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Pedalpalooza Daily: Saturday, June 13

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

[Welcome to your daily Pedalpalooza rundown. We’ll post each day’s events and rides here, so you can plan, email them to your friends, etc…

See all our Pedalpalooza coverage here and follow the latest updates on Twitter.

Click ride title for full details… have fun out there!]


9:00am – 1:00pm: Cycle the Well Field
See where Portland’s water supply comes from and learn about big issues in H20. Meet at the Aloft Hotel at Cascade Station, 9920 NE Cascades Pkwy (one block from the Cascade Station MAX stop on the red line)

10:00am – 2:00pm: Springwater Division Line
Adventurous fat-tired mountain bike trek along the long-defunct Springwater Division rail line. Meet at Linnemann Station, 3804 W Powell Loop, Gresham

10:30am – overnight: Sans Dérailleur Camping Tour
A mellow, gear-free jaunt out to Stub Stuart State Park. Reserve that campsite asap. Meet at Hillsboro MAX Station, 333 SE Washington St, Hillsboro

10:30am: Bike2Market Bike Ride
Ride to the PSU Farmers Market in good company. Meet at Couch Park, NW Glisan St and 20th Ave

Noon: Destination DIY
Gardens! Zines! Chickens! Fruit! Art! Meet at the IPRC, 917 SW Oak St, #218

Noon: Cirque du Cycling
An art bike parade, a criterium race, a family bike ride, a street fair, good beer. The event benefits progressive education program SEI. The parade starts at 2:30. It all goes down right in front of the Laughing Planet Cafe, 3765 N Mississippi Ave.

Noon: Myth Busters Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt to test your mental powers and knowledge of Portland. Ends with the premier of a new movie by a local filmmaker. Starts at Liberty Hall, 311 N Ivy Street

12:30pm – 4:30pm: Grass Hut Discovery Ride
“Join Grass Hut art collective as they take you on a wonder-filled discovery joy ride to the Bins, to feed nutria, to Elk Rock Island, to swim in the Willamette River (upstream from the poop), and to make art out of driftwood.” Meet at Grass Hut, 811 E Burnside St, Portland

1:00pm – 3:00pm: Yehuda Moon at Clever Cycles
Meet Rick Smith, creator of the popular Yehuda Moon comic. Clever Cycles, 908 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

2:00pm: WNBR Sunny Nekkid Ride
Not planning on staying up till all hours tonight? Ride naked in the light and warmth of day. A Portland tradition. Leaves from Coe Circle, NE 39th and Glisan

4:00pm – 6:00pm: Native Ecosystems Restoration
Visit several restoration sites, learn to identify native and non-native plants, learn the ins and outs of ecosystem restoration. Meet at PSU’s Smith Memorial Student Union (Park Blocks side).

7:30pm – 8:30pm: Fig Leif Naked Ride/Run
Portland’s first off-road naked bike ride, and a naked 5k run! Forest Park, NW Leif Eriksen Drive (500 yards beyond the NW Thurman Street gate)

9:00pm – 2:00am: Pedalpalooza Kickoff Dance Party
The biggest kickoff party yet! Theme: Where the Wild Things Are. Come in costume but prepare to shed it — the World Naked Bike Ride leaves from here at midnight! Free admission (with bike), cheap beer. 2181 NW Nicolai St. Watch out for the tracks!

Midnight: The World Naked Bike Ride
Epic. Massive. Historic. Come out and ride as “bare as you dare.” 2181 NW Nicolai St. Watch out for the tracks.

silver Raleigh Competition GS (these stickers gone) 1978

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Year: 1978
Brand: Raleigh
Model: Competition GS (these stickers gone)
Color:silver
Size:63 cm
Photo: email me for photo
Stolen in Portland, OR 97204
Stolen:2009-06-4
Stolen From: Stolen from inside 3rd floor of office(!) – Henry Failing building on SW 1st and Oak, right above original McCormick & Schmicks.
Neighborhood: Old town
Owner: Andrew Holder
OwnerEmail: andrewjholder@hotmail.com
Reward: $100 for bike or info that directly leads to it
Description: Silver Reynolds 531 lugged frame, very tall. Small dent in top of top tube. Toro bullhorn bars, new Velocity Aerohead rims on original Campy hubs, original Campy 10-speed drivetrain, leather Ideale saddle.
Police record with: Portland Police
Police reference#: 0949418
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

‘Portland Bike Station’ coming to downtown?

The mystery storefront at 515 SW 3rd.
(Photo: Dana Troy)

Several readers have alerted me to a mysterious sign posted on a vacant storefront on SW 3rd that reads, “Coming Soon… Portland Bike Station”.

I made a few calls and couldn’t find out much about it. One source did confirm for me that it is legit and that something is in the works. I’ll have more as soon as I find out.

One other thing I’ve confirmed is that it won’t be a Bikestation, as in the officially trademarked name of the non-profit organization that has its branded facilities in Seattle, Santa Barbara, Long Beach, and other cities.

