Blumenauer jumps at chance to hold a “weasel” accountable

George Will, Public Weasel No. 1.

Remember just over a year ago, when U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer told the crowd at the Oregon Bike Summit that we need to “Hold the weasels accountable” when their partisan bickering holds up good bike policy?

Now, Blumenauer is doing just that in his efforts to take Newsweek’s George Will to task for an anti-Portland screed he penned in a recent column. Will’s story was based on faulty assumptions about America’s relationship with bikes and cars and it directly insults Obama Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for his (gasp!) love of Portland.

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Tonight: PBS doc offers a new ‘Blueprint’ for American transportation

A shot of NW Lovejoy from the film.

Tonight at 8:00, on PBS stations across the country, a new one-hour documentary film will give Americans a history lesson and, hopefully, an inspiration to learn from it.

In the film, correspondent Miles O’Brien (formerly of CNN) travels to three American cities that have taken very different paths to dealing with transportation infrastructure and policies. From the outset he makes the focus clear: With shots of stressed out commuters in bumper-to-bumper traffic, O’Brien says, “As a nation we’ve arrived at a station called gridlock… We can’t pave our way out of his mess. We’ve got too many people, too many cars… too much pollution.”

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US Secretary of Transportation: “Bicycling is only healthy when you ride safely”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

“While we are working to improve conditions for bicyclists on the roadways, let’s, please, remember the culture we’ve created over the last 100 years will not welcome bikes overnight.”
— From the US DOT blog

Came across an article on bike safety published to the official blog of the U.S. Department of Transportation this morning (which is unfortunately called “Welcome to the Fast Lane”). Since May is National Bike Month, the US DOT found it fitting to remind folks on both sides of the windshield that safety should be the top priority.

A blog post about bike safety isn’t usually news, but when it comes from the US DOT I think it’s worth noting how they approach the topic.

The basic gist of the article is, ‘hey, we all know bikes are great, but this new push get more people on them will only work out if people don’t run into each other’.

“As this Administration works to develop environmentally-sound transportation options, making our streets more bike-friendly is high on the list,”

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An Xtracycle-powered, ‘Pleasant Revolution’ is coming to Portland

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The Ginger Ninjas playing an
impromptu gig in a plaza in
Guadalajara while locals pedal
to generate electricity.
(Photo: Ginger Ninjas)

A bike-powered band that roams the globe on fully-loaded Xtracycles to bring the good word of a sustainable lifestyle to everyone that cares to listen. If that’s not the type of band many Portlanders can get behind, I don’t know what is.

The Ginger Ninjas — a band headed up by Xtracycle co-founder Kipchoge Spencer — will be riding through Portland this weekend and they’re looking for places to put on their “pedal-powered rock show”.

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Bikes, blogs converge at ‘Mobile Social’

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Who knew tech nerds and bike geeks had so much in common?

D.L. Byron, founder of BikeHugger, a Seattle-based bike blog, likes to combine his passion for bikes and blogs into what he calls “Mobile Socials”, which unite biking, tech talk, lots of free bike schwag (including a new Breezer bike!) and of course, good beer.

From BikeHugger:

So what’s a Mobile Social Event?

It’s Like a Tupperware party for bike enthusiasts, only without the beehive hairdo or weird cult-like party games.

No really, what is it?

It’s an intersection of bikes, technology, and culture — we ride, talk bikes, party, and give away product.

This week, Byron is in Portland for the WebVisions conference, and will be hosting a Mobile Social (MoSo) Portland edition tomorrow night (5/20). The plan is to meet at the Convention Center (on MLK) at 6:00 and then join Byron, our own Jonathan Maus (he’ll lead the ride), and other tech-loving bike nerds for a ride to Rontoms (600 E Burnside).

At Rontoms, the big raffle will commence. The hot ticket this year will be a Breezer bike and assorted accessories.

