BikePortland

Shift jerseys in the works

[Relax, it’s just a mock-up.]

Volunteers with Shift to Bikes – the local group behind Pedalpalooza, Breakfast on the Bridges, and bike moves – aren’t usually seen wearing lycra. But Patrick Bardel hopes to change all that.

He’s working with a friend (who designs shoes for Nike) to produce the first-ever Shift jersey. The design on the right is just a rought draft and they won’t be available for a few months…but I have a hunch these will be popular, so I wanted to put them on your radar screen.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Last Saturday CHUNK DCLXVI (666) held a framebuilding workshop. The idea was to invite local framebuilders and show them the fine art of building a bike, CHUNK-style. Here’s more from the event invite:

“You know how to build a bike. We want to teach you how not to build a bike. A sorta monster garage with no cameras and more beer. You are encouraged to bring raw materials (old frames, wheels, beer, etc.) and safety equipment (gloves, gogs, beer, etc). You are not allowed to bring or use poofter stuff like brass, flux, virgin steel or calipers. I think we will allow files since were a little short on those but limit it to one or two. All jigs will be made of 2x4s and old innertubes or whatever else you can find lying around. All welds will be made with an oxy torch and coat hangers.”

[Photo by Heather Andrews]

Intrepid cyclists VJ Beauchamp and Heather Andrews have uncovered a little-known “underground bike parking bunker” below the Oregon Convention Center. They found it while looking for parking during last weekend’s Wordstock Festival. Here’s more from Heather:

[Posted by “Moose”]

Our daughter’s green 16 and a half inch NORCO bike was stolen from the Sunnyside Environmental School covered bike rack on 4/20 in the evening. The model is: Berretta. There is a Canadian flag sticker on the frame. It has an aluminum back rack and a kickstand. Serial number is: UC&J000445
Our email: mrm@integraonline.com or 503-232-8024

Bikes and more at Earth Day

[Your friendly bike valet.]

Spring is here and with it comes hordes of Portland cyclists, eager to ride without gloves and rain jackets. Saturday’s Earth Day Celebration at Sellwood Park was overrun with bikes. Luckily, volunteers from Shift to Bikes were on hand to offer free, attended bike parking.

The bike parking area was part of the Better Transportation Fair which featured lots of bikey fun. Get Lit’s Jeff Bernards was on hand giving away free bike helmets, Citybikes’ Tim Calvert was showing people how to make bike buckets, volunteer Carl Larson was manning the Shift table, and there was a place to test-ride utility and cargo bikes.

Allan Folz is the third cyclist in as many weeks to successfully defend himself in court. Earlier this week, he fought a citation he got while riding to work in Beaverton back in February (read his story in the Forums). His victory follows the cases of Sean Barrett and Mike Reuter who also took the initiative and won respect from a system that still caters to car culture and leaves cyclists guilty until proven innocent.

We’re still many years away from garnering the same respect in the system as motorized vehicles, so it’s up to us to demand it. We need to educate ourselves and be willing to fight for our rights when necessary. Here are some great tips from Allan about how your can increase your chances of victory in court:

I love when I wake up to emails like this:

“Jonathan,

Wanted to let you know I recovered the bike yesterday.

I can’t be sure, but it looks like the response posted on BikePortland.org had a lot to do with the bikes current “owner” contacting me to arrange a return. It was a pretty sketchy dealing, with cops involved and stuff, but my baby’s back home again.

So thanks again for keeping this website running. It’s a great public service.”

The City of Portland has announced more details about the upcoming Portland Bike Summit. It will be held at PSU’s Smith Center (1825 SW Broadway) on June 17th from 8:30 to 1:30.

[PDOT Transportation Planner,
Paul Smith]

City Transportation Planner Paul Smith just submitted a guest post over on Sam Adams’ blog. It’s in response to a “small but vocal” group that has been giving Sam flack because they think bike projects get too much love in the transportation budget.

Sam has asked Paul to look more closely into this and come up with the hard numbers. Not surprisingly, it turns out that bikes receive only “a tiny fraction of PDOT’s total budget” according to Paul.

The Portland Office of Transportation Options is in high gear. They’re in the midst of the Northeast Hub Project, a comprehensive program that aims to encourage walking and biking in Northeast Portland.

Yesterday I gained clearance to the top-secret Hub headquarters to check out the operation.

Transportation Options are the folks behind many of the innovative and fun outreach programs in Portland. They do things like the Summer Cycle ride series, the Women on Bikes program, and they give away tons of free bike maps and other goodies at community events throughout the year.

[Happy and secure.]

Back in March I said I would give away a Kryptonite Evolution U-lock to a randomly selected bike theft victim. To be eligible, you had to list your stolen bike and provide me with a case number from the Portland Police Bureau.

The first winner is Jay Fields! Jay lost her blue Trek hybrid to theives back on April 4th. Here’s what she had to say about winning the lock:

“Thanks so much for the lock and for this program — it helps to take the sting away from having a bike stolen and instead emphasizes all the wonderful, kind, and helpful people in our community.”

Bike polo is one of the most challenging and fun things you can do on two wheels. I played last summer with the Axles of Evil crew and it was awesome. Blood was spilled and although I barely held my own against their mallet mastery, it was a hell of a good time.

I spilled blood, scored the game-ending goal mid-crash, and felt like I was baptised into the sport. But not everyone is looking for such an intense introduction.

Shift jerseys in the works

CHUNK holds framebuilding workshop

Underground bike parking at Convention Center

Stolen: Green Norco

Bikes and more at Earth Day

Cyclists fight back in court…and win

Another stolen bike recovered!

Bike Summit plans announced

City planner takes on bikes in the budget

City’s “Hub” project off and rolling

First U-lock winner announced

Polo for the people coming to Alberta Park

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From the Archives

Portland’s invisible machine: Behind the scenes at the World Naked Bike Ride