BikePortland

Stolen bike found!

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Remember that guy I posted about who got his really nice bike stolen in broad daylight at the Chunkathalon? Well, I just got this email from him:

“I just wanted to let you know that, thanks to you and all the other people that got the word out, I got (most of) my bike back. You can read the rambling story here.”

It’s a great story and I recommend reading it for an inside look into a bike theft operation and the lengths a guy will go to get his bike back. Wow, it’s great to know that my little site just might have helped out!

(By the way, anyone can register and post their stolen bike information on this site. See this post for more information.)

Gareth Parker Memorial Ride

On Sunday, September 25th there will be a memorial ride in remembrance of Gareth Parker. The ride will go past several places that were important in Gareth’s life and work as a bicycle advocate. Here are the details:

Meet at 2:00PM, ride at 2:30ish
Meet near the Bronze Elephant at the North Park Blocks

Locations we will ride by:

* Car Free Day 2004 Site
* BTA Office
* Portland Building and City Hall
* Car Free Day 2003
* We end at Lucky Lab Brewery

Gareth Parker funeral plans

Funeral service details for Gareth Parker have been set:

Funeral:
A gravesite service will be held at Willamette National Cemetery*.
11800 SE Mt. Scott Boulevard
Monday, September 19th at 11:00 AM
*Go to the building at the main entrance and check for specific location.

Memorial fund:
The family is asking that any donations be made out to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in the name of Gareth Parker. Checks can be sent to:
Macy and Son Funeral Directors
Attn: Janet Stark
135 NE Evans
McMinnville, OR 97128

Ride to the Funeral*:
Meet at Ladd’s Circle (SE 16th and Harrison)
9:20 AM (leave at 9:30 sharp) Monday, September 19th

Other meeting spots along the way:
Woodstock Bike Gallery (SE 42nd and Woodstock)
Approx. 10:00AM

Under 1-205 bridge (at SE Foster and 100th)
Approx. 10:20AM

*Please note: The final part of the ride to the gravesite is very steep: fixies/track bikes not recommended.

Oregonian op-ed: Time for a “truce”

In an editorial in today’s paper, the Oregonian weighs in on the bike/motorist safety issue that has been going ’round and ’round all summer.

The piece highlights the recent case in Corvallis where a bicyclist ran a stop sign and killed a 71 year old lady.

But, even though I feel like the piece is a bit one-sided against cyclists I think the author brings up some valuable points. The fact is, even though I think cars aren’t the best way to get around, I realize they are not going away any time soon. I would rather spend my time and effort in figuring out how to make streets safer, than joining in any car vs. bike invective.

I think it’s imperative that the bike/motorist dialogue stays productive and not polarizing. Bottom line is that we all share the road and both groups could do a heck of a better job following some basic laws that would keep us all safer. On that note, here’s a few things to keep in mind while you’re out on the road.

Be aware.
Slow down.
Be courteous.
Mellow out.

Ultimately the benefits of non-motorized forms of transit are so plentiful and obvious that eventually more people will see the light and things will get better.

See Sprockettes Saturday

The word on the street is that the Sprockettes – Portland’s pedaling princesses of pink – will be rocking (or should I say “sprocking!”) the Alberta Street Fair this Saturday. You can catch their show at around 6PM at the infamous Alberta Clownhouse (NE Alberta and 25th or so).

What are Sprockettes you ask? They defy description but you can think of them like an urban dance troupe crossed with synchronized swimmers whose main props are pink mini-bikes. My daughter plans on trying out as soon as she’s old enough. My advice is to catch them locally while you can because I’m sure some big agent is going to scoop them up and take them on a global Sprockettes tour!

[photo credit: Ayleen Crotty]

Free donuts and coffee for commuters!

In support of the ongoing BTA Bike Commute Challenge, PDOT held a Bike Commute Breakfast this morning in front of City Hall. Any chance I get to do bike stuff in front of City Hall I jump at the chance. It just feels good for some reason (and the free donuts and coffee didn’t hurt either!).

I met a bunch of great folks and listened to the ever-fabulous Trash Mountain Boys as hordes of bike commuters ate bagels, fruit and donuts and sipped hot coffee and tea. (unfortunately I talked so much I never snapped a photo of the great turnout!).

Another cool thing was test riding the City’s new “City Fleet” bike. It’s a Trek uber-city bike full of all the bells and whistles. It sort of rides like an SUV (in a good way). The best part is the custom “City of Portland” sticker on the downtube. Not the coolest graphic in the world, but at least they’re trying.

Apparently the city has a hodge-podge of bikes for use by city employees downtown but it sounds like most of them need some TLC. Is there a bike shop employee in the house? Maybe you should put in a call and see if you can hook up your shop with the city and get those bikes back in use. The PR alone would be worth the effort.

St. Johns Bridge dedication

This weekend is the official re-opening celebration of the St. Johns Bridge (Sat 11-11, Sun 11-6)…but it will be hard for many in the bike community to celebrate. As you may recall, the folks at the Oregon Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) decided to provide zero bike facilities on the bridge. This was despite the input of both the bike community and an independent consulting group. It was a wasted opportunity to connect the peninsula to Forest Park and to make Highway 30 a more viable commuting route into the city. It also frustrated and angered many people in the bike community. and got the attention of the the Willamette Week.