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Bikes and the Blazers: Two things that go great together

Blazers and bikes -1

I still don’t know who’s responsible for
this stencil. I spotted it on the bike
signal loop detector at the corner
of NE Lloyd and the Steel Bridge.
(Photos © J. Maus)

It seems like an eternity has passed since I put together the Bike to Blazers ride. And in Blazer terms, it is.

Back in April 2006, our local team was at the bottom of the NBA barrel. They had huge problems on the court (couldn’t win games) and off (couldn’t stay out of trouble). I remember when I announced the ride, several openly commenters scoffed at the idea.

Fast forward to today. Now there’s a much different vibe coming from the Rose Garden. The Blazers are one of the hottest teams in the league and they’ve got players who inspire both on the hardwood and in the neighborhood.

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Parade gets Pedalpalooza off to spirited start (Video/Slideshow)

Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride 2009-32

Jacqueline Authier honks
Stephen Upchurch’s horn.
– Slideshow and video below –
(Photos © J. Maus)

The 2009 Pedalpalooza got off to a rollicking start last night as an estimated 300 people turned out for the traditional Kickoff Parade.

The ride met at St. Francis Park in southeast Portland and then meandered through main streets (including a jaunt down Hawthorne) and alleyways before ending up at Colonel Summers Park.

Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride 2009-38

A purple dinosaur-costumed
lady smoking a pipe on her bike.

Before the ride got started, I had the chance to chat with old friends and meet a few ones as well.

I bumped into 51 year-old Brett Stern, who was just on his second day back on the bike after a bout with cancer. Brett said he plans to also do the Naked Bike Ride. He did his first one last year because it fell on his 50th birthday, “And what better way to spend your 50th than to actually get into your birthday suit with a few thousand other people!”.

It was nice to see Vancouver, B.C. resident Ron Richings back in town. He plans to stay for the duration of the festivities before heading home.

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Pedalpalooza Daily: Friday, June 12

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

[Welcome to your daily Pedalpalooza rundown. We’ll post each day’s events and rides here, so you can plan, email them to your friends, etc…

See all our Pedalpalooza coverage here and follow the latest updates on Twitter.

Click ride title for full details… have fun out there!]


7:00am – 9:00am: Breakfast on the Bridges
Every Friday in June is a BonB Friday! Come celebrate the beginning of summer with a cup of coffee on your way to work on the Hawthorne and Steel lower deck.

Noon – 2:00pm: Portland City Tour

Free, meandering tour of Portland with Portland City Tours. Leaves from Vera Katz statue, 2 SE Main St

Noon: Chocolate Ride

Yum. Leaves from JaCiva’s Chocolates, 4733 SE Hawthorne Blvd

2:00pm: Horticultural Challenge Ride
Show off your knowledge of plant names, win prizes. Irving Park, NE 7th and Fremont

6:00pm: Noobs on Unicycles
Learn this vital life skill. Salmon Street Fountain.

5:15pm: Bike to Baseball
Join all the kids who participated in the Walk + Bike Challenge for a night at PGE Park! On field activities for kids, the Challenge winner will throw out the first pitch and bikes will overtake the stadium for a night of bikey baseball fun. Fireworks after the game, too! Bring cash for tickets (or purchase ahead of time; info at www.walknbike.org) and treats. Meet at Buckman Elementary (320 SE 16th Ave).

6:00pm – 8:00pm: Vancouver Trails Ride
Explore trails and scenery up on the north side of the Columbia. Meet at Esther Short Park.

7:45pm: Jesus Cycle Procession
It’s simple. Dress as your favorite savior, meet at the Salmon Street Fountain, and ride to the Bike Porn: Cyclebound film fest opening night. Or skip the movies and head to the Lucky Lab at SE Hawthorne and 10th around 10pm for more Jesus riding.

11:59: Midnight Mystery Ride
Meet at 11pm at Pub at the End of the Universe, 4107 SE 28th Ave. At midnight, ride to a mystery destination.

TriMet project means bike detour around Esplanade

spring day on the Esplanade

TriMet will allow only walking of
bikes only through this section
(and more) of the Esplanade path.
– Detour map below –
(Photo © J Maus)

It’s the opening day of Pedalpalooza and summer bike season is getting underway. Unfortunately, TriMet needs to partially close a section of the highly trafficked Eastbank Esplanade starting this Monday (6/15).

Here’s the official word from TriMet:

Bike traffic on the Eastbank Esplanade between the Hawthorne Bridge and SE Caruthers Street will be temporarily detoured to SE Water Avenue Monday, June 15, through Thursday, June 18, 2009.

In preparation for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project’s new bridge over the Willamette River, crews will be collecting geotechnical samples along the riverbank using heavy equipment.

Cyclists can dismount and walk through the work zone, but we recommend following the detour route instead to avoid delays.

Check out the official detour map below the jump…

Read more

Bikes should loom large in City, County Climate Action Plan

Commute mode split Portland has now…

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.

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Tigard City Council votes in support of new rail-trail

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

“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.

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Pearl/Blue/Orange Peugeot PSV-10 1983

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

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

Lents residents plan bike boulevard ride

Lents looks to be more bike-friendly.

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.

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