🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
[Via Bicycle Retailer and Industry News]
Shimano is investing millions of dollars into a new component group called “Coasting” that will target new cyclists. They plan to roll out the new group to only 15 cities the first year starting in March of 2007. According to a story in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, Shimano will focus the initial marketing of the new group in “bike-friendly cities with safe places to ride.”
The “eclectic folk-pop” duo The Ditty Bops just announced their cross country tour. But instead of a tour bus, these ladies will go by bike and according to the official press release they plan to make a stop in Portland.
No confirmed date or venue, but I think someone should contact their manager and get the Sprockettes and Show Me The Pink to open up for them.
Hear an interview and listen to some Ditty Bop clips from this NPR story back in July.
[Posted by “starkstreet”]
I had a bicycle stolen yesterday from the bike lock between 4th and 5th on Morrison downtown. It has no markings or decals on it. It’s an aluminum frame, ergonic handle bars, FSA crank, Alex rims(stickers removed), Shimano Sora rear derailler(sticker removed). The velo seat has red on the sides but other than that the bike is all black and it’s shiny because I just bought it new this weekend. It is a Windsor Dover. 62 cm. My first commute with this bike resulted in a flat tire and I was forced to lock it up at the max station downtown. I was stupid. The front tire and frame were locked with a 3/8″ cable lock. I do not have the serial #. I’d be happy to pay $50 to anyone that can return it to me. I was not able to post picture, but if anyone would like to see it I can email. Thanks – John
email: reliablewombat@yahoo.com
ph#: 503-334-6764
What started as a brainstorm in their Political Action Seminar class, has led four Lake Oswego teens to form the Lake Oswego High School Bike Project. Yes, the powers of bike fun can even penetrate the hallowed halls of Portland’s smartest high school (according to Wikipedia, LOHS has the highest SATs in the Portland metro).
The Bikes Belong Coalition just announced that the Portland-based Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) will receive a $5,000 grant to assist in their bike boulevard campaign. According to the official announcement, the money will go to:
“…help promote and develop their campaign for Bicycle Boulevards in Portland. These low-traffic roadways will serve as a way to prioritize bicycle traffic by retrofitting existing streets with bike-friendly treatments rather than building separate, off-street facilities.”
On Saturday morning, over 50 people showed up to Alpenrose Velodrome, but they weren’t there to race or to spectate. And instead of energy gels and sports drinks, they fueled up with precision made pancakes from the skilled hands of Chris King, owner of Chris King Components.
It was the annual track clean-up and repair day and the volunteers needed the carbs to tackle all the scraping, painting, cement patching, and sweeping it takes to get the velodrome ready for the busy track season ahead.
Over 20 years ago, 40 year-old Northeast Portland resident Gary Sansom was a top BMX racer. Like many guys his age (including me), he grew up wanting to be a BMX superstar. Eventually (also like many of us) he grew up, got a “real job”, and got on with his life…but his love for BMX never really went away.
A few years ago, while working at a dot-com in downtown Portland he realized it would cost $100 to park his car. Gary thought, “screw that, I’m going to ride my bike.” He hopped onto eBay to find a bike and instead found an obsession of collecting BMX bikes.
Portland’s bike-loving Congressman, Earl Blumenauer, appeared on the hit Comedy Central show, “The Colbert Report” last week.
Blumenauer was part of the popular “Better Know a District” segment where Stephen Colbert profiles districts and the member of Congress who represents them.
Colbert introduced Blumenauer to a nationwide audience as “Democrat and bicycling enthusiast,” and then went on to tell Blumenauer that his “obsession with bicycling borders on the interesting.”
Here are a few interesting links I’ve come across lately. Some have a Portland connection, some don’t. I’ll try and make this a regular thing from now on, so if you find a neat link feel free to send it my way.
You wouldn’t know it from the outside, but up on MLK Blvd. (at Jessup Street), behind an IT company called Netropole, is an online retailer of bike apparel called Veloclothes.com.
I recently paid them a visit to find out more about the company.
Dave Johnson, a major bike enthusiast, is the owner and founder of Netropole. Two years ago, seeing a downturn in the tech sector, he decided to launch Veloclothes.com as a side business. He figured it was a safe bet because he loves bikes, this city loves bikes, and Netropole just so happens to develop and support e-commerce software.
After a hiatus of nearly a decade, the City of Portland will host an official Bike to Work Day celebration at Pioneer Courthouse Square on May 17th, from 7:30-9:00am. Find out all the details in the official press release.
It should be a great party and continuation of a proud tradition that dates back to the 1970s. I thought it’d be fun to get a sense of this bikey legacy so I got in touch with Jeff Smith at the Office Of Transportation. Jeff started as an intern for the City’s Bike Program back in the ’80s and knows a lot about Portland’s bike history, and what he doesn’t know he’s always willing to find out. He dug up some classic old photos that had been gathering dust in archives at the Portland Building…
Note: Some images in this post have gone missing and I need to track them down. Sorry!
It’d be great to hear more about the history of this event. If you’ve been around a while feel free to add your historical perspective…and does anyone know who the heck “Darcelle” is?
[See this comment for an update.]
Yesterday I received a phone call from Shawn Karambelas, owner of SK Northwest (I had left a message for him last week). This is the company currently in escrow on a lot just south of OMSI on the Willamette River, smack dab in the middle of a potential trail connection between the Eastbank Esplanade and the Springwater Corridor Trail (for background on this story see this post).
He was clearly frustrated by the community push-back he has received so far and I could sense the anxiety in his voice. I had to re-assure him several times that I wasn’t out to get him and that I just wanted to find out more about his intentions.