BikePortland

Tis the season to light up your bike (and then show it off)

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Time to light up your bike!
(Photo © J. Maus)

It’s way too dark too early in Portland these days, and it happens to be the holiday season, so what better time to light up your bike and then spread the cheer by riding around to light displays throughout the city?

If you’re looking to festive-ize your bike, Aaron Tarfman recently shared a few sources via the Shift email list. Tarfman says he’s already gotten “a lot of compliments’ for the lights on his frame and now plans to wrap his wheels in them too. He recommends the LED variety which you can order online here, here or here for about $7 to $15. I’ve also found them at Sunlan Lighting on North Mississippi Ave.

The project will move the bike traffic
lane curbside (among other things).
(Photo © J. Maus)

New details about pending safety improvements for the notorious NE Broadway/N Williams intersection have emerged since we published an update last Monday. In our story, we reported that the bike safety improvements (which include a new bike-only signal and traffic lane reconfigurations) had been put on hold because of the impending streetcar project which is slated to run up Broadway. Engineers working on the bike project, they told us, were concerned that any changes they made would be torn out once streetcar construction started.

Our story also reprinted a statement made by PBOT Traffic Engineer Rob Burchfield in October 2008, that “funding [for the Broadway/Williams fix] is available and construction could start once a design is decided on.”

As we mentioned in a story last week, we’re working with the Portland Police Bureau and the guy behind StolenBicycleRegistry.com (Bryan Hance, who happens to live in Portland) to catch more bike thieves.

If all goes according to plan (which it should), local police officers will have live, up-to-the-minute access to all stolen bikes listed both here on BikePortland and on StolenBicycleRegistry.com right in the front seat of their patrol cars.

Watch the video coverage that ran tonight on KOIN-TV (Portland CBS affiliate):

Red/White Fuji CrossComp 2006

Year: 2006
Brand: Fuji
Model: CrossComp
Color:Red/White
Size:54
Photo: http://www.bikepedia.com/Images/image.aspx?w=400&h=400&filename=2006-Fuji-Cross-Comp.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97209
Stolen:2009-11-30
Stolen From: 10th and Flanders St, in front of the SkinniDip frozen yogurt store
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Owner: Eric Gregg
OwnerEmail: egregg@inavero.com
Reward: $150
Description: Has an underseat bike bag, a rack on back for panniers, and a a small bike computer on the handlebars.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

At BikeCraft, rain capes and more from Sara Stout

Sara Stout is busy creating
wonderful things for BikeCraft.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

I recently paid a visit to Sara Stout in the treehouse where she lives, paints, and tends to her bike fleet and aging dog Betty (a longtime fixture at bike moves). This week, the treehouse has been transformed into a BikeCraft factory, where Stout has been busily turning old materials into new, useful things.

When I dropped by, the final coat on a colorful tray of light-switch plate covers, was drying by the woodstove. Stout had moved on to making bicycle-shaped seat covers, with waterproof material above and a drawstring underneath.

Year: ?
Brand: Diamonback
Color:Pink
Size:White
Stolen in Portland, OR 97210
Stolen:2009-11-28
Stolen From: Lloyd Center
Owner: Kyle Lattimer
OwnerEmail: kylelattimer@gmail.com
Description: The bike was just purchased from the police warehouse in Salem so the bike should have some serial numbers written on the bike with red marker. The bike is half pink and half white. That is all the information I have. Please Help!
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

BikePortland social this Thursday: What’s the state of bike advocacy?

The first BikePortland social in 2008
(Photo © J. Maus)

What is the state of bicycle advocacy in the nation’s most bicycle-friendly city?

Join us this Thursday for an informal discussion of just that. Come talk and learn about recent staffing shake-ups at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, the Community Cycling Center’s efforts to reach out to minority populations, carfree activism, Critical Mass, Idaho Stop, cycle tracks, bicycle funding, and the grassroots advocacy initiatives that never stop cropping up.

Hit and run on a bike; bike laws (pro- and anti-); how to save the bus system; high speed rail; seat belts on the motorcoach; Rosa Parks revisited; the art of bike safety

Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:

– Prominent medical journal The Lancet has published a study that includes a strong recommendation of funding biking and walking infrastructure over roads.

– In the past 25 years, the amount of highway funding that comes from sources not related to highway use has doubled.

Year: 2005
Brand: Bianchi
Model: Pista
Color:Chrome
Size:57cm
Stolen in Portland, OR 97210
Stolen:2009-11-10
Stolen From: NW Savier St between 24th and 25th Aves.
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
Owner: Kevin Murphy
OwnerEmail: kcmurphy@gmail.com
Reward: YES
Description: All Chrome (debadged the painted on decals on top tube and downtube–headbadge remains on headtube) Bianchi Pista. Converted to 7 speed internal gear hub with rolling rear brake. Custom built front and rear wheels, with black Velocity Aerohead rims, radially laced in front, 3 cross in rear with Shimano 7 speed internal hub. Sugino 75 crank, swept back riser handlebar with grip shift. Machinery Row Bicycles saddle bag with a security cable running through the saddle rails. Shimano SPD pedals with flat on opposite side.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Red/Cream Novara-REI Road 2004

Year: 2004
Brand: Novara-REI
Model: Road
Color:Red/Cream
Size:Medium Women’s size
Stolen in Portland, OR 97204
Stolen:2009-11-27
Stolen From: Portland Public Library Central
Neighborhood: Downtown
Owner: Emily Brennan
OwnerEmail: bren@pdx.edu
Reward: $100
Description: I wrapped the handles myself (obviously an amateur job). Stickers are: Big blue sticker in Russian, A “boycott eat public land beef”, a “I only drink tap water”. There is a big black back fender. Also a cateye light.
Police record with: 09106480
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Cream Novara-REI Road 2004

Year: 2004
Brand: Novara-REI
Model: Road
Color:Cream
Size:White
Stolen in Portland, OR 97204
Stolen:2009-11-27
Stolen From: Portland Public Library Central
Neighborhood: Downtown
Owner: Emily Brennan
OwnerEmail: bren@pdx.edu
Reward: $100
Description: I wrapped the handles myself (obviously an amateur job). Stickers are: Big blue sticker in Russian, A “boycott eat public land beef”, a “I only drink tap water”. There is a big black back fender. Also a cateye light.
Police record with: 09106480
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

“Dear friends and colleagues”: A letter from Scott Bricker

“This new position proved to be my most challenging professional venture.”
— Scott Bricker

On November 18th, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) announced that Scott Bricker would no longer be their leader. The firing was effective immediately, and it caught some in the community off guard. After all, Bricker had the longest tenure of any other BTA staffer.

Bricker has yet to respond at length to the personnel decision. Today, he sent out a letter to his friends and colleagues that he has given us permission to reprint in its entirety below:

Tis the season to light up your bike (and then show it off)

Broadway/Williams update: Why the project will wait for streetcar

KOIN TV covers new police/tech bike theft partnership

Red/White Fuji CrossComp 2006

At BikeCraft, rain capes and more from Sara Stout

Pink Diamonback ?

BikePortland social this Thursday: What’s the state of bike advocacy?

The Monday Roundup

Chrome Bianchi Pista 2005

Red/Cream Novara-REI Road 2004

Cream Novara-REI Road 2004

“Dear friends and colleagues”: A letter from Scott Bricker

Latest Headlines

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From the Archives

Portland’s invisible machine: Behind the scenes at the World Naked Bike Ride