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

Editorial: The tragedy of North Greeley Avenue

The Greeley Freeway. Yesterday’s collision occurred near the rear of that white truck on the left.
(Note: Red line is where concrete jersey-barrier protected lane is slated to be built.)
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Yesterday morning around 9:00 am two people died in a collision on North Greeley Avenue. Police say one of the victims, the driver of a sedan, crossed the centerline. That person’s car was hit by another driver and both people in the sedan died as a result of the impact.

While no bicycle user was involved in this crash, I can’t stop thinking about what happened (see aftermath below).

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Elevated Green Loop path emerges from latest Broadway Corridor plans

Rendering of Green Loop path through Broadway Corridor site. Broadway Bridge in upper right.
(ZGF Architects)

The flyover lives.

New renderings and details for the Green Loop through the Broadway Corridor project site have been made available by architects working on the project. They include our most detailed view yet of how the path will navigate from the Parks Blocks, through the site, and up to the 30-foot high junction at NW Lovejoy and the Broadway Bridge.

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Injuries mount as Portland fails to fix dangerous potholes

I slid 145 feet. I was lucky to escape with just road rash.

(Written by Scott Kocher, a Portland-based pedestrian and bicycle lawyer at Forum Law Group LLC and safe streets advocate advocate. We recently highlighted his efforts to improve Highway 30. Note: Kocher’s law firm is also a financial contributor to BikePortland, but that had no influence on editorial decisions.)

I love to ride in the West Hills. From the central city, they’re the closest place to escape stop-and-go traffic. On weekends, people enjoying Northwest Skyline on bikes seem to outnumber people in cars. On weekdays, commuters zip between Portland and the west side. It feels like a world apart from Highway 26 gridlock.

Which brings me to March 16th. I was riding down NW Cornell from Skyline. There were bad potholes below the upper tunnel. Not just bumps, these were the kind that could easily cause a person on a bicycle to crash — which could be catastrophic at downhill speeds. Hoping to get them filled, I stopped and reported the potholes using the City of Portland’s PDX Reporter web app.

I noted in the report that the holes were a hazard for people on bikes. On March 28th, those potholes weren’t fixed, so I reported them again. On May 1st, I took a day off to go check on the route of a popular group bike ride that typically draws 100s of people. The potholes on Cornell were still there. I marked them with yellow paint, and reported them, for the third time.

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Job: Bike 101 Summer Camp Counselor – Bike Clark County

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Bike 101 Summer Camp Counselor

Company / Organization

Bike Clark County

Job Description

Bike Clark County is a non-profit organization that creates opportunities for empowerment, education, and social change through bicycles and bicycle repair. As a nonprofit, we run a full-service bike shop and repair bicycles donated from the community, and redistribute them through our charitable programs and affordable bike sales. As a community-focused bike shop, we teach the community how to repair their own bicycles in our shared-use shop space. Our charitable programs seek to make bicycles, and bicycle repair/safety education available to the entire community regardless of income.

Job Duties and Responsibilities
BCC is looking for qualified individuals who are comfortable riding a bike in traffic, can ride 3-10 miles in a day, and have experience working with youth ages 6-9 and 10-14. You will be responsible to assist with the day to day activities for up to 12 +/- students. You will be responsible for helping to teach core bike safety curriculum and need to be able to teach in a collaborative setting.

The camp is a total of five weeks, each camp being 5 days long 8:00am-5:00pm. Besides the curriculum, the camp consists of daily field trips by bike to fun activities such as The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, the Pearson Air Museum, and the Water Resources Center!

Summer Bike Camp dates:
The dates for this camp is as follows:
Week #1 July 8-12 : Ages 6-9
Week #2 July 15-19 : Ages 6-9
Week #3 July 22-26 : Ages 6-9
Week #4 July 29-Aug 2: Ages 10-14
Week #5 Aug 5-9: Ages 10-14

Qualifications needed to do the job successfully:
Need to be able to ride a bike.
Need to be able to work with children.
Need to be able to assist kids with possible special needs.
Need to be able to pass a background check.

How to Apply

Email cover letter and resume to info@bikeclarkcounty.org

A closer look at the new bus/bike lane on SW Madison

The new treatment — meant to speed up buses and make cycling safer — starts at 4th and lasts two blocks. (Scroll down for full gallery and video)
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

When the Portland Bureau of Transportation revealed their plans for SW Madison last week, there was at first rejoicing. Many of us are desperate for any change to our streets that makes bicycling and transit safer and more efficient. Dedicating a wide lane solely for transit and bike riders on a major downtown corridor is an exciting step in the right direction.

But almost as soon as we posted about the project, there were concerns about how this new lane would be shared by people operating such dramatically different vehicles.

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Family Biking: We all fall down

Staged photo of a bike crash.
(Photos: Madi Carlson)

Last week I took the corner into my backyard too slowly, caught my front wheel on a flagstone, and slowly tipped sideways against the side of my house. As time slowed down and/or my brain sped up in the heat of the moment, I thought about my crashes of years past.

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Cycle Oregon’s ‘Gravel’ goes east into wide open Wasco County

Once home to the Molalla Tribe before white immigrants forced them out, this area east of Dufur is now dotted by large farms and ranches — and perfectly groomed gravel roads. This view is from Roberts Market Road looking northwest toward the Columbia Hills that rise above the Columbia River in Washington.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Dufur City Park was our host.

With its second year in the books, it feels like the Gravel event has found a home with Cycle Oregon. After three decades of their signature, 7-day “Classic” event, the nonprofit has found a sweet spot around one of cycling biggest trends: riding unpaved backroads, a.k.a. gravel grinding.

The tiny eastern Oregon town of Dufur (est. 1893, pop. 604) was home base for two full days of riding. The routes traversed land where the Molalla Tribe lived for generations before being banished to a reservation by the U.S. government in 1851. Today the land around Dufur is wide open country dotted by farms that raise livestock, wheat, and other crops.

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Photo gallery and recap: Oakridge and Westfir host ‘Sasquatch Duro’ gravel event

Click for captions. (Photos: Harry Apelbaum/Apelbaum Studios)

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Latest Headlines

Advocate for nondrivers, Anna Zivarts, will speak in Portland Wednesday

Police team up with park rangers to patrol paths

Tow truck driver hops onto I-5 bike path to skirt traffic

Peer into future of I-5 freeway covers at community work session

From the Archives

More biking = better driving. So why isn’t this said more often?