Cycling has reached a fever pitch here in Portland.
We’re in the midst of the largest and craziest Pedalpalooza ever, we’re now a legit part of the economy, it’s the eve of our first-ever Bike Summit (with over 300 registered so far), and today the Oregonian is chock-full of bike coverage.
The one article that really stands out is the editorial, “Bike advocates aim for political staying power.” Check out the last sentence of this paragraph:
Bicycle boulevards are the Next Big Thing for Portland’s bike-friendliness. Both PDOT and the BTA are working on different projects to move the conversation and infrastructure forward.
While PDOT is forging ahead on an infrastructure level (recently asking for over $5 million for bike boulevards) the BTA plans to focus their efforts in a more grassroots way.
Their plan – just unveiled on their website a few minutes ago – will tap into $35,000 from private donors and a mini-grant from Bikes Belong to go out into the community to figure out just what a bicycle boulevard should look like. Here’s a quote taken from Evan Manvel on the BTA Blog:
[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.]
Vancouver (our neighbor to the North) is really coming on strong. Next Monday they’re hosting an award ceremony for their Bronze award from the League of American Bicyclists, they got some great bikey coverage yesterday in the Columbian and check out their three events today; Critical Mass, a fashion show and a bike-in movie. Yeah Vancouver!
Here’s a list of today’s events:
[Posted by “simonharris”]
someone broke into my apartment and clipped the cable on my green rollo bianchi cruiser which also has a basket on the front. If you see this bike please email me simonharris at riseup.net
thanks.
At around 7:00AM last Monday morning Justin Isle was riding in the bike lane on his way to work, heading westbound on NE Broadway. As he approached N Williams Avenue and the I-5 onramp (right near the Shell station) he was struck by a car.
He now has two compression fractures in his back and no witnesses to help with his case.
A consulting firm hired by the City of Portland Office of Transportation just completed an economic analysis of Portland’s bicycle industry. The final numbers say that our bicycle-related industry is worth $63 million to Portland’s regional economy (which has a total value of $17 billion) and that bicycles account for 800 jobs.
Download report summary (PDF)
The survey was given to more than 100 businesses, varying in size from a one-man shop to companies with 50-100 employees. They were asked four questions related to:
The Bike to Skate ride cruised down to Oaks Bottom for a potluck feast, followed by some roller skating action.
Here’s the report from ride leader Jeff Bernards,
[Listed by “gordo2002”]
Mine and my wifes bikes were stolen on 6-13-06, i had a ’05 giant ocr1 and it was blue and silver. she had a ’02 trek 3700 mountain bike. these bikes were locked to a bike post in front of Bridgeport brewery in NW, between the time of 10:30-11:15 pm someone came by and cut both of our cable locks. my name is jordan and phone # 801-232-8539
Tomorrow I plan to post about the results of the City of Portland’s bicycle industry economic impact survey. In light of that I thought I’d share a couple of local bike industry stories that have been piling up on my desk:
Showers Pass gets “Best Gear” award
Outside Magazine has named the Showers Pass Elite Jacket among it’s best cycling gear of the year.
Showers Pass is located in Beaverton, (five miles Southwest of Portland) and has quickly gained a strong following for their wet weather gear. It’s good quality stuff and you can find it locally at Bike Gallery, TeamEstrogen.com (women’s) and VeloClothes.com.
Noticed an article in the Oregonian yesterday about the upcoming 75th anniversary of the St. Johns Bridge in North Portland.
Given the controversial recent history of this bridge, one paragraph jumped out at me:
“In 2005, the Oregon Department of Transportation spent nearly $43 million to complete a major overhaul of the bridge that included new decking, replacement of worn cables, an upgrading of seismic features, better pedestrian and bicycle access, and reinstallation of historic street lamps.”
[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.]
Northeast steps up to the plate today with a bouquet of bike fun. The CCC is hosting two volunteer events, the Clownhouse is having their Bikini Bike Wash, and Tori will be rocking her Polo 101 class at Alberta Park.
Here’s a list of today’s action:
Donuts, tacos, pad thai, whew…Pedalpalooza is quite the multicultural culinary experience!
This ride report was sent in by Carye Bye (aka Red Bat).