At the recent Worst Day of the Year Ride, folks from the CCC had a photo booth set up. Riders dressed up and got crazy for the camera and the resulting photos are really funny. Here’s one of my favorites:
Go check out the entire gallery
Cool bike art at Urban Grind
[“Psychlist” by Stephen Sedlar]
I noticed these cool pieces of art at Urban Grind the other day. The bike-inspired motifs piqued my curiosity so I snapped a few photos and took a closer look. From a flyer posted near the work I learned that they’re, “made from concrete that has been mixed with interesting stones, colored with various pigments, and fused with metal inlay designs.” These metal inlays include screws, drill bits and cogs (check out the large version of the photo for more detail).
Checking in on the Forums
It’s been just over a month since I launched the Portland Bike Forums. So far, 93 people have registered and we’ve got 181 posts. More people are signing up every week and there’s already been some interesting posts and quality discussions. We’ve even been graced by the presence of aspiring filmmaker “WhiteSword”. He shared some of his bike movies – including a ride through the halls of PSU and a Zoobomb – which I highly recommend.
Now I know each bike group has their own email list or forum. Those are great resources, but I’m a big believer in the value of centralized information and the power of community that happens when we connect with people outside our usual bikey circles. There’s a ton of exciting synergy waiting to happen if everyone shared information in the same place. For instance:
Enforcement action planned for next Wednesday
The Portland Police are planning another traffic enforcement action next Wednesday (the 22nd) at the intersection of NE Knott and 7th from 7:30 to 10:30AM. They call this an “Intersection Safety Enforcement Action” and they’ll be looking for motorists, cyclists, or pedestrians who fail to come to a complete stop.
Here’s what happened the last time they did one at SE 26th and Clinton.
So mark your calendar and be aware of this intersection. If you don’t come to a complete stop (remember, trackstands are OK) you may get a $237 dollar ticket.
Mocktails warms hearts, hands
[Carye Bye feels the love]
Last night, the bike love crew from Shift to Bikes was out in full force. They put on a super cool Mocktails on the Bridge event that greeted cold bike commuters with hot drinks, cookies, snacks and smiles.
- Bike Gallery owner Jay Graves was on hand to do bike tune-ups.
- Timo busted out his karaoke machine.
- Carye Bye brought custom “Velo Love” stickers she hand-letterpressed just for the occassion.
- There were tons of great snacks.
- Even a CHUNK bike showed up.
- The love was everywhere!
King Cycle Group releases “Pretty and Strong” results
Local bike component manufacturer, King Cycle Group/Chris King Components has just released the results of their “Pretty and Strong” promotion. Over a four month period they donated a portion of the sales of a limited production run of pink parts to Oregon and SW Washington chapters of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The final donation amounted to $10,316.56.
From the press release, King’s Jacki Sterner said:
City traffic safety group releases project list
The Community and School Traffic Safety Partnership is a group with the City of Portland Office of Transportation that focuses on bicycle and pedestrian safety, reducing driver error, and Safe Routes to School. They’ve got $300,000 to spend on bike and ped projects over the next two years and they’ve released a list of 28 proposed projects (PDF) that might get funded. This list has been sent out to neighborhood district coaltions for review and feedback so now is the time to speak up.
More stolen bikes recovered
Because of savvy BikePortland.org readers, we’ve recovered two bikes in the past two weeks. I just love it when this happens and it’s proof that by keeping your eyes open and regularly checking the Stolen Bike Listings we can leverage the power of community to re-unite bikes with their owners. Here are the stories of these two recent recoveries:
Here’s the original listing. And the story:
Great News! I am writing to let you know that an individual that had access to my wife’s bike was prompted to make contact with me after coming across my stolen bike posting on your website. I’ll spare you the details here, but you and the rest of the bikeportland.org community can be assured that the high visibility of your stolen bike postings were critical in recovering the bike. Chalk up another win!
Stolen: Santa Cruz MTB
[Posted by “rcmotorider”]
Well, it saddens me to be making this post but some a-hole stole my Mtn. Bike yesterday from the 24 Hour Fitness Center on NW Johnson. It happened around 4:00pm.
My bike is a Large, White SANTA CRUZ, Chameleon. It has a “ThudBuster” seat post, black “Marzocchi” forks, “Easton” handle bars with bar ends that have been taped up with black electrical tape, also it has a “Cane Creek” stem (goose neck), a “Carolina Fatz” sticker across the upper frame tube, clipless pedals, a standard LED tail light, etc., etc.
I am sorry to say that I do not have any spare money to offer as a reward but I would be eternally greatful for any info leading to the recovery of my two-wheeled transportation.
I can be reached at (503) 754-5156 or by email at rcmotorider@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance for reading and any help that may come!!!
Introducing BikeSeattle.org
Two weeks ago I got an email from Cameron Mallory. Cameron is a computer programmer who has lived in Seattle for 6 years, has ridden STP, commutes by bike, and races cyclocross. He said he’d been reading BikePortland.org for several months and wanted to do something similar up in Seattle. I of course was thrilled and I encouraged him to get started.
So go and take a look at BikeSeattle.org. Good luck Cameron!
Mountain Pedalers push park proposal
The Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP) hope ongoing meetings with the Parks Department will move them closer to realizing their ultimate dream, a public bike park within Portland city limits. The group has be working hard to make this dream come true. They’ve attended countless meetings, drafted a 10 page proposal, and amassed over 550 signatures of support (sign the petition). They could really use our support to move the process along:
“We are still waiting for the Parks and Recreation Department to acknowledge that there is a “legitimate need” for a Bike Park in Portland. A potential site has been located but nothing is confirmed as yet. More information will be forthcoming later as we start to get some positive responses from Parks and Recreation. To ensure more action…we must show there are enough people who want to see this proposal become a reality. So, rally the troops and get everyone you know to sign.”
Stolen: Fisher Utopia (reward)
Posted by John Lehmkuhl
I had a 5 month old Gary Fisher Utopia stolen from my house here in Westmoreland on Jan. 20th while I was out of town and my wife was putting my 5 year old daughter to sleep. Police say it was a random robbery and they got lucky on this one. I don’t have any photos of my bike, unfortunately. It’s deep blue with Cane Creek extenders and an upgraded Specialized seat. There is a Boomerangit.com sticker on the bottom of the bike as well.
National Bike Registry: 000196590
Utopia Serial Number: CB4AS758
$500.00 cash reward for safe return of my bike.
Kind Regards,
John Lehmkuhl
john@realkuhl.com