BikePortland

Biggest bike move ever

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Todd has a great post about last Saturday’s massive bike move. What is a bike move? It’s when bikey folks come together to help someone move all their stuff across town by bike.

Saturday’s mammoth move included 20 bikers hauling stuff about 130 blocks from NE to SW Portland!

If you live in the Portland metro area and want to try a bike move, check out the new “Move by Bike” page on the Shift website. For more photos and video of recent bike moves, check out this page. Here’s a shot of Todd’s fully-loaded, “Stokemonkey”-powered Xtracycle bike.

White House to install bike racks

Yes folks, it’s true. Here’s the excerpt from the Times Online (UK) story.

Mr Bush has ordered federal employees to curb their travel and encouraged them to use public transport. Bicycle racks are being installed in the parking bay of the White House.

Is a Presidential bike commute in the future?

[Hat tip to Fritz at Cyclelicious]

PSU to host Women’s Cycling Symposium

Is it just me, or has the Portland State University Cycling Club shown some exciting signs of life recently?

They’ve just launched a really cool new website , they hosted a major track racing event last month, they sent a few guys to the big Interbike trade show to schmooze potential sponsors, and now they’re hosting a symposium called, “A Woman’s Perspective.”

Here’s a bit more about what sounds like a very interesting event:

“A Women’s Perspective” brings local speakers from all walks of life to give new faces to the image of cycling in Portland. All speakers are deeply involved with the cycling community in a variety of ways from activism to professional racing. Keynoting the event will be Jacquie Phelan, the first woman in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and mountain bike pioneer, she brings experience and inspiration to the halls of Portland State.

Go here for all the details.

Rain and cold no match for bike fun

So you think just because it’s a wee bit nippy and wet that the Portland bike fun should end? Come on, haven’t I taught you better than that? Take a look at some of the fun on tap through the weekend:

Weds:
Walk+Bike to School Day
KBOO Bike Show

Thurs:
Woodlawn Vortex Booze Cruise

Sat:
Cross Crusade #2 at Alpenrose Dairy
Go By Bike! Art Studio Tours
R U ‘Couv Curious?

And if that doesn’t fulfill your every desire, move to Davis…err..umm..I mean check out the Shift Calendar for more events then slap on some fenders, grab those wool socks and raincoats and head out into the fun!

Rain got you down?

If the wet weather has put a damper on your biking mood you should read this inspiring post to the PortlandTransport.com blog by BTA head honcho, Evan Manvel. He wrote it after riding into work on Friday and stopping by Shift’s Breakfast on the Bridges (photos). I especially liked the last few lines:

“Taking off my wet socks and trading out my shirt, I was soon dry. And felt alive. Alive from biking, from feeling the weather, from being with these people, and living in this place. I love this job.”

Local framebuilder profiled in national magazine

Joseph Ahearne is the subject of the “Builder’s Profile” in the October 1 issue of Dirt Rag Magazine.

Joseph is a top-notch guy with a bright future in the bike business. He makes beautifully functional custom bike frames and cargo racks. He’s also well-known for his popular “Spaceman Flask Holster” which is like a water bottle cage, only custom designed to hold a flask.

To see Joseph’s work, check out the Ahearne Cycles website. There’s also more photos of him and his shop in the BikePortland.org archives. And don’t miss this photo I snapped of him walking the floor of Interbike.

You can pick up a copy of Dirt Rag from Fat Tire Farm, Citybikes or wherever cool magazines are sold.

Walk ‘n Bike to School Day is Weds. 10/5

Next week is Oregon’s statewide “Walk + Bike to School Day.” On Wednesday thousands of kids across the state will walk and ride bikes to school instead of driving. The event is meant to raise awareness for the Safe Routes to School Program which is headed up locally by the BTA.

Robert Ping, program director of Safe Routes to School has been working with parents and teachers to identify barriers to walking and biking, teach kids safe biking skills, and show kids how much fun walking and biking to school can be. He hopes to reach 10,000 kids at 60 schools across the state…now that’s a critical mass!

On Sunday, Oct 16th and 22nd bike mechanics from several Portland bike shops will come together to restore old bicycles for Gulf Coast evacuees who have recently been relocated to Portland. The completed bikes will be donated and distributed to new Portlanders by the Red Cross of Portland. The goal is to build approximately twenty bikes (10 adult and 10 kids) for those who want affordable, self-reliant, and environmentally sustainable transportation.

The bike building sessions are organized and hosted by North Portland BikeWorks, a small, non-profit neighborhood bike shop, located in the Mississippi Business District.

I highly recommend checking out the Clown House tonight during Last Thursday on Alberta. What is the Clown House you ask? Well, it’s sort of like a street circus combined with Chunkathalon. To get a better feel for what to expect tonight, take a look at my set of Clown House photos. I’ve also come across this nifty photo gallery with captions that are a good Clown House primer.

It’s wacky, Portland bike fun at its uncensored best. Where else in the world can you see mini-bikes piloted by clowns launching off jumps over a mud pit!…and that’s just a start.

The Clown House is located at NE Alberta and 24th. Get there around 7:00 or so for the good stuff.

Meet Portland’s bike lane characters

If you’ve ridden your bike around this city long enough, you’ve probably come in contact with Portland’s bike lane people.

Customized bike lane markings were started in 1999 by a former city employee named Todd Roberts and is a tradition that has carried on ever since. One of my faithful readers turned up this great article (PDF) on them from the September 2003 issue of VeloVision Magazine (a really great UK bike mag). It’s a great read. Turns out Todd doesn’t even like bikes (“It’s boring as hell”). In fact, he’s the last guy you think would be behind these markings. He is, as the author puts it, “an unlikely cycling hero.”

I’ve been given permission by the city to share some photos of these markings from their archives. So far, I’ve got 19 of them in the BikePortland photostream. I have no idea how many are out there but if you come across one and remember to snap a photo, please consider sharing it with me!

New sharrow markings in NW

“Sharrow” lane markings have just been painted on a few streets in NW Portland. Here’s an excerpt from the official news release from the City of Portland:

The Portland Office of Transportation began installing “shared lane pavement markings” on three streets in northwest and southwest Portland today. Known as “sharrows,” these markings are intended to help cyclists better position themselves on roadways where bicycle lanes are the recommended treatment, but which cannot be striped for varying reasons.

They are 10 feet long and are part of federal experiment to monitor their effectiveness. They have already been adopted in San Francisco, CA and are standard treatment in that state.

Many thanks to City of Vancouver bicycle coordinator Todd Boulanger for these photos. You can see more of them on the photostream.

Tags: sharrows

California city is first to Platinum

Reporting from Interbike…

…the first “Platinum” level Bicycle Friendly Community in the U.S. is Davis, California.

In talking with representatives from the League of American Bicyclists (the organization behind the designation), they said Davis is simply “way ahead” of any other city and that they are even on par with European cities.

I was hoping Portland would be first to get this designation, but I can rest easy knowing that we are a major city and Davis is a small, quaint town, dominated by cows, college kids and a major university. Portland on the other hand is a major city and the challenges we face to become more bike friendly are much greater.

So the “Go Platinum Portland” campaign will press on! Stay tuned for how you can get involved.

Biggest bike move ever

White House to install bike racks

PSU to host Women’s Cycling Symposium

Rain and cold no match for bike fun

Rain got you down?

Local framebuilder profiled in national magazine

Walk ‘n Bike to School Day is Weds. 10/5

Local wrenches turn for Katrina

Don’t miss the Clown House tonight

Meet Portland’s bike lane characters

New sharrow markings in NW

California city is first to Platinum

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