🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Summit starts with lessons from Copenhagen

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National Bike Summit 09 - Day One-73

Roger Geller (L) and the bike program
manager for the City of Copenhagen,
Andreas Rohl.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The 2009 National Bike Summit kicked off tonight with a pep rally of sorts, and the head cheerleader was Andreas Rohl, bike program manager for the city of Copenhagen.

For the uninitiated, Copenhagen is the world class cycling city all others aspire to. Don’t believe that claim? 36% of people who enter the city for work or for school do so on a bicycle and among people who live in their city’s core, 55% bike to work.

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BTA issues formal opposition to bike registration bill

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“The costs of providing facilities to accommodate and encourage bicycling are minimal in comparison to the value derived by reducing the impacts of our present reliance on motor vehicles for transportation.”
— from the BTA’s statement

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) issued a press release today stating their formal opposition to a proposal that would require all bicycle owners in the state of Oregon (over the age of 18) to register their bicycles.

The proposal, (House Bill 3008, text here), was created by State Representative Wayne Krieger (R-Gold Beach). Krieger defended the bill in an interview I did with him on Friday.

During that interview, I asked how he thought bike advocacy groups would respond. Now we know. To find out where the BTA stands on this issue, read their full statement below (emphasis mine):

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance opposes bicycle registration and other annual fees on bicycle ownership because:

• The net revenue realized would not contribute significantly to the construction and maintenance of roads and the ancillary facilities necessary for complete streets,

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Alice Awards red carpet photos and recap

BTA Alice Awards-18

An estimated 750 came out
to toast the BTA.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Saturday’s Alice Awards gala had all the glitz, glamour, and inspiration you’d expect when 750 of Oregon’s biking superstars get together to toast their collective success.

Since most of the crowd are used to meeting up at bike events and work meetings, many people use the night to show off their fashion sense. Check out a few samples below…

Here’s Portland Mercury reporter Sarah Mirk and her interesting choice in hats (one commenter on Flickr called her grin a “S-mirk”):

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Headed to DC for the National Bike Summit

Our day on Capitol Hill-33.jpg

A self-portrait while walking
the halls on Capitol Hill last year.

Tonight (at midnight, love those red-eyes) I’ll get on my Bike Friday Tikit and ride to the airport for my annual pilgrimage to Washington D.C. for the National Bike Summit. This will be my fourth year in a row attending the event and I’m looking forward to it with all the enthusiasm, excitement and nerves of a first-timer.

This year — with a new administration in the Oval Office, a strong Democratic majority on Capitol Hill, and a new transportation bill in the making — there’s more at stake for the national bike movement than ever before.

The League’s main focus for the summit is “building bicycling into the transportation bill”. But in addition to that, there are two other bills with major biking implications that are expected to be introduced this week; a new climate change bill, and a complete streets bill. (I’ll have more about both of those in a separate post).

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The Monday Roundup

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Time for the news roundup…

Right wing radio, comparing bikes to guns, a bike bell orchestra, alternatives to asphalt

– The New York times calls for people to take the high road while riding bikes. Interesting meditation. Are we losing the PR war? Does it fall on us to change our behavior?

– BikePortland contributor Libby Tucker reports on her blog, Naked Energy, about Mayor Adams’ proposal to set an ambitious “carbon budget” for the city that would include major zoning and parking changes to create a city full of 20 minute neighborhoods.

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Weekend Open Thread

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Spring in Alberta neighborhood

Does this qualify as awesome
Alberta architecture?
(Photo © J. Maus)

There’s a ton of fun bike stuff to do this weekend.

I’m too tired to list it all right now, but if you check the Shift Calendar you’ll be off to a good start.

I’ll be escorting my lady to the BTA’s Alice Awards Saturday night and I’m sure I’ll see many of you there.

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A conversation with Rep. Krieger about his bike registration bill

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“This is an opportunity for the bicyclists to start contributing to our roads… everybody needs to contribute to what’s there… if there were not bicycles we wouldn’t need bicycle lanes.”
— Rep. Wayne Krieger

Representative Wayne Krieger (R-Gold Beach) wants everyone who owns a bicycle in the state of Oregon to pay a mandatory, $54 registration fee (and then renew it for another $54 every two years).

He is the chief architect of House Bill 3008, a proposal that was met with a lot of negative responses on this site when I reported on it today.

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And then there were 12: CRC rolls on at maximum size

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

As expected, the Columbia River Crossing Project Sponsors Council made their recommendation today that the new I-5 bridge be built with 12 total lanes.

Here’s more from the Portland Business Journal:

“The Columbia River Crossing Project Sponsors Council…wants six lanes in each direction for the replacement bridge, which would also offer bicycle and pedestrian lanes and a light rail line. Another advisory council formed by the group will explore tolling options for the bridge, expected to cost in excess of $4 billion.”

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Popular local ride guidebook now on the Web

[Publisher’s note: This story was published yesterday on Page Two, but since it’s so darn beautiful outside right now, and because this is such a great resource, I thought it needed a bit more attention.]

Screenshot of RubbertotheRoad.com

River City Bicycles’ Rubber to the Road guidebooks have long been a popular way to learn about great rides in our region. Now the books have a useful, web-based complement at RubbertotheRoad.com.

The website has a ton of great rides listed, complete with turn-by-turn directions and an interactive GPS-powered map. Here’s more about it from the latest River City Bicycles newsletter:

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