🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
Bicycles — especially durable ones that can carry lots of stuff — will be one of the most important tools we have when a disaster strikes. They don’t need fuel, they can be carried over obstacles, they can haul lots of medical supplies and food, and they can even be used to generate electricity if necessary.
The State of Oregon is inching ever closer to re-connecting the Historic Columbia River Highway — an engineering marvel that opened 100 years ago this year but fell into disrepair when Interstate 84 was built.
On Saturday the Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon State Parks, the U.S. Forest Service and Western Federal Lands will come together to dedicate the latest new piece of the state trail that will eventually connect Troutdale to The Dalles.
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (soon to be known as The Street Trust) is getting ready for its biggest fundraiser of the year: The Alice Awards and auction.
The event happens Saturday night in north Portland. Beyond raising money for the organization’s advocacy work, the Alice Awards are a time to honor people in the community who are going above and beyond to “open minds and roads to bicycling” (as the inscription on the award reads).
Included with the $150 ticket this year is the new Encore after-party which will let local biking leaders and their dates dance well into the night while staying cozy around a bonfire. If you stay for the party you’ll also get first peek at the BTA’s new “Street Trust” logo.
Before the fun and fundraising starts, let’s take a look at this year’s four Alice Award winners…
Our single-most “liked” Instagram/Facebook/Twitter post ever.
“Likes” don’t make right, of course, but they might indicate that the message has resonated with a lot of riders who are temporarily blinded by other cyclists on paths like the Eastbank Esplanade and the Springwater Corridor.
If the people riding toward you can’t see you because your flashing strobe headlight is too bright, you’re not safe or seen.
Cycle Oregon 29 is in the books. It happened last week and now there are 2,000 or so people sitting at work with souvenirs, sore legs, and constant questioning from co-workers who ask, “You did what?! Why?!”.
Team Estrogen Inc., an online cycling apparel retailer based in Hillsboro, is closing its doors after 18 years in business.
TeamEstrogen.com co-founder Susan Otcenas told Bicycle Retailer & Industry News last week that price competition and the changing behaviors of customers led to the decision to call it quits. Here’s more from BR&IN:
“We were never about price and discounts, and the world has changed. There’s a fundamental tension between the kind of hands-on customer service and high-quality staff we’ve always had and the customer demand for lower prices and free shipping,” Otcenas said. “The consumer has spoken that they value those things, and I totally understand it, but as a small company, it’s hard to compete in that space if that’s the main focus. It’s a race to the bottom, and we’re choosing not to go down that road.”
This post is written by Jerry “AJ” Zelada, a Portland-based optometrist, citizen advocate, and former chair of the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
I am one of the 891 users of OreGo (the State of Oregon’s experimental new road tax program) who paid the road use tax this past year. As readers here might recall, I was critical of the gas tax increase because the consumption of this resource is declining and will decline even further as auto and light truck efficiency increases and electric car numbers increase. And while I did vote for it, I am still opposed to taxing a resource rather than taxing actual use.
The OreGo program is a good tax mechanism. The program uses a simple plug-in device that measures miles driven. You are taxed 1.5 cents a mile and given credit for your expected payment at the pump. It is subtracted from a simple ‘wallet’ account. OreGo is also about data. It produces solid information about usage beyond miles driven; but the focus is so motor-vehicle oriented, we may miss including tax income for active transportation needs.
Skjelse Rapoch thought she’d just had a very bad crash while riding her bike. Now the police her family thinks she might have been attacked.
It happened Tuesday night while Rapoch was riding on the Columbia Slough path en route to Portland International Raceway where her husband (who works at Velo Cult Bike Shop) was competing in a cyclocross race. Details of the incident are scarce because Rapoch doesn’t remember anything. It was only after she was recovering in the hospital that she spoke to police and began to put the pieces together.
“What we initially thought was a terrible bicycle accident,” her family says, “is the result of something far more sinister…. it would appear an individual(s) was hiding along the path and hit Skjelse in the face with a rock while she was riding by.”
According to statements from Rapoch and her family, the police are now investigating this as a possible assault (update: the police say there is no evidence to suggest it was an attack).
A rider who found Rapoch says they saw a lone suspect fleeing the area as they rolled up. Rapoch says police have found a bloody rock has been found nearby that matches her facial trauma.
Welcome to the Monday Roundup, where we’ve gathered (with help from readers) the most interesting stories and links from the past week…
Nabbing unsafe passers: Police in Birmingham (UK) are riding bikes undercover-style to catch people who pass them too closely.
Chicago #1 Bike City: Bicycling Magazine’s new rankings are out and Chicago has earned the top spot. The magazine’s editors felt it was Chicago’s turn at the top in large part because of their progress on physically protected bike lanes. San Francisco is ranked second and Portland came in third.
Speaking of protected bike lanes: The NYC Dept. of Transportation has been under fire from advocates for not doing enough to make streets safe for bike riders, so they’re doing a media push to tout their record-setting pace of building 18-miles of protected bike lanes this year.
They got the wrong guy: A man who was biking in Brooklyn says he was assaulted physically and verbally (with a racial slur) by two people inside a car — but somehow he’s the one who spent the night in jail.
Ah September. As the fall months slowly start getting cooler, wetter, and darker in the mornings, you can always count on your friends at Pedal PT for monthly FREE COFFEE FOR BICYCLISTS to keep you warm (and caffienated) on the morning bike commute- Thanks for being part of the bicycling community!
When: Tuesday – September 20th- from 7 to 9am.
Where: Clinton and 25h Ave- (in front of Clinton St Video)
See you soon!
-The Pedal PT gang:
Kevin, Jake + Marisa . .and our NEW Student PT, Steve (from South Carolina!)
Remember the gas tax increase Portlanders voted in favor of back in May? Now the first project is ready to happen and PBOT is (rather wisely) adding some pomp and circumstance to it.
Check the release below for an event in southeast Portland on Monday:
