BikePortland

Guest article: A stolen bike that took nine months to recover

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Kyle Gunsul’s stolen Kuota.

This article was submitted by Bryan Hance of Bike Index. It originally appeared on his blog at BikeIndex.org.

The theft

Just over nine months ago, someone broke into Kyle Gunsul’s house and stole his bike.

They did a good job, too. Portland locals might remember Kyle’s post to the local racing listserv detailing his burglary:

“… (the burglar) removed the porch light, broke a locked gate, came through a window, busted down two security cameras and busted through another gate. They ONLY took the bike. They were feet away from my living room with computer and stereos but they knew what they were coming for. Was definitely cased.”

In addition to registering with Bike Index, Kyle got the word out. Photos of his stolen Kuota Kharma made the rounds on Nextdoor, Twitter, Facebook, and the usual local bike email lists. After that, though, Kyle’s bike did what most stolen bikes do – it disappeared.

Until July.

There’s a fantastic pair of events coming to town on Thursday.

Remember David Bragdon? Yep, our former Metro president. Well, he went off and moved to New York and worked for the Bloomberg administration for a while. Now he’s leading a non-profit called TransitCenter, a group that advocates for “improving urban mobility.”

TransitCenter is sponsoring two events on 10/22 that will offer lessons and insights about the “role of citizen activism influencing transportation reform.” Learn more in the press releases below.

“There ought to be some higher level of consequence when you use a deadly weapon to kill someone, even if you didn’t do it on purpose.”
— Ray Thomas, lawyer at Swanson Thomas Coon & Newton

There’s a gap in Oregon law that has outraged citizens and hamstrung prosecutors for many years. It’s a gap that makes it all too common for someone to receive a mere traffic citation when their actions while operating a vehicle lead directly to a serious injury or fatality.

This maddening situation first made major headlines here on BikePortland following our tragic October of 2007 when Tracey Sparling and Brett Jarolimek where killed in traffic collisions. In both cases the person behind the wheel of a large truck turned across a bicycle lane that was already occupied and two people died as a result. Despite those actions, the District Attorney declined to pursue criminal charges in either case.

The problem here isn’t with the DA’s office. The DA is constrained by Oregon law which currently has a yawning gap between the culpability threshold of a traffic ticket and a more serious criminal charge.

“There ought to be some higher level of consequence when you use a deadly weapon to kill someone, even if you didn’t do it on purpose.” That’s how noted lawyer Ray Thomas described the problem to us when we published a story about this gap in 2010.

The beauty, folly, and challenge of cyclocross was in full display in Cascade Locks on Sunday.
(Photos by Dylan VanWeelden/Pushing Towards Normal)

By all accounts, this weekend’s Cross Crusade event out at Cascade Locks was a huge success. Everyone I’ve talked to about it had rave reviews — not just for the usual racing and fun vibe these events have; but for the venue itself.

Almost half of southbound rush-hour traffic on Barbur turns right here. Converting the right lane to right-turn-only could boost driver safety on Barbur while making room for continuous bike lanes.
(Image: Google Street View)

Buried inside 115 pages of analysis of Barbur Boulevard, a “safety audit” released Monday seems to have come up with something interesting: a pretty solid new idea for fixing the dangerous wooded section of Southwest Portland’s most important street.

It’s fairly simple. Instead of losing a northbound auto lane from Miles to Hamilton, one of Barbur’s two southbound auto lanes could peel off at Capitol Highway.

South of Capitol Highway — which is where 40 to 50 percent of southbound Barbur traffic exits anyway — the street could be restriped to add continuous bike lanes across a pair of narrow bridges, ending the current situation that pushes bikes and cars to merge into the same 45-mph lane.

I saw a trashy glint in my planting strip walking (yes, walking, not riding) back from the store tonight. Went to remove the trash, and found that it was a mostly-stripped bike frame – a Univega Via Montega, 23″.

Calling the police non-emergency number at night gets you nothing. How do I report an obviously stolen bike that I found, rather than lost? This does not fit any category of incident that can be reported to PPB on line.

I’ve got the serial number; now what?

Much more than socks: The Athletic toasts one year in business

The Athletic celebrated one year of business at their
retail store located at NW 19th and Lovejoy.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

As I looked into The Athletic’s retail store in northwest Portland on Friday night and saw it jam-packed with fans and customers, all I could think of was this: It all started with a pair of socks inspired by airport carpet.

Traffic on 3rd Avenue this morning.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A year after activists pulled off an inspiring demonstration of what 3rd Avenue could look like, the Bureau of Transportation followed up with their permanent version.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has just released the Barbur Boulevard Safety Audit (PDF). The 115-page report takes an in-depth look at the safety issues of one the most deadly and dangerous urban highways in our region and it has been eagerly anticipated by advocates for months.

The audit came about after ODOT received significant pressure from the community (including a petition from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance) to do something about street’s dangerous bicycling conditions.

Which street space should a construction project shut
down first? Here’s one way to order it.
(Image: Seattle Bike Blog)

Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:

Sidewalk priority: A new rule in Seattle would make sidewalk removal during construction projects a last resort.

Guerrilla parking spaces: Police in Brooklyn painted parking space numbers right on top of a bike lane.

Streetcar track fatality: A man riding a bike on San Francisco’s Market Street was killed by a bus, apparently after catching a wheel in the track while biking in a streetcar lane and falling sideways.

Competitor Adam Newman leads a group of riders on North Rosa Parks Way en route to the Oregon Food Bank checkpoint where they had to pick up a box of food before returning to the University of Portland.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

With interest in earthquake preparedness at an all-time high, the timing could not have been better for the fourth annual Disaster Relief Trials. The event, which was based at University of Portland, aims to demonstrate that cargo bikes can be an effective way to administer aid and help rebuild our communities after a large quake or other natural disaster.

Donnie Kolb sharing his knowledge.
(Photo: Lisa Luna/Mountain Shop)

Leave No Trace ethics aren’t something we talk much about in the bike world. But we should.

As “gravel riding” and “bikepacking” skyrocket in popularity, everyone promoting it (I’m raising my hand) has a responsibility to make sure people who do it act with care and consideration for each other and the places they visit.

It was in that spirit that I joined Jocelyn Gaudi from the Komorebi Cycling Team, Gabe Tiller of Limberlost, and Donnie Kolb of Velo Dirt and OregonBikepacking.com last night at Mountain Shop. Our event came on the heels of two major bits of bad publicity last year: Donnie’s frustrated rant after people left trash and human waste along the Oregon Outback route and the story of that guy in Idaho who caused a wildfire after using flames to dispose of his soiled toilet paper.

Guest article: A stolen bike that took nine months to recover

The theft

Event: Community activism and transportation reform

Wonk Night (10/26) will focus on Oregon’s negligence gap

Through the Lens: The Cross Crusade visits Cascade Locks

Safety audit reveals new approach to fixing Barbur bridges

Why is it so hard to report a found bike?

Much more than socks: The Athletic toasts one year in business

First look: New bike lanes on 3rd Avenue downtown

ODOT releases Barbur Boulevard Safety Audit

The Monday Roundup: Seattle’s sidewalk priority, Brooklyn’s guerrilla parking and more

‘Disaster Relief Trials’ demonstrate biking’s potential after The Big One

Pee on a rock, and other things I learned at the Leave No Trace clinic

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