My chat with Commander Bill

Bill Sinnott

Yesterday I met with Bill Sinnott, Commander of the Traffic Division of the Portland Police. First, I want to thank everyone who emailed and left comments with questions for him. I printed them all up and left a copy with him so he could see first-hand what’s on your mind.

You might be thinking…isn’t this site about bikes? What do cops have to do with it? Good question. The fact is that the cops – especially the Traffic Division – effect our experience as cyclists in many ways; they interact with us at Critical Mass, they try and keep our streets safe, and they’re involved if/when we get in a serious crash with a motorist.

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“Everybody Bike!” T-shirts are here!

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Just picked them up yesterday. They look super cool. The print came out very clean and the “sienna brown” ink looks great with the natural organic cotton fabric. I’m glad I went with American Apparel shirts because they’re amazingly comfy and quite nice feeling. Find out more on my Stuff page.

Remember, $1 from each shirt goes to Shift and the rest helps to support this site!

I tried to get Bill Sinnott to model one for me yesterday but it didn’t happen.

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Stolen: Grey Specialized

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Someone stole my bike two days ago. It is a specialized hard rock sport grey 2005. It is stock but it looks like it has been used a good bit. I was at wired coffee shop 39th and lincoln when a man with bolt cutters took my bike and started heading SEish.

Please help I have no car and no cash to buy a new one. If you have any advise about hot shops I can check out or any segestions where I can look please help.

The S/N is P4EE42048…

PLEASE if you see it will you call the cops and send me an email at UrbanDrops@gmail.com, or put a post on here.
Thank you all so much,
Jon

It’s cold. You need gloves.

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It was in the low 30s this morning. Ouch. Without a good pair of gloves for your morning commute, it makes it awfully easy to climb into the car.

Resist the tempation! Embrace the cold, morning air!

Ayleen over at the ORBike Blog is collecting comments and recommendations about which gloves work for both cold and rain. Good tips. Check them out and check back for the complete list in a few days.

Cyclists are agressive, arrogant freeloaders

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Check out this letter in the recent Portland Tribune:

Bicycles are nuisance, and their riders rude

The bicycle’s contribution to clean air is at best infinitesimal and is probably negative because bicycles, bicycle lanes, etc., slow traffic and increase congestion. However, the bicycle lobby continues to receive the support of city, county and state politicians, a tribute to the power of small, vociferous, self-serving, special interest groups. By the demeanor and actions of the majority, bicycle riders could best be described as aggressive, arrogant, freeloading outlaws.

Don Robison
Southwest Portland

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What would you ask the cops?

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I’ve been having all sorts of internal struggles with my feelings about cops lately. Part of me is holding onto my long-held distrust of them and my feelings that they just “don’t get” cyclists and therefore treat us with negative bias. I’ve had my confrontations with them on Critical Mass and have generally not cared much for them in the past.

But another part of me says maybe it’s time to bury the hatchet. As I’ve talked directly with them and with other people in the bike community whose opinions I respect, I’m starting to think they might make better friends than foes.

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Vanilla mixes with cyclocross big boys

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Cross Crusade #2- Alpenrose
[Rhonda Mazza]
Veloshop Cyclocross Race at PIR

Vanilla Bicycles, a small Portland-based framebuilder is supplying bikes to some of the best cyclocross racers in the country. In the current standings of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross Rhonda Mazza (shown in photo) is currently ranked 6th in the Elite Women’s field and Shannon Skerritt is ranked 7th in the Men’s Elite field.

Another Vanilla rider, Molly Cameron is riding very strong in her first year as a pro and is currently ranked 32nd in the Elite Men’s field (read Molly’s great race reports on her blog!).

These riders are up against teams from the largest bike companies in the world like Kona and Giant.

A former bike messenger and relative newcomer to the custom framebuilding world, Sacha White has carved out a reputation as one of the best. His eye for aesthetic detail and finish, combined with technical precision and an appreciation for classic lines has won his bikes many fans and races [Disclaimer: I’m biased because Sacha is a friend and a client.].

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Stolen: Fisher Tassajara, Mullet

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TWO Bikes stolen Saturday Nov. 5th in NW Portland from Royal Arms Apartments on Lovejoy:

2005 Gary Fisher Tassajara GS Women’s Mountain Bike, silver with blue decals, cat eye computer on handlebars, covered in Wonder Woman stickers. Stolen with it was a 2005 Gary Fisher Mullet, blue, 19.5″, big tires, disc brakes, scratches on top tube. Both bikes have small “Alpine Shop Kirkwood, Missouri” stickers on lower frame area beneath seat, but of course all stickers and identifying marks could have been removed by now.

My wife and I are offering $100.00 reward for any info leading to us getting our bikes back. Contact peg_n_jamie@ yahoo.com with any and all info. Please keep an eye out and remember, cable locks aren’t to be trusted. I wish they would’ve just stolen our car. Stealing someone’s bike is some cold sh*t to do to a fellow human being.

2005 Gary Fisher Tassajara GS

2005 Gary Fisher Mullet

ODOT opens old wounds from St. Johns Bridge

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Last night I heard a presentation by Matt Garrett, Region Manager for ODOT. He came to the PSU Traffic and Transportation class to give an overview of how ODOT fits into the transportation picture.

As someone who is concerned about bike safety, and the livability of our cities, it was very unsettling to listen to Mr. Garrett’s talk and it’s obvious to me that bicycles do not figure into ODOT’s priorities at all.

The word “bicycle” did not even appear in his 26 slide presentation and he made only two mentions of bicycles. One of those was to say that bicycles, “probably shouldn’t be riding on Powell, they should take Hawthorne instead.” Hmmm. Then maybe cars shouldn’t be allowed on Tillamook or Clinton.

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Lloyd District bike parking map

lloyd_bike_parking_map

Just came across a nifty little bike parking map on the Lloyd District Transportation Management Association’s website. It’s got information and photos on all the racks and bike lockers in the Lloyd District. You just roll over various points and a little window pops up. Neat!

However I must admit, I can’t remember the last time I thought, “hey, I wonder if there will be a place to lock up my bike?” But that’s just me.

I had no idea the LDTMA had such a good bikey vibe going on. It looks like they’re doing excellent work in getting more people to ride in this dense, highly urban area. If you live in or around the Lloyd District area, you should check out their bike information page.


Stolen: Pacific Shorewood

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Dark green w/ yellow writing – on stickers, could be peeled off. Cruiser style, wide handlebars. Identical bike posted for sale on Craigslist, ironically the day before mine disappeared from my backyard in North Portland. But there’s a picture on the posting; it’s listed as “pacific shorewood cruiser”. I’d love to get the bike back, but mostly I’d like to find the creep who’s been in my yard and make sure he never ever does it again. Really. To anyone.
Thanks for any tips.

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