Grab your children and run for cover because Mini-bike Winter is coming. Starting Wednesday, local bike fun agitators from near and far will descend upon our fair city for a five-day feast of 16″ wheeled madness. Or, in the words of one of the organizers, “an extended weekend of naked rides, office chair death races, spray paint parties and little wheel pain.”
Sound like fun to you? Here’s the official event flyer, and here are some of the events on the schedule:
With well over 1000 riders, yesterday’s Worst Day of the Year Ride kicked of the season in grand style. I’ve never seen such a diverse group of cyclists on one ride. People from all walks of bike showed up, eager to pedal around town in the company of friends and long overdue sunshine.
Eleni and I met all sorts of friendly folks, including:
[Posted by “Dan”]
On Feb 9, my mountain bike was stolen from the basement of Bridges Cafe at the corner of MLK and NE Knott. It is large Schwinn Impact with a funky magenta color with numerous nicks and scratches. If you have any info call me at 503-230-0480 or email me at warmgrimace@hotmail.com
[Posted by J.L.]
My wife and I just discovered our three bikes missing from our front porch. We’re carfree, so it was quite a blow. We live on SE 51st, near Powell.
The bikes:
Women’s Centurion (older): White, steel lugged frame, steel rims, “Centurion” on top downtube (it has two!), sticker with a (unfortunately unknown) license number on it from the seventies, wire saddlebag-type baskets on back, rear white plastic fender, lever shifters just behind cruiser-style handlebars, white grips on handlebars, centerpull brakes, empty light housing on front, Shimano components.
BC America Azzuri (men’s): 70’s bike, single-speed conversion, blue lugged steel frame, “Azzuri” on top tube, American flag on bottom bracket, lots of stickers on seat tube (including one from Germany and one from the Recyclery: three stickers, round Recyclery sticker, then at the base of the tube one that says something like “Made in the USA”), a (unfortunately unknown) serial number carved into the top tube, front reflector, drop handlebars with black tape, a little rust on the brake grips, says “BC America” on very-hard seat along with some Olympic-type symbols (maybe of stick-figures doing stuff?), sidepull brakes, aluminum rims, old steel back rack.
Novara Trionfo (men’s): dark red, lugged steel frame, Shimano 600 components, circa 1989-1991, downtube shifters, bullhorn bars (wrapped with an Ace bandage) made from inverted and sawn drop bars, reflective tape on right of front fork and on seatstays, wear on seat tube wear the lock is clamped, wear on aluminum (Planet Bike?) back rack from bike bucket hooks, aluminum rims, something written on the back of the saddle but I can’t remember what, some nice sidepull brakes, Recyclery sticker on seat tube, et cetera.
Our phone number is (503) 771-3745.
http://static.flickr.com/36/98596620_fb9bfdfe55_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/19/98596619_66c334b9b1_o.jpg
This is a long ago stolen bike (Sept. ’05) but I’m still hopeful…Red Cannondale circa 1990 touring road frame with white bar tape and SunTour Bar-end shifters. Shimano mix 105/XT drivetrain with SPD 747 pedals. Lemond saddle, rear Blackburn rack and fender. Frame is about a 53 cm with 27″ wheels. Serial no: 5210 1908004
Boring is a small town southeast of Portland. Last night, uber-advocate Jessica Roberts of the BTA met with the Boring Community Planning Organization and they discussed several exciting trails projects, including:
The folks in Boring have already got the ball rolling on these projects and support from cyclists here in Portland could be instrumental in making them a reality. For more information on how you can get involved, read this forum post by Jessica.
Aaron Tarfman, local bike activist and the man behind YourBodyPower.org, has completed a series of Virtual Bike Tours of Portland. His virtual tours include detailed route descriptions and photographs of nine different routes covering the entire Portland region. These are an excellent resource and a great way to learn how to move around the city by bike. Here’s his list of tours:
It’s people like Aaron who make Portland such an amazing city for bicycles. Thank you Aaron!
I just got an email from a local journalist who’s working on a story about TriMet and he needs feedback from cyclists. Here are the details:
I’m working on a story about how TriMet handles complaints from passengers, bike riders, pedestrains, and so on. I’m interested in any stories people have about their interactions with their system. Are you happy or dissatisfied with how your complaints were treated? Were complaints followed up? Any help you can offer would be much appreciated. I can be reached at (503) 294-4109 or jimmayer@news.oregonian.com. Thanks!
In response to your feedback from my post, Airport bike parking “for employees only”, I have just learned that the Portland Airport has re-designed the employee bike parking area to accomodate the general public. Here’s the scoop from Aviation Planner Jason Gately:
We recently modified our employee bike parking area to include an area for the general public. It is now split 50/50 between the general public and airprot employees (about 40 spaces each side). The employee side is still behind a secure gate, while the general public side is open (for now). We are looking into ways to secure this area, but still make it easy for the public to access at any tme of the day. It is located in a somewhat visible area near the terminal across from administrative offices below the E Concourse. It is located at the end (or beginning) of the new off-street multi-use path that parallels Airport Way into and out of the terminal.
The “Stumptown” incident is far from over. The Oregonian covers it in their business section today with a front page article by Helen Jung. Helen also writes about it on her blog.
This story has sparked 139 comments so far on this site alone and has spread all over the Internet. Specialized has definitely struck a nerve and 99% of the feedback so far has been vehemently opposed to their decision. This article by the Oregonian will take the bad PR for Specialized to a whole new level. It makes me wonder if their response will stay the same or if they’ll change course and back down before more damage is done.
One thing’s for sure, there will be more developments in this story. Stay tuned.
Michael Wolfe has a seriously high bike IQ (or would that be bi-Q?). I met him at the PUMP swap meet and have kept in touch ever since. He recently introduced himself to the Shift email list and has already started sharing some of his vast biking knowledge. One of his interests is figuring out car-free ways of escaping the city.
Here are three routes he’s got so far, complete with Google map assistance from the always handy Gmap Pedometer. File them away for summer, or tackle them next weekend:
[Update: This bike has been recovered!]
[Posted by “Megaroni1983”]
Someone stole my bike today. It’s a size 47 lemond big sky. It’s black and white and BEAUTIFUL. I loved it, and havent even had it a year.
http://www.lemondbikes.com/2005_bikes/big_sky_s.shtml
that is it. It has a flashing red light attached to the back end. It had a light on the front. It detaches, though the base is still on the bar. Silly. I took that off so nobody would steal my light, they just decided to take the whole dang bike.
I WANT IT BACK. I wish that were easy.
if by some chance you see a big burly man riding my little bike, knock him off and use some kung fu. then email me at meghanmeghanbobeggan@gmail.com
Thanks.
heh
