BikePortland

Mountain bikers work hard at Hagg

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Hagg Lake, a popular mountain biking area about 50 miles west of Portland, recently got a new section of trail thanks to a local mountain bike club. Fifteen members of the Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP) volunteered a Saturday to put in a total of 75 hours of trail time. That’s what I call sweat equity!

PUMP member Ric Balfour gave me the rundown on what they accomplished:

[Wyatt and Lauren at
the Tourism Summit.]

Wyatt Baldwin and Lauren Bondi continue to improve on their online bicycle route planning tool, the byCycle Trip Planner.

The most interesting new development is the addition of a “safer” route preference option. According to Wyatt:

“The main thing it (the “safer” option) does different from “normal” is more heavily prefer the Metro Bike There Map network (the colored streets) and especially trails.”

[Pedalpalooza runs from 6/8 – 6/24 and is organized by Shift to Bikes. View the full schedule here and get the latest ride reports here.]

Two especially awesome rides today. First the Bike Kiss-in! Check out last year’s report…it’s just what it sounds like! And you should definitely check out the Transportation Geeks Ride. Back after its success last year, it’s being led again by the smart and fun Elicia Cardenas and TriMet’s bike guy Kiran Limaye. They’ll teach you all the wonky transportation stuff you never wanted to know ;-)!

Here’s the full line-up for today:

[Have card, will cycle.]

While up in Vancouver (WA) recently, I got a tour of the Northwest’s first pre-paid bike lockers. City of Vancouver transportation planner and BikeStation board member Todd Boulanger worked for over a year on the project and was excited to show them off.

The lockers work on a debit card system and cost just five cents an hour. For an average commuter that would be about $20 for six months of parking.

Todd, an unabashed Euro-phile who joined the Portland delegation on their recent trip to Amsterdam, first saw the lockers in Palo Alto two years ago, and is very happy to see them finally arrive in Vancouver. He also hopes to keep adding more of them across the region:

[Introducing Sweetpea Bicycles]

Portland’s burgeoning crop of custom framebuilders just got a litte sweeter. Natalie Ramsland and her partner (in life and business) Austin have launched Sweetpea Bicycles.

Natalie recently quit her job as a bike messenger and is now working full-tilt to design and build bikes especially for women. She has set up shop in a studio in the RJ Templeton Building located adjacent to the Burnside Bridge.

Riding home today I noticed this peculiar trailer set-up. The guy who owns it was stopped and fiddling with his derailleur so I decided to introduce myself and take a closer look.

Allen (picture below), who calls his bike his home, has put together this hi-capacity cargo trailer for hauling cans, bottles, and other stuff he finds on the side of the road.