I’ve heard some rumors that some shared lane markings (“sharrows“) might be coming soon…but I haven’t heard a confirmation.

Bottom line is that the bridge in its current state is simply too dangerous for bikes. I have heard from both experienced riders and weekend warriors that it is just a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.

There will be representatives of ODOT on hand at the celebration and I think it’d be great to have a good showing of cyclists. If nothing else, just to remind them that we’re here and that they shouldn’t ignore us.

What would you ask Lance?

It’s official. I’ve got an “authorized media credential” for the upcoming LiveStrong ride with Lance Armstrong. I’m not sure what sort of access the pass will give me but I’m expecting to at least be able to ask Lance questions and/or rub shoulders with him out on the road (that is, if I can keep up with him while talking and trying to take photos!).

Since I tend to clam up around famous people I’m hoping to have some questions memorized beforehand. The problem is that I’m not coming up with any real zingers so I’m hoping you can help.

If you could ask Lance a question what would it be?

Portland responds to bike safety issue

How are local advocacy groups, the City of Portland, and the bike community working to make our streets safer? Here’s an update on some of the latest efforts:

The BTA

Besides their usual diligence of writing letters to the editor and op-eds, the BTA has assembled a Crash Response and Safety Team. This team consists of citizen volunteers and BTA staff. The goal of the team is to respond to Metro-area bike/car crashes and learn more about what happens after a serious or fatal incident so that we can intervene and take action when/if necessary. For more information about this effort contact Evan Manvel at the BTA.
One thing to already come from this team is the “Crash Response Wiki“. What is a “wiki”? A wiki is just geek-speak for a community-driven, user-editable website that provides a central point for information sharing around a specific topic. Anyone can register and add documents to the space and everyone on the Crash Team can also edit and re-organize existing documents as necessary. The idea is to have all pertinent information on each case accessible to everyone.

The City of Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT)

PDOT is hosting a series of Bicycle Safety Leadership Workshops throughout the Portland metro area. I attended the North Portland one and it was really solid. How many other cities can you talk candidly about your concerns with the Police, top-level city employees, and heads of major non-profit groups? I had a good discussion with a member of the Police bureau not only about bike safety but about some of my concerns with how they are handling Critical Mass. We learned all about stats and viewed some amazing new maps about where crashes occur and we went on a ride to asses local problem spots that need to be addressed.

{Here are a few photos of the meeting and the ride.}

PDOT has also put together a mapping committee to explore the potential of a comprehensive online map. This map would be powered with all sorts of GIS data that would allow it to do tons of cool stuff; everything from provide safe route information, to tell you where the nearest bike shop is located. Stay tuned to this site for developments.

The Community (that’s us!)

A month after posting my “Close calls” post I am still receiving submissions. So far, there are 85 responses! The next step is bringing these responses to city and elected officials. Rest assured that your voices have been heard and they are an integral part of helping make our streets safer. You can still submit responses here.
Someone in the community is organizing a GhostCycle Portland program. I tried to put them in touch with the BTA who also expressed interest in doing this. Last I heard they were moving forward and I expect to hear more about this soon.
The discussion of bike safety topics on the Shift and OBRA email lists have been very active and enlightening. I just heard that an editorial page editor for the Oregonian has contacted someone about an email they posted to the list…so our discussions are being heard and they’re having an impact! I encourage everyone to join in the conversation.

There’s a ton of stuff going on…so now is a perfect time to get involved! Here’s a list of links to local organizations that could use your help.

Stolen bike listings

After tons of response and some good feedback from my recent post on bike theft, I’d like to announce Stolen Bike Listings here on BikePortland.org. This will be a community-driven effort. Here’s how it will work (hopefully):

Your bike gets stolen (sorry).
You visit this site and click “Register” on the right sidebar.
Once logged in, you create a post about your bike and when finished click “save as draft”. (just ignore “Post Password”)
Then you go to “Upload” if you have an image you’d like to add.
Once the image is uploaded, return to your post and insert the image URL and click “save as draft”.
When I log-in as the adminstrator, I’ll see your post. I’ll glance at it, make sure it’s porn/spam free, and hit “publish”. That’s it.

Here are some reasons why this just might work:

Other sites will be able to display the RSS feed of the stolen bike category.
Anyone can leave comments below each listing if they need more information or perhaps have a tip as to its whereabouts.
BikePortland.org is visited by hundreds of Portland cyclists everyday that are out there on the streets ready to spot your beloved steed.
The Stolen Bike Listings page can evolve into a trove of local wisdom and tips about how to fight the growing scourge of bike theft.
Local shops that sell used bikes can check this site to make sure they’re not dealing with stolen goods.

I have added the first listing. Check it out.

This is an evolving effort and I rely on feedback and insights from you to make it better. Also, please be forgiving as I tweak things here and there to make this all work just right. And remember, the more people that know about this, the more listings we’ll get and the more bikes we’ll recover. So if you like the idea, feel free to spread the word.

So, anyone had a bike stolen recently?

