BikePortland

Shedding my seriousness one wacky group ride at a time

Keeping a fake mustache on during a balmy June afternoon is no small feat.
(Photos: Kate Laudermilk)

Kate Laudermilk, our Gal by Bike columnist, previously wrote about the Little 500 bike race.

It’s a slippery slope. One minute you’re teaching one of your best friends how to ride a bike and the next you’re gliding through Portland on your trusty steeds, surrounded by thousands of bikes and bodies with your breasts hangin’ out. This is the magic of the Portland bike community — a community that has made me feel more youthful and free spirited than I did when I was but a gal of nineteen.

[Publisher’s note: Yes we know it’s Thursday. Sorry. – Jonathan]

Welcome to this week’s roundup! Our first video (above) shows current research into reusing front derailleurs now that the 1X systems are gaining in popularity. What’s your favorite reuse of this component?

A sign at New Seasons Market on Williams Avenue.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The costs of “free” parking have been hidden inside the price of almost everything we buy, but it’s rare to see an example as straightforward as this one.

The New Seasons Market on Williams Avenue, which like virtually every grocery store in the city doesn’t charge you to park a car on their property, recently started renting 47 parking spaces from an apartment building across Ivy Street that charges $175 a month for resident parking.

New Seasons won’t disclose what it’s paying to rent the new spaces — “we keep our real estate transactions confidential,” spokeswoman Mea Irving said Wednesday — but if they were paying the same $175 per month as residents, those 47 spaces would cost $98,700 a year.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

A new century ride will bring more people to roads like these in Columbia County.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

With a new event ride and an outdoor events park that will host mountain bike races this summer, Columbia County is quickly starting to fulfill its vast potential as a bicycle recreation destination.

(Photos by Jonathan Maus and Michael Andersen for BikePortland)

Three years ago, before launching his long, awkward crusade to raise money for Portland streets, Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick made a really good point.

Illegal. Dangerous. Common.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Three weeks after the State of Oregon declared a culture war against distracted driving, they launched the first battle and the results of a “saturation patrol” show just how commonly people break the law while driving.

Over just just 48 hours in Central Oregon last weekend, troopers from three counties issued 317 traffic citations and issued 273 warnings. The officers specifically targeted behaviors that contribute to serious injury and fatal crashes like speeding, lane violations, and impaired and distracted driving.

Here’s the full breakdown:

We hear more often about commute trips, but people’s trips to stores, schools, parks and friends look quite a bit different.
(All charts via Metro)

Metro is the only elected regional government in the United States. It’s also got one of the most interesting government communications teams in the country. Like MLB.com, Metro hires people to write journalism-style coverage of itself.

For its latest project, a four-part “regional snapshot” about transportation, the agency pulled out all the stops: original tilt-shift photography, narrative video, text drawn from at least a dozen interviews and a whole quiver of custom-made infographics. If you want a single overview on the basics of the region’s transportation situation, I’ve never seen a better one.

It’s coming back.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Just when you thought May couldn’t get any better for biking in Portland, the City just announced that their Better Naito project will be returning this summer. The Bureau of Transportation says one northbound lane of Naito Parkway will be converted to a two-way biking and walking facility from May 2nd to July 31st.

Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.

Your guide to National Bike Month in Portland

Bike riders will find lots of free food this month.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Hold on to your handlebars folks, May is going to be completely bike-crazy in Portland.

Happy kids on good bikes is a potent combination.
(Photo: Islabikes)

Islabikes might be based in the United Kingdom but they understand how to do business in Portland: The company has donated 14 bikes to the local nonprofit Community Cycling Center.

NE 7th Avenue is technically a local street, but it’s become heavily used by cars as an alternative to MLK.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Advocates for turning NE 7th Avenue into a low-stress neighborhood greenway scored a significant victory this month, but opponents of that change are pushing back.

Shedding my seriousness one wacky group ride at a time

Wednesday Video Roundup: Mountain biking the world, a garage race, cool cargo bike, and more

New Seasons on Williams Ave pays undisclosed sum for 47 more auto parking spaces

With a new ride and race venue, Columbia County looks to embrace cycling

Our opinion: Vote ‘yes’ on the gas tax

Oregon State Police hand out 317 tickets and 273 warnings in 48 hours

Six neat charts from Metro’s new report about Portland-area transportation

City will bring back “Better Naito” for three months starting in May

Job: Office and Shipping Assistant – The Vanilla Workshop – FILLED

Your guide to National Bike Month in Portland

Islabikes donates 14 bikes to the Community Cycling Center

NE 7th Avenue upgrades likelier, but diverter opponents are organizing too

Latest Headlines

‘Better Sheridan’ project brings safer street to South Waterfront

Your guide to finding the ‘Wildwood’ crows by bike

My journey to that ‘Hard Rock glow’

Off-Road Cycling Master Plan: A decade later, what has changed?

From the Archives

The 10 busiest bicycling spots in Portland