The City of Portland and Multnomah County will co-present their Climate Action Plan to citizens at a series of town halls beginning this Monday.
The plan is their “40 year roadmap for the institutional and individual change needed” to reach their ambitious climate protection goals. The over-arching goal is to reduce local carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
“Paving that section of abandoned rail would go a long way to making it easier for residents of that part of Tigard to get into downtown.”
— KT, from a comment on our story last week
On Tuesday, the Tigard City Council approved a resolution that would allow them to assume responsibility for an abandoned railroad line and they will now chalk up plans to convert it into a non-motorized trail.
News of the vote comes from Tigard city planner Duane Roberts. Roberts said they’ll still have to wait for Pacific Western Railroad to submit an official request to abandon the line to federal authorities, but that is expected to happen soon.
Year: 1983
Brand: Peugeot
Model: PSV-10
Color:Pearl/Blue/Orange
Size:58 cm
Photo: http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/Randy+Dugan/peugeot/IMG_2711.JPG.html
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2009-06-8
Stolen From: Hawthorne and 35th
Neighborhood: SE
Owner: Matthew Bald
OwnerEmail: matthew.bald@gmail.com
Description: The bike is identical to the one pictured below except:
-A super sweet and UNIQUE black and shimmery gold Schwinn saddle.
-A big ol’ DEAN stem
-Ergo brake levers
-Bar end shifter for rear derailer, downtube shifter for front.
-Turquoise/Green tires.
-Little detail: bar tape is wrapped backward (from when I didn’t know better)
It’s got all Super Vitus tubing and the original Super Vitus fork (that’s a little bent).
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike
A potential new baseball stadium isn’t the only hot topic in the Lents neighborhood these days.
Residents have teamed up with community organizations and the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation to start identifying a network of low-traffic bike boulevard streets.
It all started when PBOT traffic/bike safety specialist Greg Raisman spoke at a health conference at Oregon Health Sciences University. That talk sparked conversations with the non-profit Community Health Partnership and then Healthy Active Lents, who has since taken the lead role.
Can you feel it? That energy/buzz/mojo you sensed in the air when you woke up this morning was because Pedalpalooza starts tonight (as if you didn’t know already).
This our fifth year covering this distinctly awesome 17 days of bike fun and it’s gotten bigger and better each time around. (Browse our coverage from 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008).
For 2009, there seems to be more events, more excitement, and more attention on the event than ever (and we haven’t even gotten started yet). On that note, run out and pick up a fresh copy of the Portland Mercury. Their rad “Bike Issue” hit the stands this morning and inside you’ll find the official Pedalpalooza Calendar pull-out. Stuff it in your bag. You’ll need it starting tonight.
[Editor’s note: We’ll be posting Pedalpalooza ride reports as they come in. Pedalpalooza begins today, but there has already been one ride — a preview ride, on Tuesday, June 9, encapsulating as many themes and destinations as possible. This report came over the Shift list yesterday.]
Special thanks to Laughing Planet Cafe, official sponsor of our Pedalpalooza 2009 coverage.
From Esther Harlow, via Shift, on June 10:
A small but devoted crew of Pedalpalooza riders took to the streets last night on a psychogeographical Portland-wide search for and of Bike Fun, guided only by our fearless leader Chris, the Pedalpalooza calendar, and our wit.
Along the way,
— Puns, Spanish, tales of touring, horticulture, and the trials of Rev Phil were discussed;
— sex with bicycles, pregnancy, and homosexuality were simulated;
— the wonders of nature & the works of man in the forms of parks, birds, houses of worship, multi-sensual art, butt cleavage, graffiti, fountains, the Zoobomb pyle, and bro-brahs were experienced;
— the indigent, the daring hands-free, the Cirque of bicyclists of Mississippi St., and the lowriders were observed;
— freeways were killed, 12-lane bridges were protested, and Sisyphean hills were conquered;
— breakfast, tacos, pizza, sausage, water from Benson bubblers, and beer were imbibed;
— the lane was taken, the road was unimproved, and legal rights were exercised; and
— there was nudity (natch).