Event details:


    BikeHugger Mobile Social/Portland
    Wednesday May 20th
    6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
    Meet at the Oregon Convention Center main entrance for a to be determined route around Portland. The destination is the Lucky Lab on Hawthorne.

Pioneer Century kicks off the summer riding season

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The Portland Wheelmen’s annual Pioneer Century ride is coming up soon, Saturday, June 6th, to kick off the summer road riding season. This is one of the most popular road rides of the year — last year’s Pioneer Century drew over 1,200 participants.

The Pioneer Century is a very flexible ride. The usual route is a 55-mile loop through the Canby-Molalla areas, with a challenging climb up the Cascade foothills to Kokel Corner. The second ride option is a very rural and scenic 45-mile loop, from Canby to Champoeg (pronounced “shampoo-ey”), out to the Willamette and back. Do the whole century by riding the 55-mile loop through Molalla first, then riding the Champoeg loop.

New to this year will be a shorter, 32-mile route through Canby and Molalla, without the climb up to Kokel Corner. Beautiful rural Oregon with only 1000ft of elevation gain — you won’t even notice that you’ve gone uphill! If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also follow-up the 32-mile ride with the Champoeg loop for a three-quarters century ride.

The ride starts at around 9am from the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby (south of Oregon City); the course opens at 7am, and riders depart around 9am.

Breakfast is being provided by Bob’s Red Mill; lunch and raffle prizes are being provided by Chris King. Online registration ($25) is open now at the Wheelmen’s site, and your cheerful author is probably going to get the very awesome souvenir socks that are available too.

What: Portland Wheelmen Pioneer Century
Where: Clackamas Fairgrounds, Canby
When: Saturday, June 6; course opens at 7am, 55 and 100 mile rides must leave by 9am

Blumenauer makes Portland bike boulevards a “High Priority” project

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Bike to Work Day in Lloyd District -4

U.S. Congressman Earl
Blumenauer has made his
transportation project
requests public.
(Photo © J. Maus)

[Via Mapes on Politics]

U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer has made his list of “High Priority” transportation projects public, and several of them are for bike-related projects in and around the Portland metro area. According to Blumenauer, the list was created to “ensure communities are full partners” in Congress’s efforts to re-write the federal transportation bill.

Capitol Hill lawmakers are in the process of creating the new bill, and as per usual, there is expected to be a lot of political wrangling and scrambling on how the hundreds of billions of dollars are spent. A small percentage of funds in the bill will go toward “High Priority Projects” that are specifically designated by Members of Congress.

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The Monday Roundup

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A bike bill of rights; reclaiming public spaces; commutes that suck; federal officials who ride; bikesharing in Canada; and yes, the car is still king.

– The New York Times created a big buzz with a front page article about Vauban, a carfree suburb in Germany. The heated discussion that has ensued in hundreds of comments centers around the possibility of creating similar developments in the United States.

– Colorado has just enacted a Cyclists’ Bill of Rights, including a three foot passing law as well as criminal penalties (including jail time) for throwing objects from a car at someone on a bike. The bill has earned acclaim, though not without its naysayers who complain of “special treatment.”

– Washington State transportation planners are looking for ways to cut the Columbia River Crossing budget. One of their first ideas: reduce the number of lanes from 12 to 10.

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Zoobomb celebrates: New rack will be official Portland monument

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Zoobomb pile

The Zoobomb Pyle at
SW 10th and Oak
(Photos © J. Maus)

An idea nearly three years in the making will finally bear fruit later this month when Zoobomb holds an event to dedicate the new permanent home for their “Pyle” of mini-bikes.

As we reported back in October 2007, the Zoobombers worked with Mayor Sam Adams (then Commissioner of Transportation), the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) and the Bureau of Transportation to secure a $10,000 grant for the project.

The new rack will be an officially recognized and sanctioned work of public art. Or, as Zoobomb puts it:

“A new home for Zoobomb’s bicycle lending library and a monument to public space, bicycling,and free fun!”

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From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike