🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
Breakfast on the Bridges is the quintessential Shift to Bikes event. It is organized 100% by volunteers and funded with coffee and pastries that are donated by local businesses. It has no agenda other than to make people smile, thank them for riding their bike, and encourage a fun, festive, bikey atmosphere.
A few months ago a national magazine covered it, and now comes word that Transportation Alternatives – a transportation advocacy group in New York City – has started their own version.
Here’s a few tidbits from Portland and beyond…
Today I’ve got yet another great stolen bike recovery story to share. This one exemplifies the reason I began these listings in the first place; we can’t rely on the Police to get our bikes back. Nothing against them, but they cannot match the power of a savvy and connected bike community working together to reclaim bikes and bring thieves to justice.
And of course it doesn’t hurt to have a gutsy ZooBomber on your side…
Here’s an edited account from local cyclist and ZooBomber Corey (here’s the full version):
[Posted by “supermatt”]
Not a lot to say… the bike was only three weeks old and was stolen from the parking garage at 3rd and Columbia downtown. It is red with grip shifters. It had a bike computer (although I still have it–the sensor was still on the bike), no water bottle, and a lock. I had locked it with a wire lock through the front tire, bike frame, and through the rear tire. Although I don’t expect to see it again as I have no picture or way to prove that it was mine, I would like to know if others have had bikes stolen from the same location and what suggestions you might have for avoiding this in the future.
If you want to contact me, please respond to this post.
Thanks.
Ending speculation as to whether or not he’d stick around, Tom Knipe has just announced he will leave the Community Cycling Center by July 7th.
Knipe is the former program manager who became interim Director when Daniel Bohn left the position at the end of last year.
He had been working closely with newly appointed Executive Director Susan Remmers for the past month and a half.
Carye Bye (of Bunny on a Bike and Red Bat Press fame) didn’t become a full-fledged bike commuter until she got some one-on-one mentoring from a friend. This individual encouragement was just the nudge she needed to become a full-time cyclist.
Now, she not only rides to work, but runs errands and visits friends on her bike. She thinks more people would ride if they got a similar nudge so she’s taken the initiative to start a “Bike Buddy” program in Portland:
According to Carye:
[Posted by “bemiller20”]
Green Tiger road bike with yellow handlebar tape was stolen 5/22/06 from west side of Science Building One at PSU. Had a Kryptonite cable lock on it (I’ve since upgraded to the U). Probably not worth much, was pretty old skool, but it did have a Brroks B17 leather saddle on it which was just beginning to form to my specific dimensions. Had a single speed crank (53t) on the front with five gears in the rear and Wellgo plastic toe clip pedals. Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
bemiller@pdx.edu
On Monday afternoon, while at the Coast enjoying some time away, I received a voicemail from Anita at KATU TV. She said two cyclists had been hit out on Highway 47 and she wondered if I could post details about the crash in hopes of finding out their identity.
They’ve since been identified as Darrel and Sheryl McDaniel. They were both killed in the crash when Patricia Suhrbier let her Saab veer into the shoulder, striking them from behind.
The amount of women on bikes is a key indicator of how bike-friendly a city is (there have been studies on it). The City of Portland Office of Transportation Options is well aware of this fact. They’ve got a Women on Bikes program solely devoted to getting more women to ride by helping them gain confidence out on the roads.
In fact, the City has partnered with Bridge Pedal to offer the first ever women-only start at this year’s event.
That all sounds great. But two things I’ve seen and read lately have got me wondering about what’s really going on out there.
34 year-old Matt Cardinal has had two life-long passions; bikes and art. He’s been drawing and riding as long as he can remember.
I first saw Matt’s chalk drawings at the downtown Bike Gallery during the Trek Portland launch party. Ever since then I’ve been trying to connect with him and learn more about his work.
If you’ve ever been into the Hollywood Bike Gallery store (on Sandy Blvd.), you’ve probably seen Matt’s chalkboards drawings all around the shop. He’s done six of them since last summer. He’d like to do more, but his job as one of the shop’s mechanics keeps him too busy.
A recent bike theft recovery story spurred a debate about what to do if you see a stolen bike in your neighborhood or for sale online. In the story, someone approached a thief and paid them $150 for a bike they suspected was stolen. Some people were happy the owner got his bike back, while others said paying ransom was a terrible idea and would only encourage the thief to steal again.
I asked the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division Lieutenant what he would recommend doing:
On Saturday I went out to Portland International Raceway to check out the annual Human Powered Challenge.
I ended up catching a bit of the Electric Vehicle races and recumbent sprints. Unfortunately rain dampened spirits just a bit…but not enough to keep the diehard HPVers from competing.