Sadly, our shorts were not short, our bikes were not French, we did not properly celebrate Oregon’s birthday, nor did we show off our Pretty Panties or drink in Vancouver (glaring oversights), but in all we previewed 43 rides and found them to our liking. A full list of rides we previewed is here (excepting Jon Van Oast’s Psychographical Tour of Portland, which encompassed our entire ride).
Entire set of photos here.
Year: 03
Brand: Bianchi
Model: San Lorenzo
Color:Black/Celeste
Size:55 cm
Serial: H3J1 3939
Stolen in portland, OR 97203
Stolen:2009-06-3
Stolen From: Hayden Bay Marina parking lot
Neighborhood: Hayden Island/Jantzen Beach
Owner: Art Grobe
OwnerEmail: artg01@yahoo.com
Reward: Yes
Description: Great condition, Bianchi Celeste Bar tape, all ultegra running gear
Police record with: Portland Police
Police reference#: 09-048766
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike
If you’ve ever ridden a tall bike, you can understand the attraction: Finally, for the first time in your bike-riding life, you’re not just traffic, you’re above traffic.
There’s something exciting and fun about pedaling at such heights. Do it with a few friends and it’s even better. That was the basic inspiration that led southeast Portlander Skye Blue to create Portland’s newest bike gang, The Irondelles.
“I know she wasn’t responsible [for the fee], but I was still tempted to ask her, ‘how much are you charging for golf clubs again?'”
— Slate Olson, upon being told his bike would cost $175 each way
On Wednesday, May 20th, Portlander Slate Olson was headed to Washington D.C. on a business trip when a woman working the United Airlines ticket counter at Portland International Airport (PDX) told him it would be $175 to take his bicycle along. Each way.
Olson wrote to me later that, “I know she wasn’t responsible, but I was still tempted to ask her, ‘how much are you charging for golf clubs again?” (Golf clubs fly free on United).
Olson’s experience has put him on a mini-campaign to rid PDX of baggage fees for bikes.
Olson is the general manager for Rapha, a U.K.-based bike clothing company with its North American headquarters in Portland. The way Olson sees it, if Portland wants to continue to be the spot for bicycling and bike tourism, this issue needs to be resolved.
Year: 80’s?
Brand: Nishiki
Color:Grey with chrome tipped forks
Size:56cm
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2009-06-6
Stolen From: My bike was stolen from Portland State University between Nueberger Hall and Smith Hall, next to SW Broadway and Harrision.
Neighborhood: Downtown – SW – PSU
Owner: nik ayres
OwnerEmail: nik.ayres@gmail.com
Reward: $200
Description: It is an old Grey Steel Frame Nishiki Road Bike. It has a Sun CR18 27-inch rear rim with a Formula 32-spoke flip-flop hub(single-speed/fixie).It has Shimano SPD Dual Platform Road Bicycle Pedals, one white handle bar wrap and one red handle bar wrap, with only the front brake on the left handle bar.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike
Imagine using the popular Streetview function of Google Maps on your favorite local bike path.
Well, according to an article published today in USA Today, that might be possible sooner than you think.
Google made waves back in May when images of their new photo-trike hit the Internet.
Some people immediately realized that the smaller footprint of the trike (they typically use cars) would allow Google to expand their Streetview offering to off-highway paths. Now, USA Today reports that they’ve deployed the trike to a bike trail in Monterey, California.
From the article:
“Much of the world is inaccessible to the car,” says Daniel Ratner, a Google senior engineer who designed the trike. “We want to get access to places people find important.”
Cascadia Rising Tide — a grassroots network of activists that, “take direct action to confront the roots causes of climate change and promote local, community-based solutions to the climate crisis” — will lead a ride next week exploring areas of North Portland that will be impacted by the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project.
Calling the CRC “our region’s biggest threat to bicycles and the people that love them,” Rising Tide has decided to do the ride during Shift’s Pedalpalooza event (which kicks off Thursday).