Stolen: CHUNK bike

[Taken from the Chunk blog]

“Granddaddy has been MIA since the Chunkathalon. This photo (below) is the best that I could find that clearly shows what its distinctive frame looks like. However, it does not currently have that fork on it. It has the original Baby fork on it, seen here at the Chunkathalon (notice the smoothness up near the headtube). Granddaddy/Baby has a lot of sentimental value to CHUNK 666. If you took home after the Chunkathalon “by accident,” then please return it. No questions asked.”

Portland bike blogs

Along my web wanderings of the past several months I have collected a few Portland bike blogs. They are a fantastic source of insight into life in this bike-crazed town. Here they are in no particular order:

Da Dingo Dizmal Digest – Dingo the Clown
Rantings of a mad Texican clown
The blog of none other than Dingo the Clown of the infamous Alberta Clownhouse troupe. Dingo puts together some nifty poems and drawings and lends a “tall-bike” eyed view of the streets.

Sweet Chocolate Malted – Scout
The story of a girl, her bike, a slice of cake, Wild Cherry Pepsi, and a fist-full of cookies…
“Scout” has a fun blog going. She chimes in on all sorts of topics and regularly posts about food.

Urban Adventure League – Shawn Granton
Creatively exploring the urban environment of Portland, Oregon through fun adventures!
Shawn is currently on a trip back east but when he’s around you can count on him for purveying some high-quality bike fun. In addition to leading great rides, he has also put together a great little zine to the bike scene called the Portland Bicycle Culture Primer available from Microcosm Publishing.

Slow Brave Athena – VJ
This beautiful blog is always an insightful read. VJ bikes and walks all over town, snapping great photos and sharing her commentary along the way. She’s been riding more and more and has some inspiring posts about how great her commute makes her feel. Funny story: after VJ and I had met online, I rode up alongside her during Bridge Pedal. After chatting for a bit, she said, “are you Jonathan?”

CHUNK666 – Silken
The place to go for all the latest about the pending carmageddon, mutant-bike takeover. Kept up by “Silken”, the Chunk blog will have you speaking freak bike in no time. It’s also the place to find a great round-up of photos from the recent Chunkathalon.

Bike Fun at OregonLive.com
Ahem…my old blog. They nuked all the archives (don’t worry I transferred them over) but kept the “Bike Fun” name. Currently it’s a daily journal kept by Jonathan Nicholas during Cycle Oregon but he will move on after the ride. They’ll be looking for another bike blogger to take it over on a permanent basis. Any takers?

Cleverchimp – Todd Fahrner
Todd is a brilliant local entrepreneur and devoted car-free family man. This blog chronicles the journey of his ingeniuous new product, the “Stokemonkey human electric hybrid drive”. It’s a power-assist unit that you use with an Xtracycle conversion. I’ve tried it and it really makes the notion of “car free” much more feasible.

Brian’s Space – Brian Ellin
Brian is a local road and MTB racer and general tech guy. Want proof? He started the next blog on my list too.

Ride Oregon Wiki – Brian Ellin
This “wiki” is a site that allows anyone to register and contribute details about their favorite Oregon bike rides. It’s always growing in content but it relies on the community to contribute. So get in there and add your favorite. Bookmark it, then don’t forget to check back next Spring when you’re planning your big rides.

Molly Cameron
Local racer extraordinaire, Molly also owns VeloShop the little bike shop just off Burnside on the same block as Rocco’s Pizza across from Powell’s. But enough about her shop…her blog is all about her personal trials and tribulations as an elite bike racer.

Portland Transport – Chris Smith
A conversation about access and mobility in the Portland/Vancouver region.
If you’re a transportation geek and like talking about MAX, bikes, and other non single-occupancy-vehicle ways to move around the city, this blog is for you. It features great topics and discussion and the list of contributors is a “who’s who” of the local transportation scene.

My Velocipede and Me
I don’t know much about this blog other than that the author is based in Portland.

The City Bicycle
Oh how I love the Dutch city bikes. So elegant, so purposeful, so perfect. So does James. In fact he loves all city bikes and finds all sorts of them around the web. Great to know I’m not the only one.

Bicycle Eye
Poetic narratives, beautiful images and a ton of helpful links separate this blog from others. It’s only updated a few times a month, but the wait is worth it. The same guy that runs this blog also does the next one.

Bicycle Haikus
An inspiring and fun collection of bike haikus like this one by “paul”:
Adrenaline flows
Bike and body dance as one
See the line, ride it

MemePatch – Michael Rasmussen
Michael keeps a ton of great content on this site. My favorite part are the quotes at the top that changes each time I visit.

I’m sure there are tons more out there and I apologize for missing them. If you know of others that should be on this list, would you be so kind as to leave them in the comments? It’d be great to get a good list going. Thanks.

Stolen bike found!

Gareth Parker Memorial Ride

Gareth Parker funeral plans

Oregonian op-ed: Time for a “truce”

See Sprockettes Saturday

Free donuts and coffee for commuters!

St. Johns Bridge dedication

What would you ask Lance?

Portland responds to bike safety issue

Stolen bike listings

Stolen: CHUNK bike

Portland bike blogs

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