State transportation funding debate starts Monday in east Portland

Bike lane SE Division near 119th or so

Is there congestion in this photo? Depends on who you ask.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland

The stage is set. The priorities are already being set. It’s time to let Oregon’s leaders know what kind of transportation system you want.

The first public hearing on a transportation funding package that will be proposed in the 2017 Oregon legislative session happens on Monday (6/13) in east Portland. The committee hosting the hearing is the Joint Interim Committee On Transportation Preservation and Modernization — a name that shows a few of the political cards already being played.

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Hundreds turn out for Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride (photos)

Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride 2016-28.jpg

Portland’s annual Pedalpalooza kicked off in fine fashion tonight. The mass of riders strung out on Belmont from SE 12th (where I’m standing to take this photo) all the way onto the Morrison Bridge over the Willamette River.
(Photos J. Maus/BikePortland)

Tonight’s Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride was the largest in recent memory with hundreds of people (a thousand?) turning out to celebrate the upcoming month of rides, fun and new friends.

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Coming soon: A new protected bike lane on 2nd Ave and a plaza near Voodoo Doughnuts

Mock-up of what 2nd Avenue will look like by the end of July.(Images: City of Portland)
Mock-up of what 2nd Avenue will look like by the end of July.
(Images: City of Portland)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation will make significant changes to 2nd and 3rd Avenues in downtown Portland this summer.

2nd, which is one-way northbound, will be re-striped with a parking-protected bike lane from SW Stark to NW Everett and there’s a new public plaza coming to the intersection of SW Ankeny and 3rd.

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Over 11,000 people took the ‘Bike More Challenge’ last month

The team from Daimler Trucks NA.(Photo: B-line Sustainable Urban Delivery)
The team from Daimler Trucks NA.
(Photo: B-line Sustainable Urban Delivery)

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) wrapped up their 19th annual Bike More Challenge with a big party last night in southeast Portland.

This was the first year the friendly competition was held in May instead of September. The BTA made the move to encourage more people to keep biking through the summer, but it looks like the warm and sunny weather also boosted overall participation. A look at the final numbers shows that about 1,000 more participants were coaxed into the event than in previous years.

This year’s Challenge had 11,741 total riders who biked 1,656,098 miles. That’s up from 10,722 riders and 1,247,886 miles in 2015 and 10,350 riders and 1,212,271 miles in 2014.

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Weekly Video Roundup: local bikes, teaching kids to ride, racing, and more

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward


Welcome to this week’s roundup! The video selection was a little light this weekend until videos flooded in late Tuesday and early Wednesday. One of the last-minute videos is the above from River City Bicycles showing “Portland bikes”. How perfect is that? Dave shows off a Chris King/Cielo and a Mark Dinucci bike. More videos after the break.

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Pedalpalooza starts tomorrow!

Pedalpalooza 2010 Kickoff Parade-30

A scene from the 2010 kickoff ride.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s almost here. The largest bike event of its kind on planet Earth is about to start.

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At the Adaptive Bike Clinic, there’s truly a bike for everyone

Adaptive Bike Clinic-6.jpg

Adaptive bikes allow people to ditch their walkers and wheelchairs for something a lot more efficient and fun.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

“Demo days” are a common thing in the bike industry. It’s where a company parks their truck and tent at a trailhead and offers free test rides. They bring all the sizes and models so that everyone can try out a bike. But as we’ve learned recently in a robust conversation about access to the city’s bike share program, “everyone” often only includes people who are physically able to ride a common, two-wheeled bicycle.

On Sunday a host of organizations — including the City of Portland — hosted the 12th annual Adaptive Bike Clinic. It was an opportunity for anyone — including people with disabilities — to test ride the bike of their dreams.

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Speak up now for dirt trails at Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

Imagine nice biking trails here. It could happen if we speak up.(Photos: Metro)
Imagine nice biking trails here. It could happen if we speak up.
(Photos: Metro)

Imagine rolling your bike onto the MAX, getting off at the end of the Blue Line in Hillsboro, then pedaling 10 miles to some sweet singletrack. That could become reality, but only if you speak up and get involved.

About 23 miles west of Portland — and just 10 miles south of the Hillsboro Transit Center — lies 1,200 acres of undeveloped land called the Chehalem Ridge Nature Park. Before the economy tanked it was prepped for housing, but Metro purchased it in 2010 with funds from their Natural Areas Levy. And we’re lucky they did because it could someday be home to bike trails.

Metro says Chehalem Ridge is one of the largest publicly owned natural areas in Washington County. It’s about the same size as Oxbow Regional Park in east Multnomah County, yet it’s relatively unknown because of its rural location and lack of public facilities. The land itself (based on photos, I have yet to explore it) offers sweeping views of the Tualatin Valley and Coast Range to the west. Its gradual inclines, meadows, and groves of trees give it loads of potential as a place where off-road cycling could flourish.

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ODOT to bicycle riders: Here’s your chip seal cheat sheet

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
You might not like chip seal; but at least now you'll know how to avoid it.(Photo: Peckham)
You might not like chip seal; but at least now you’ll know how to avoid it.
(Photo: Peckham Asphalt)

For the first time ever, the Oregon Department of Transportation has published their list of upcoming chip seal projects specifically with bicycle riders in mind.

Chip seal is a type of paving material that mixes asphalt with pieces of fine aggregate (a.k.a. gravel). Road agencies love it because it extends the life of low-volume rural roads and it’s much cheaper to do than repaving. But for people who bike, chip seal is a drag. Literally. The tiny bumps don’t even register while driving, but on a bike they can really slow you down and cause fatigue. (And you do not want to think about what happens when you crash on it.) What makes matters worse is that road crews will often chip seal just the standard lane and then leave a ridge that crosses the fog line and goes into the shoulder people ride.

“My goal is to get the word out so bicyclists can plan accordingly and avoid an unhappy experience.”
— Sheila Lyons, ODOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Coordinator

Because of the groans that come with chip sealed roads, we were happy to get an email from Oregon’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Coordinator Sheila Lyons last week. She wanted to make sure people know what to expect when planning summer bike adventures on our state’s many excellent backroads. Lyons knows this is an issue, not just because she hears about it from Oregonians, but because she’s a rider herself. “It can be no fun to ride on,” she wrote in the email. “But it’s a cheap and effective surfacing treatment that ODOT is using more and more.”

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Building bike parking shelters at Ockley Green Middle School

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Parent volunteers helped erect two bike parking
shelters at a north Portland school on Sunday.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Did you know that you can get a few volunteers together and build a covered bike parking shelter at any Portland Public School?

We wrote about the City of Portland’s school bike shelter program back in 2012. Since then the shelters have popped up at schools all over the city. On Sunday I got the chance to help build one myself at (the newly designated) Ockley Green Middle School in north Portland. It was a fantastic way to create better bike parking at my kids’ school and spend some time with other parents.

In some ways, bike parking shelters do for schools what intersection repair projects do for neighborhoods: The thing you make together is the icing on the community-building cake.

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Latest Headlines

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Protected bike lanes coming to SE Stark/Washington couplet over I-205

From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike