“Buy Doug a bike and 6 jelly donuts,” might be the best crowdfunding campaign title we’ve ever seen
Hit-and-run in Waterfront Park shows disturbing lack of conscience
Paths are for slow riding.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
Reader Spencer B (not that Spencer B) shared a disturbing story with us earlier this month. A man riding a bike in Waterfront Park just south of the Steel Bridge, rode his bicycle into another person and just kept on going.
Here’s what happened, via an email from Spencer:
This morning while riding to work I witnessed an accident where the cyclist hit and knocked over a pedestrian and just kept going. I stopped to check on her. She was a 70ish woman who was probably from out of town and doesn’t know the dangers of the Esplanade in the morning.
The Monday Roundup: Pixel bridges, Amish bikers and a de facto Idaho in SF
Uploaded by ishfulness.
Here are the bike links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Pixel bridges: An online artist has made renderings of all 12 that cross the Willamette. They’re even animated — check out Tilikum’s light rail cars.
De facto Idaho: In response to a police crackdown on people who bike through stop signs, a San Francisco city supervisor has proposed a law to make such enforcments a low police priority unless someone is actually at risk.
Amish bikers: A new ruling allowing Amish people to ride bicycles has swamped Kentucky roads with new riders.
County urges bikers to use TriMet as wildfire smoke fills Portland streets (updated)
This is what downtown #pdx looks like from about 1/2 mile away. #thisisclimatechange #pdxtst pic.twitter.com/rXR7FGRgoW
— Leslie Carlson (@QueenLeslie1982) August 22, 2015
Comment of the Week: One more Portland bike user for better pavement
North Michigan Avenue: tighten your bolts.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
This time last year, it looked as if Portland’s city council was about to grit its teeth and start addressing two problems that Mayor Charlie Hales rode into office pledging to fix: the twin facts that our roads are both consistently unsafe and disintegrating beneath us.
Now, as Portland’s leaders get ready to file back in from vacation, all available signs point to both of those cans being kicked further down the road.
Meanwhile, as BikePortland reader Alex wrote in a comment on Tuesday, bike trips through this town keep getting bumpier.
The four roles of bike shops: new PSU thesis breaks it down
Brandon Fite at the Outer Rim bike shop in Gateway.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
Bike shops matter. And like so many brick-and-mortar retailers across this country, many American bike shops have been failing.
How scared should we be about this? And if we’re scared, what’s to be done?
A newly minted Portland State University graduate and employee of the (perfectly healthy) Northwest Portland institution 21st Avenue Cycles is advancing that conversation with a senior thesis he published this year. In it, he proposes a typology (“four types of local bike shops”) and interviews five Portland bike shop professionals about the roles bike shops play and how they interact with a bike-friendly city.
First look at Oregon State Park’s ‘modern luxuries’ for bicycle tourers
Last week we shared how the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department was upping the ante on bike-camping facilities at three popular state campgrounds. OPRD has installed fix-it stations, group shelters, covered gear storage, and device charging stations just for people who show up by bike. The state calls these facilities “modern luxuries.”
I haven’t been able to see them myself, but I just got a few photos from OPRD’s Bicycle Recreation Specialist Alex Phillips. Check them out below…
Jobs of the Week: Store Manager and Rapha
We’ve had two great jobs listed this week. Learn more about them via the links below…
- Store Manager – (company name withheld)
- Finance Assistant – Rapha
Weekend Event Guide: Parkways, Jade Night Market, camping, cross, and more
Pack up and head out for one last adventure before summer is over.
This menu of delicious rides and events is brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Their support makes BikePortland possible.
Some people are acting like summer is almost over. Wait.. what? It is? Dang. Well, we’ve still got some stellar weather that’s just begging you to get out and ride. This weekend we’ve added a few events that aren’t bike-specific; but they sure are fun and showing up by bike makes them even better.
Enjoy!
Friday, August 21st
5 days in Eastern Oregon: Wallowa Valley and Zumwalt Prairie
A derelict homestead sits nestled in a remote valley on the rough and rocky Pine Road in the Zumwalt Prairie about 25 miles north of Wallowa Lake.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
City’s new Sunday Parkways traffic plan: fewer police, more volunteers, lower costs
PPB Sgt. Robert Voepel and Sunday Parkways
Manager Linda Ginenthal.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
Manager Linda Ginenthal.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
NOTE: Since posting this story I have learned more from PBOT. Please see the extended note at the end of the post. — Jonathan
In an ongoing effort to make Sunday Parkways as efficient and cost-effective as possible, the Portland Bureau of Transportation will unveil a new traffic plan at their southeast event this Sunday.
Under the new plan, modeled after open streets events in other cities like Bogota, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, PBOT will use fewer uniformed police officers and more citizen volunteers to control traffic at intersections. This reduced police presence will save PBOT thousands of dollars while freeing up police resources for higher priority assignments.
PBOT’s Sunday Parkways Manager Linda Ginenthal shared in an interview this morning that they’re looking to be “more creative” with their traffic control.
When Sunday Parkways first started in 2008 the events cost about $150,000 each. For the past several years however, as the city has found efficiencies in how they deliver the events, the current budget for each one is about $85,000 — with about $8,000 of that going to pay for police. Using fewer police, Ginenthal says, is likely to save the city another several thousand dollars.