Weekend Event Guide: Springwater secrets, street dance, fat bikes, and more

Mt Hood view on Springwater-2

Explore secrets of the Springwater on Saturday.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

This menu of delicious rides and events is brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Their support makes BikePortland possible.

With the hustle and bustle of the “holiday season” on the horizon, it’s time to seize the weekend. Now is the time of year when every chance to ride is something to be cherished, so it makes sense to plan ahead.

What are your plans? Check out our suggestions below…

Saturday, December 5th

Global Fat Bike Day Ride – 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at Frenchman’s Bar in Vancouver
Come and ride the shores of the Columbia River with fellow fat bike lovers near and far. Bring snacks and drinks (outdoor coffee kits encouraged). If you need a fat bike rent one from Ride Yr Bike. More info here (FB).

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Community rallies after hit-and-run leaves man with severe facial injuries

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Fundraising has begun for Erik Craven.

It happened at SE 59th and Powell this past Sunday night at around 11:30 pm. 45-year-old southeast Portland resident Erik Craven was biking home from work when he was hit by a car. The person driving did not stop and has still not been found.

The driver left Erik lying on the street with severe injuries. With no one around to help and with critical injuries to his face, he dialed 911 himself. “He couldn’t even see his phone through the blood,” his friend Tanyastar Kim shared with us via email today.

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Why the City of Portland is hosting a dance to celebrate new traffic signals

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
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Let’s dance!
(Actual graphic from official City of Portland even flyer.)

Some days it’s impossible not to love the City of Portland, where transportation geekery and fun often intersect in memorable ways.

Remember that new signal at NW 11th and Couch we told you about last week? To celebrate it’s activation the bureau of transportation is hosting a dance. A barn dance to be exact. And it will happen in the intersection.

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Big day at City Hall affects pedicabs, taxi safety and backyard homes

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Commissioner Fritz.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A flurry of end-of-year activity at Portland City Hall Wednesday led to changes in three different stories we’ve been tracking on BikePortland.

With Commissioner Amanda Fritz playing a key role in all three votes, the council agreed to delay changes to pedicab rules that would have required pedicab operators to hold driver’s licenses and have a year of continuous driving experience; to require a one-time “defensive driving” training for taxi, Lyft and Uber workers rather than retrainings every two years; and to allow small accessory dwelling units to be built near the edge of properties as long as they’re no larger than the garages that have long been allowed near property lines.

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Parks’ new ‘land stewardship manager’ could have big impact on off-road cycling

Forest Park "No Bikes" signs-2

(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A new position currently being offered by the Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) bureau could have a huge impact on the future of off-road cycling.

PP&R’s new Land Stewardship Division Manager will be a senior-level manager who will make between $95,000 and $128,000 and will report directly to bureau director Mike Abbaté. Currently when Parks approaches a large policy or project they use a number of different types of planners and managers who all report to one project manager. This new position would, “bring together all land management expertise, knowledge and strategies under one manager.”

Here are the responsibilities of the new position as taken from the official job description:

Responsibilities include planning, organizing, directing and evaluating the programs, activities, and personnel of the division of approximately 150 employees who protect, maintain, restore and enhance the 11,000 acres of land managed by the Bureau that are part of a regionally ecologically significant system of open spaces, ranging from natural resource areas to highly developed parks to active recreation facilities. This position also oversees ecologists, horticultural services, community gardens, a plant nursery, turf and irrigation maintenance, environmental education, the integrated pest management program, and the recreational trails program.

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Bike-share membership with a food-stamp card? Portland hasn’t shut the door

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An Oregon Trail card might work as an ID for a
bike share system, even if no charge were made.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Update 1:25 pm: This article was based on a Nov. 2 interview, but we didn’t check with the city again before publishing; we should have. Since Nov. 2, the city has done new research and is also speaking about the issues differently. We’ve changed the headline to reflect that. See the bottom of the post for more information.

Making bike-share systems useful to poorer people has been one of the thorniest problems in North American bike sharing.

One reason is probably that you need a credit or debit card to access most bike-share systems, and almost 20 percent of American households that earn less than $30,000 a year don’t have bank accounts. Another reason, presumably, is that bike share memberships cost upwards of $100 a year or (in Portland’s case) $2.50 per nonmember ride.

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New Portland study says greenery is the preferred bikeway buffer

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buffer type score

Slide from a recent PSU grad’s study of people’s comfort preferences. An “A” score represents the most comfortable biking.
(Image: TREC at PSU)

What’s the best way to separate bike and auto traffic?

Portland hasn’t built many protected bike lanes yet, but the ones it has include dabbles in every major separation method, from the mountable curbs on Northeast Cully to the plastic posts on the Hawthorne Bridge viaduct to the thick fence on the Morrison Bridge to the big round planters on Northeast Multnomah to the parked cars on Southwest Broadway.

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Seeking Bike Oriented Designers and Tradesmen

In addition to owning The Bike Concierge, I have also taken on the position of project manager for First City Central Marketplace & Bistro. Located in Oregon City in the historic train depot at the Amtrak stop, FCCM&B is a bike themed and cylist oriented bistro and tourism center. After a long period of planning and negotiations, we are ready to start the build out and tenant improvements, and would like to hire from the local cycling community as much as possible.

What we need:

Graphic and web designer(s). This is a priority, we need a logo and a website ASAP.

Interior designer. We have a limited amount of space to work with and a lot we want to do with it. It would be really great if you have a background that includes commercial kitchens and small restaurant spaces.

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From the Archives

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