4/25: Hello readers and friends. I'm still recovering from a surgery I had on 4/11, so I'm unable to attend events and do typical coverage. See this post for the latest update. I'll work as I can and I'm improving every day! Thanks for all your support 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor

Reader letter: Let’s make our rides safe and fun for everyone

Sole Fiumefreddo.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

This letter comes from Sole Fiumefreddo, a leader of Corvidae Bicycle Club, whose name is derived from the family of birds that includes ravens, magpies, and crows.

Dear Portland Bicycle Scene,

My name is Sole Fiumefreddo of Corvidae Bicycle Club, and I must ask you a favor.

I have been biking and commuting around Portland for more than 10 years. However, I didn’t find the community until 2015. When I did find you all, I completely immersed myself into weekly and monthly rides, curating the world I had been dreaming of with my wheels. There were freak bikes and battles and endless silliness. New pals, aimless summertime rides and secret Portland destinations lit up my life, and I am forever grateful that the light has grown with me.

Five years ago, I would’ve never thought I’d being a founding member of a growing bicycle club. With my best friends, we formed our club in 2017 striving for something different than the typical ride structure we’d all accustomed to. We aim to promote bike safety and accessibility, and to inspire biking as an alternative to fossil-fueled travel within Portland. But over the years, excessive alcohol and sloppy riders on big group rides turned me off from participating as much as I once did.

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Retailer Joe Bike will open second store on SE Clinton

Corner of SE Clinton and 25th.

The former location of Clinton Street Video will soon be bike shop.

Joe Bike owner Joe Doebele says he plans to open a second location at 2501 SE Clinton late next month. The corner location will put him in the heart of a bustling Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood commercial district and right next door to Pedal PT, a cycling-focused physical therapy and bike fit studio. This section of Clinton is also a neighborhood greenway route and popular cycling thoroughfare.

“One of our musts is to be on a greenway.”
— Joe Doebele, Joe Bike

Joe Bike moved into its current location on SE Cesar Chavez and Lincoln in 2012. Doebele says the new space on Clinton will become his main store with more space for an expansive showroom for new bikes and accessories. The old store will be reorganized into a repair and service-oriented location.

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Man rides a century (and then some) in Mt. Tabor Park

Dave Anolik now knows Mt. Tabor better than most.
(Photo: Velo Pro, LLC)

In a city that’s crazy for bikes, we also have a lot of people who do crazy things on bikes.

There was Merritt Raitt who rode 650 laps around Ladd Circle in August 2011. And who can forget when friends Andy Edick and JT Lehman biked from Portland to the peak of Mt. Hood and then skied down in under 24 hours.

Add Dave Anolik to this quirky club.

Dave’s story was shared by Velo Pro, a local business that sells customized cycling training plans, earlier this week.

According to Velo Pro, Dave started at 5:00 am on February 19th and watched the sunrise over Mt. Hood and the sunset over the West Hills all while pounding out the laps on Mt. Tabor’s roller-coaster roads. Given that Tabor’s main loop is about three miles along, he probably did about 30 laps. He rode for over 14 hours, covered 120 miles, and climbed a total of 13,084 feet when it was all said and done.

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Here’s more from Velo Pro:

“The unending loops with the infinite climbs and descents made the ride a peaceful meditation versus a traditional Gran Fondo or Century.

Dave spoke reverently of the changes in winter light through the trees and the bite of the wind from the Columbia Gorge. He also charted the comings and goings of the different groups of people enjoying the park throughout the day. Morning trail runners, lunchtime CAT racers preparing for the Tabor criterium races, and dog walkers sharing the love after work.”

How far would you go to reach your training goals? Or maybe I should say, how close could you stay to home and still get those big winter miles in?

Read more about Dave’s incredible ride at Velo Pro’s website.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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First look at TriMet’s new bridge over southeast rail tracks

Yay!
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
That waiting game.

On my way to check out the new Gideon Overpass yesterday I passed an all too familiar sight: a freight train blocking people from crossing the tracks at SE 11th and Clinton. This issue torments many people and is a recurring mobility nightmare for anyone trying to get between the Brooklyn and Hosford-Abernethy neighborhoods. It’s so bad someone made one of those singularly-focused websites about it with the address of IsATrainBlocking11th.com.

Soon the wait will be over.

Construction crews are busy these days erecting a new bridge that will give people an option for getting around trains that doesn’t involve lifting bikes over stalled or slow-moving train cars (yes people do that). The new Gideon Overpass already stands tall above the tracks about 300 feet southeast of the Clinton St/SE 12th Ave MAX station.

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With intense opposition from nearby business owners behind them, TriMet is on track to complete construction of the $15 million bridge by this fall. For bicycle riders, it will have a roll-on elevator just like the nearby Rhine-Lafayette Overpass. When the elevator is broken, a wheel gutter will help roll bikes up and down the stairway.

One business owner can’t wait for it to be done. Jarret Walker of Jarrett Walker + Associates calls the bridge a “game-changer for the area.” “My office is on the north side and I must plan my life as though 11th-12th is permanently blocked by freight trains,” he shared on Twitter this morning. “There are things on the other side I’d love to go to, but the risk of being stranded there is too great. Go TriMet and PBOT!”

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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— Support this independent community media outlet with a one-time contribution or monthly subscription.

Nonprofit aims to build pump track in McMinnville

Biking advocates in McMinnville have launched an effort to bring a pump track to town. They’re also working with the Bureau of Land Management to establish a new mountain bike trail network east of Carlton off the popular Nestucca River Road.

All they need is a hand from donors to help make it a reality.

“With the increase in cars on the roads and lack of safe areas to ride bikes in our community it has come to our attention that the youth in our area need a safe place to exercise and gain skills and confidence on their bikes,” Willamette Valley Cyclists Board Member Ron Baker recently shared.

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From the Archives

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