raleigh&Model=C40&Type=bik#.UBmjXmt5mSM
Stolen in Portland, OR 97211
Stolen:2012-07-31
Stolen From: From the (locked) bike rack in my backyard at the corner of 26th & NE Ainsworth
Neighborhood: Concordia
Owner: Larissa Guran
OwnerEmail: larissa@northstarbirth.com
Reward: $100
Description: The bike has some rust on the chain & handlebars, I added fenders, a mirror and a frame on the rear wheel for saddlebags.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: Pending
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike
Just got an email from our friends at the Lumberyard Indoor Bike Park with three awesome events coming up starting Monday, August 6th. A yoga class, and two women’s focused events. See the details below…
– Ladies MTB Maintenance Class: Monday Aug. 6th
– Yoga at the Yard: Wednesday Aug. 8th
– Women’s Beginner MTB Workshop: Monday Aug. 13th
Portland Parks & Recreation will host a trail work party at their newly acquired Riverview natural area next week and many of the volunteers that show up will be from the Northwest Trail Alliance, a group eager to expand local off-road riding opportunities and willing to invest sweat equity to make it happen.
Back in May of 2011, Portland Parks & Recreation teamed up with the City’s Bureau of Environmental Services and Metro to buy 146 acres of forested land located just south of Riverview Cemetery and the Sellwood Bridge. The parcel of land was previously owned by the adjacent Riverview Cemetery. Technically, the land was private, but over the past two decades people have been hiking and biking through it and a mish-mash network of trails has developed. To my knowledge, Riverview Cemetery (to their credit) has chosen to look the other way instead of cracking down on trespassers.
With the City of Portland’s well-known lack of close-in singletrack trail riding opportunities, the purchase of this land — known as the “LC Trails” (due to nearby Lewis & Clark College) or simply “the cemetery” — immediately piqued the interest of off-road riding advocates. Local business owner and well-known rider Erik Tonkin has ridden the trails for 18 years. He says he “can’t imagine” a place where he’d rather see a public and professionally managed network of off-road bike trails.
The Oregon Department of Transportation has announced that the Oregon City/West Linn Bridge will re-open to traffic on Monday, October 15th. The bridge, a key bike connection between the two cities and to points beyond, has been closed for repairs and renovations since January 2011.
ODOT announced earlier this week that the Willamette Falls Heritage Area Coalition will hold a three-day festival to celebrate the bridge’s re-opening. The Willamette Falls Festival will run from Friday October 12th to Sunday October 14th. The noteworthy part of the event for people who enjoy riding bicycles is that during the festival, the bridge will be closed to auto and truck traffic for the entire weekend! This is a rare chance to hang out on this historic bridge (built in 1923) and view Willamette Falls without the noise and stress of motorized traffic.