BikePortland

Is our bike scene too white? Local non-profit tackles the issue

“The people riding and making decisions about bicycles is a white, middle class group.”
— Alison Hill Graves, Community Cycling Center

The staff at Community Cycling Center, a 15 year old Portland-based nonprofit that aims to increase access to bicycling, has been doing some soul searching in the last few years.

In the process, community and programs director Alison Hill Graves says they started looking around the area they serve (a five-mile radius around their NE 17th and Alberta retail shop). “We saw a big divide in terms of who’s riding bikes and who isn’t.”

Or, to put it more plainly, “The people riding and making decisions about bicycles is a white, middle class group.”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Copenhagen, 1937
– Watch videos below –

In light of Portland’s ongoing love-affair with Copenhagen, and the fact that Mr. Bicycle Copenhagen is in town at this very moment (prepping for the big event tonight), I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the transportation legacy of our respective cities.

Bike parking at Director Park.

The City of Portland opened up a new downtown park earlier this week. Director Park, a former parking lot (that’s now underground), occupies a full city block (bordered by SW Park and 9th to the east and west, and Taylor and Yamhill to the south and north). It’s a new public space that the City refers to as “a piazza in the heart of downtown.”

Here’s a bit of history from our friends at Neighborhood Notes:

“Nearly ten years ago Mayor Vera Katz launched a vision for Portland’s Downtown District, one that would extend the city’s public spaces in corridors that run both east and west—and north and south—intersecting in a very special park in the center of it all. Director Park is that place.”

A question we get a lot here at BikePortland is “Where do you get all your story ideas?”.

Most of our sources are top secret and will stay that way (just kidding, sort of), but here’s a rundown of a few of the places I go to gather tips for our weekly Monday Roundup post and to generally stay in the loop on transportation news and culture.

The crowd at the 2007 Oregon
Handmade Bicycle Show.
(Photo © J. Maus).

It’s going to rain, it’s going to be cold, and it’s going to be Halloween. There are plenty of opportunities to get into the spirit, costumed or otherwise. Want to ride into the dawn in celebration of bike fun? Move an antique bedroom set on your bike? Ride competitively through a muddy field? Or stay warm and dry while debating the merits of Copenhagen-style bike culture, or ogling handbuilt bike frames? As always, there’s something for everyone.

Thursday, October 29th

6:30pm – 10:30pm: Oregon Manifest: Bicycle Culture from Copenhagen to Portland
A panel discussion with unofficial Danish cycling ambassador Mikael Colville-Andersen, Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and reporter and bike author Jeff Mapes. $10 gets you food, beer, and lively debate over how we can make the best bicycling city. Also serves as the grand opening of the Dreams on Wheels exhibit (of which Colville-Andersen is the photographer). 539 NW Hoyt.

Former Parks Bureau staffer
Gregg Everheart enjoys a rare piece of
Forest Park single track.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Ever since citizen activist Frank Selker launched his grassroots campaign to garner support for more bicycle access in Forest Park, progress has followed at a steady clip.

The community responded quickly, business support followed, and even City Commissioner Nick Fish added his support to the effort. But all along, even as momentum and the coalition of advocacy grew around the issue, opposition simmered under the lid. Now, with the formation of an official Parks Bureau committee to look into how increased bike access will play out, those opposing voices are being heard.

Bike parking at the Gallery
Condominiums in NW Portland.
(Photo © Dan Liu)

While the Bicycle Plan for 2030 got most of the attention at last night’s Planning Commission meeting, there was another bike-related issue that was discussed.

Also on the agenda was a proposal to amend the City’s zoning code to increase the minimum amount of long-term bike parking that must be provided by developers of multi-family dwellings (condos and apartments). Currently that number is 0.25 bike spaces per dwelling unit, but the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) recommended that the Commission bump that number up to 1.5 bike spaces per dwelling unit.

Cyclocross racers from around the Northwest are buzzing this week about the upcoming Halloween edition of the Cross Crusade this weekend in Astoria. Besides the usual racing, the event promises two full days of fun, including Sunday’s official costume day.

Crusade racers are known for some amazingly funny and creative costumes, and organizers warn that if you don’t show up in one you should “be prepared to suffer the wrath”. On that note, I thought I’d provide some visual inspiration via photos of costumes from years past.

Check out what ex-pro road racer Doug Ollerenshaw wore in 2007:

When you’re as fast as Doug, you can wear anything.

Year: 2004
Brand: Masi
Model: Speciale
Color:Orange w/ baby blue
Size:56/57
Serial: MT300113
Stolen in Portland, OR
Stolen:2009-09-30
Stolen From: 2322 SW Osage
Owner: David Gualtieri
OwnerEmail: davidrgualtieri@gmail.com
Reward: Positive Karma
Description: silver Mavic Open pro rear wheel laced to silver 105 hub; Xero 18 spoke black front wheel; WinWood carbon fork; Origin 8 drop bars; 105 groupo; Cain Creek headset; Old Man Mt. Rack
Police record with: City of Portland
Police reference#: 0987930
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

In-Depth: Tracing the roots of the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show

[This story was written by Mark Reber]

Portland’s emergence as a hub of bike manufacturing seems new and shiny like the paint on the bikes at this week’s upcoming Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show. But the area’s provenance as a leading force in the bike business has its roots, just like the roots of the builders themselves, in its early pioneers.

No one understands this better than Andy Newlands of Terra Nova Cycles (a.k.a. Strawberry Cyclesport). He started building bikes when leather was the preferred material for helmets. I talked with Newlands recently about those early years.

“I graduated from the University of Washington with a Civil Engineering degree in 1970,” he explained. “It wasn’t exactly the best economy for finding a job in Seattle, so I started looking at what I might do to earn a living. Somehow, building bikes came into view.”

Last night in downtown Portland, the City’s Planning Commission heard three hours of testimony on the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. Despite a rumor that there would be “organized opposition” and that the plan would be in for a “bumpy night” and the scene would resemble the “unruly town halls on health care reform”, the night was actually quite tame.

Out of the entire three hours, there was only person — the infamous Terry Parker — who was in direct opposition to the plan (more on that below). A few others had solid critiques, but overall the plan received widespread support. In the end, the Commission decided to “hold open” the hearing until their next meeting on November 10th so they could “incorporate additional comment in the record” (according to Commissioner Chris Smith).

They say that Portland’s Critical Mass is dead.

Now they’re saying that the days of bike fun are numbered.

If that’s true, Jacque Authier intends to send it out with a bang (and maybe resuscitate it in the process). She’s announced the Halloween Procession for Poor, Dead Bike Fun this Friday, October 30th meeting at 5:45pm under the west end of the Morrison Bridge.

Here’s how Authier describes the ride:

A look at Copenhagen and Portland traffic, circa the 1930s

New downtown park gets parking right

Behind the Monday Roundup: Where we get our transpo news

Weekend Event Guide

Thursday, October 29th

A first for Forest Park singletrack plans: Opposition

Bike parking gets a boost from Planning Commission

A ‘cross costume primer

Orange w/ baby blue Masi Speciale 2004

In-Depth: Tracing the roots of the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show

Planning Commission hears (mostly) support for Bike Master Plan

Halloween is the time to celebrate bike fun (or mourn it)

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From the Archives

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