BikePortland

Guest post: What you can do to improve bicycling in Portland right now

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Gerik Kransky, in brown.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)

Editor’s note: This post is from Gerik Kransky, advocacy director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.

Last week was a big week for conversations among people who ride bikes, advocates, activists, media, and the general public. Everyone is talking about the petition to rescind Portland’s Platinum bicycle-friendly status by the League of American Bicyclists.

So what’s next? How do we push today to improve conditions for bicycling tomorrow? Here are five ideas for immediate action.

Hit the Spruzza for a quick cool mist.

Here at BikePortland we get a fair amount of product pitches (especially since the advent of crowd-funding). Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something new pops up. Cases in point are two products that have found their way into our inbox in the past few weeks: A periscope and an on-board mister for your bicycle.

Yes, you read that right.

The Spruzza ($59) is described as, “an on-board cooling system that attaches quickly and easily to your bike. Spruzza ‘air-conditions’ by allowing you to spray just enough water to cover and cool your head, face and neck. The relief from the heat is immediate.”

Portland-based Cycle Dog has found success by combining two things local love: bikes and dogs. The six year old company has a retail store and sewing shop in northwest and their products are found in hundreds of stores across the country.

Riding and working at Riverview property-3

Photo taken in August 2012,
before biking was illegal.
(Photo J. Maus/BikePortland)

The City of Portland says the State Land Use Board of Appeals has no jurisdiction over its decision to prohibit bicycling on trails at River View Natural Area.

In a “motion to dismiss” filed on April 13th (which we obtained through a public records request, PDF here), Chief Deputy City Attorney Kathryn Beaumont argues that Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish acted within their “managerial discretion” when they informed the community via a letter on March 2nd that bicycling would no longer be allowed on the 146 acre parcel.

The decision shocked riders and biking advocates. People have been riding the trails at River View for decades. And, following its purchase by the City of Portland in 2011, advocates were working in partnership with the Portland Parks & Recreation and Environmental Services bureaus on a management and trails plan under the assumption that bicycle trails would be allowed. The Northwest Trail Alliance, a Portland-based non-profit that builds, maintains and promotes off-road bike trails, responded by filing a Notice of Intent to Appeal with the State Land Use Board of Appeals on March 23rd.

It hurts so good.
(Photos by Ken Luke)

Climbing very steep hills on bikes is hard. Most people dread them. But for some reason, hills are also a temptress to many riders. And somehow, they are also fun.

The proof is in the pictures.

If it’s legit and not a set-up, this is a pretty amazing stunt. Not cool at all. But still sort of amazing…

A video posted by Josh Navarro (@ajourneythroughtime) on Apr 18, 2015 at 10:16pm PDT

Posted by Josh Navarro @ajourneythroughtime. Judging by all the comments it has received on Instagram — many of them are very upset by the stunt — I’m not sure how long he’ll keep it up.

Project aims to improve safety at Springwater/Oaks Bottom intersection

There will be a new stop sign for riders coming out of the Oaks Bottom path, which is on the left side in this photo. Parks will also add additional measures including paint striping on the Springwater that warns riders to slow down.
(Photos J. Maus/BikePortland)

Alphonso King’s homebuilt bike was confiscated
by police who couldn’t believe he hadn’t stolen it.
(Screen grab from Tampa Bay Times)

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

“Bicycle Blitzkrieg”: A Tampa woman walking her bike home after cooking for an elderly neighbor, carrying a plate of fish and grits in her other hand, got a $51 ticket for not having a bike light. A 54-year-old man’s bike was confiscated because he couldn’t produce a receipt to prove it was his. A 56-year-old man was handcuffed for towing a borrowed lawnmower through a stop sign on his bike. They’re all part of the Tampa police department’s effort to “head off crime before it happens” by issuing thousands of bicycle-related infractions to black people.

Bikes vs. bombs: After World War II, London teens turned bomb-site ruins into low-rent velodromes. One man who’s still in the saddle tells the story.

Job Title
Sales Associate

Company/Organization
Rack Attack Car Rack & Hitch Centers

Job Description
Rack Attack, North America’s premier automotive rack retail store, is seeking motivated individuals for full time and part time employment at our 2 locations in Downtown and Eastside Portland.

Responsibilities will be centred around the onsite sale and installation of Yakima, Thule, and other automotive roof rack and hitch systems. It will also at times include the processing, packaging, and shipping of on-line orders.

Applicants that are outdoor minded, mechanically inclined, detail oriented, ability to multi-task and retail sales experience are preferred, but not required assets. We offer a friendly work environment and opportunities for advancement from within.

This position is ideal for bike mechanics and university students.

For more information about us, visit www.rackattack.com.

How to Apply
Please email your resume to employment@rackattack.com as a Word or PDF attachment.

Summer stops by for a weekend, and Portland explodes with bikes

Hard to argue with.
(Photo from Yuriy Mikitchenko via Instagram)

One of the best things I did when I started writing for BikePortland a couple years ago was to use Tweetdeck to create a live feed of people in the Portland area who use the word “bike” or “bicycle” on their social media.

A day like Saturday really lights that list up. Here’s a sampling, roughly in chronological order through the day.

Some feelings can only be felt.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Spending a week writing and thinking a lot about frustrating news will wear you down. So by 7 p.m. on Friday night, I thought the last thing I wanted to do was ride downtown for the evening ride I’d said I’d attend.

In other words, I came pretty close to a pretty dumb decision.

Friday night was one of the first of something terrific: a new series of rides organized by Nathan Jones, owner of the 18-month-old Foster Road shop Ride Yr Bike and the founder of the Trans Am Bike Race.

Priceless branding.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

Biking has been a big part of the brand identity that has made Portland a come-from-behind economic success over the last 20 years.

But now that prosperity has arrived, at least for some Portlanders, where’s the love? And if it’s missing, do people who function as “props” in Portland’s triumphant narrative have an option to pull back?

That’s the question that BikePortland reader Kevin explored in a comment beneath our post Tuesday about a pair of Portlanders’ high-profile campaign to rescind the city’s “platinum” status with the League of American Bicyclists.

Here’s how Kevin put it, with a bit of emphasis added:

Guest post: What you can do to improve bicycling in Portland right now

On-bike air conditioning system and a periscope: Two things you didn’t know you needed

Industry Ticker: Cycle Dog launches jersey and Earth Day tube drive

City files motion to dismiss River View land use case

If climbing hills is so hard why are all these people smiling?

BMX rider rolls over Lamborghini in downtown Portland

Project aims to improve safety at Springwater/Oaks Bottom intersection

The Monday Roundup: Tampa’s ‘Bicycle Blitzkrieg,’ London’s bombsite races and more

Job: Sales Associate – Rack Attack Car Rack & Hitch Centers

Summer stops by for a weekend, and Portland explodes with bikes

An uncapturable night ride, the world’s best medicine

Comment of the Week: When ‘bike culture’ bites back

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