🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and is not publishing new content. Learn more here and stay tuned for updates. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
Two lawsuits filed in the past two weeks put a focus on the question of who’s responsible for safe riding.
According to The Oregonian, a woman was badly injured last May during a mountain bike race in Hood River when she attempted to ride over a log that had fallen on the trail. She now seeks $273,000 from race organizer Hurricane Racing (Portland based bike shop Fat Tire Farm, the event’s main sponsor, is also named in the lawsuit).
Here’s more from The Oregonian:
Portland thieves will stop at nothing to take your beloved bike.
In the wee hours of this morning, someone sawed clean through a standard-issue City of Portland staple rack and stole a Trek Lexa road bike.
The theft happened in front of Star Bar at SE 7th and Morrison and was first reported via its listing on BikeIndex.org. Bryan Hance from Bike Index said the listing came in at 6:00 am so he suspects the theft occurred overnight. (We’re still trying to get in contact with the bike’s owner.)
These are the stories that caught our eyes last week…
Smart pedals: The buzz this morning is all about “connected” pedals that track your location, speed, distance and so on. They debuted today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The Growing Bike: This balance trike-and-bike adjusts to fit your kids as they grow.
Distractions everywhere: A Eugene motorcycle cop who had just pulled someone over for texting while driving was hit by a van whose driver is suspected of texting while driving. Can you say epidemic?
People who don’t know BikePortland well, especially those who don’t bike much themselves, are sometimes surprised to learn that we don’t see ourselves as an environmentalist website.
Cutting your carbon is a great reason to ride a bike, but there are plenty of others.
Even so, most bike users have probably spent some time thinking about the relationship between small-scale and large-scale environmental action. Maybe that’s why so many readers’ nerves were touched by the link in this week’s Monday Roundup to the Oregonian editorial writers’ odd editorial explaining that they wouldn’t be editorializing about climate change this year because climate change is a national and international issue.
One of the power couples of Portland biking has decided to formally join forces professionally, too.
Elly Blue, creator of the Taking the Lane zine about feminism and biking and the author or publisher of several other bike-themed books, announced this week that she’s merged her living-room operation Elly Blue Publishing with Microcosm Publishing, the Portland-based independent publisher founded and managed for years by her partner Joe Biel.
As we wrote this time last year, predictions are for suckers.
It’s way cooler (and much safer, if anybody happens to look back with hindsight) to list the things you don’t know yet. So, once again, we’ve done our best to anticipate the questions that’ll shape Portland’s next year of biking news.
Are we asking the right ones? Which have we forgotten? Add your own in the comments. Or, if you’re a daredevil, try laying down some answers in advance.
Details:
TEAM SHRALP is proud to present a Portland Skatepark Benefit Showing of Tim Burton’s bicycle comedy classic, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. The Portland BMX/Skate Community has been advocating for a master plan of 19 public skateparks for over 10yrs. 6 parks down and 13 to go. Come join us as we make Portland the SKATEPARK CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!!!
This benefit screening takes place on Friday January 2nd 7:30pm at Velo Cult (1969 NE 42nd Ave Portland, OR 97213). Raffle, Prizes, Drinks, & more! All ages event with a $8 suggested donation at the door. Also featuring BMX shorts provided by: Bone Deth, Goods BMX, and Boicott.
Spread the word and join in on the FUN!!! Hope to see you then!
Flyer Art By: Ben Hucke
The Portland Police Bureau swung into action after hearing about a suspected bicycle chop shop on the Springwater earlier this week.
On Tuesday we highlighted an encampment just south of the Ross Island Bridge that was overflowing with bike parts and frames. The person who sent us photos for our story suspected that the parts and frames were stolen. After hearing about the encampment a day later, Portland Police Bureau Officer Dave Sanders and his partner Officer Bryant went to take a closer look.
Two great opportunities to start out the year. Check out our most recent job listings via the links below…
Somewhere along the path to becoming one of the dirtiest words in local politics, a funny thing happened to bicycling in Portland in 2014.
Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.
Riding a bike is one of the best ways to start out a new year. The health, happiness and camaraderie one taps into while pedaling a bicycle is something with positive impacts that are both tangible and symbolic.
I know many of you will grab a bike and head out on a ride of your own in the next few days. But for those of you who prefer — or need the motivation of — an organized group ride, there are two excellent options to choose from.
And one comes with a money-back satisfaction guarantee…
As of yesterday, there were 1,712,172 bicycle trips across Portland’s Hawthorne Bridge in 2014. That’s an impressive number — but it represents just a paltry 0.4 percent increase over last year’s total.