Maria Rubia from the Mayor Potter’s office has requested a white paper from local bike advocate and lawyer Mark Ginsberg and Commissioner Sam Adams’ staffer Roland Chlapowski.
The report is meant to detail “currently outstanding issues” with Critical Mass. The report should be completed in the next few weeks.
Castelli, a designer and maker of high-end cycling apparel is setting up shop in Portland. The global company, based in Milan Italy, previously had their U.S. operations in Minneapolis, MN. The new operation should be up and running by December.
Eighteen months ago, Nike employee Greg Cowan took partial ownership in the company. Cowan lives in the Portland area and wants the company to be closer to home.
Castelli joins a long list of Portland-based bike companies.
In response to complaints of cyclists running stop signs, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) ran a traffic enforcement action at SE 26th and Clinton streets this morning. An enforcement action is sort of like a sting, except the cops put out cones and flags announcing it in all directions. They also publicized the location way beforehand.
The results were surprising. Here’s what traffic division commander Bill Sinnott had to say:
“I thought it went very well. We wrote 29 citations and 33 warnings to bicyclists for running the stop sign. We only stopped those that really went through the stop sign at some speed. We didn’t have enough officers to stop everyone so we only stopped the worst violators. We used the same standard for stopping motor vehicles. We wrote 15 citations and 4 warnings to vehicles.
I was suprised so many people still ran the stop signs and I was suprised there were so many more bikes then cars doing so. When we went into this we thought we would be writing more tickets and warnings to cars. One common theme the officers heard from bicyclists is that they saw the enforcement signs but felt they were acting appropriately and safely when they rode through the intersection even though they did not stop (or even come close to slowing down).”
Portland continues to lead the charge of online bike fun. Check out these gems I’ve come across recently…
GravelTech
This site is run by Andrew Morton and Billy Spaceman. Andrew has been reporting on the local singlespeed scene for years and is the creator of two bike zines; One Speed Revolution and BUI (Bikeculture Under the Influence). He recently posted a report on the third annual N.O.I.S.E. (Northwest One-speed International Solidarity Event) that’s worth a read.
BikeWad
“A journal of my biking experiences” says BikeWad author Damon Buckwalter. Damon has rediscovered his love of riding and has turned into a solid commuter. Lately, he’s been posting about his experiences with the chilly weather. Rock on Damon.
Team Ugly Stick
Theses guy mostly get together for MTB rides and cyclocross races. Co-authored by native Portlanders “Puck” and “Smack”. Check out this post with some great photos of Syncline Trail.
One of my intrepid roving correspondents snapped this photo of an art project at the Art Institute of Portland. It was designed and made by Emily Struck out of old Schwinn frames and parts.
[Thanks for the photo Ed!]
Just reading Molly’s latest post and noticed a link to Pereira Cycles. Tony Pereira is a small framebuilder who moved from Salt Lake City into a new shop in Southeast Portland just a few weeks ago.
He joins an impressive list of Portland framebuilders:
The bike industry is alive and well in Portland. Check out my links page for more local bike companies.
At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC), we heard from April Bertelsen of the Portland Mall Revitalization project.
This is the project that will completely reconstruct the existing bus mall on 5th and 6th Avenues downtown. In that process they will be uprooting and relocating hundreds of bike racks. April was at the PBAC meeting to hear input from cyclists about what type of facilities they should consider replacing them with.
Two great benefit events happening this week:
On Friday there is a Bicycle Film Night Fundraiser to benefit Times Up!, an advocacy group in NYC. They need to raise a bunch of money for legal fees associated with their battle for cyclists’ rights against the NYPD.
The feature presentation will be “Still We Ride,” a documentary on Critical Mass that I’ve heard is quite good. And by the way, if you’re not concerned about the actions of the NYPD towards cyclists, read this article by Senator Jim Elliot from Montana: “Freedom to Be, Freedom to Ride“.
Just wanted to make sure everyone reads this article by Margie Boule in Sunday’s Oregonian. It’s about a retiree named Alan Koch. For his 65th birthday he got a new Bianchi and is in the process of riding his bike on every street in Portland. That is awesome.
It reminds me of one of Eleni’s favorite books titled “Supergrandpa.” It pays tribute to a 66 year-old man who in 1951 finished first in the longest bicycle race in Sweden.
And since I’m mentioning books, there’s a great new one for older cyclists called, “Bike For Life: How to Ride to 100.”
Good luck Alan and I’ll see you out there.
Just got these photos from Maggie Burrus-Granger. Maggie is a local artist and biker who combined her passions into this very nifty bike-powered sewing machine. She also makes embroidered pillowcases (Juli got me a set for our 5th anniversary!), knit sweaters and inner tube bags all with bikes on them. The name of her company is amelia b.
I asked Maggie why she creates bike crafts:
“When I’m not riding my bike, I’m crafting, and when I’m not crafting I’m riding my bike, and sometimes I make crafts on my bike. I dream about bikes.”
You can see the bike-powered sewing machine in action, meet Maggie, and peruse lots of great bike-themed crafts at the upcoming BikeCraft Faire on December 7th. Save the date!
Erik Tonkin and Rhonda Mazza are the fastest couple in Portland. The husband and wife pair scored great results in the Cycle-Smart International held this morning in Northampton, MA. Erik placed 5th among an elite group of riders and Rhonda rode to an amazing 2nd place behind Canadian powerhouse Lynn Bessette. Way to go guys!
Last night my Gary Fisher Mamba was stolen from our porch in NE Portland. The bike was locked to our porch with a keyed, Trek cable lock woven through the wheel and frame and locked directly to the porch. Obviously someone came through the gate and up to our front door while we were sleeping last night and either picked the lock or clipped the cable. The lock was taken with the bike.
The bike is an orange Gary Fisher Mamba, purchased in 2000 with black writing. Uniqueness–the hand grips are taped with black electric tape due to previous stickiness. The bike is large framed, with Shimano Acera components, v-brakes, slightly rusty chain, slightly bent rims (it’s well used), head and tail lights.
Unfortunately and identification numbers are back in Wisconsin…so we will work on getting that information.
Any help with this would be appreciated.
efisc766@yahoo.com