BikePortland

Portland-based ‘Cylo’ aims for first production run

Eric Duvauchelle on his Cylo One prototype. The base model, which will be built in Portland, will retail for $1,900.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

A new Portland-based bike brand is trying to presell its first model in order to take a crucial next step in its evolution. Eric Duvauchelle, co-founder of Cylo, has self-funded his company since it launched this past April. Now he needs to find 50 people that want his Cylo One city bike — and with those orders he plans to make the first production batch.

A Northeast Portland neighborhood greenway.
(Photo: M.Andersen)

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

Reclaiming street play: After part of Edinburgh set a 20 mph speed limit on residential and major shopping streets, the percentage of kids allowed to play on the sidewalk or street jumped from 31 percent to 66 percent (PDF).

Bad parking shaming: Some Toronto residents have been keeping rolls of stickers in their pockets that say “I parked in a bike lane.”

Which type?
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

Most BikePortlanders probably know the Four Types of Bicyclists, a concept sketched out by Portland’s bicycle planning coordinator, outed on this site eight years ago, and road-tested by a Portland State University professor in 2012.

But what if we turned this concept on its head and divided the bikeways of the world into four types, too?

That’s the intriguing idea from reader “Alan 1.0,” who speculated in a comment this morning that 60 percent of Portland bike routes work for “strong and fearless” bikers while about 1 percent of Portland bike routes work for just about everybody.

Here’s his comment:

Kerry Kunsman (1947-2014).
(Photo from his blog)

The Oregon State Police announced today that the man who drove his truck into Kerry Kunsman on September 19th as he rode his bike on Highway 131, has been issued two citations.

Frank Bohannon, 74, has been cited for Careless Driving (ORS 811.135(3)) and Driving While Suspended. Prior to this decision, the OSP says they conferred with the Tillamook County District Attorney’s Office and decided there will be no additional criminal charges. Additional penalties will be triggered because Bohannon’s actions resulted in the death of a “vulnerable roadway user.”

North Portland Bikeworks new location-2-1

Bike shops are a key piece of biking’s future. But are we selling them short?
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Should advocates for bicycling consider retail bike shops as something more than just a place to hang out and buy stuff? What if we thought of them as being so imperative to the cycling revolution that we fought for them and promoted them with as much urgency and fervor as a major piece of new bike infrastructure?

The wide sidewalk along SW Naito Parkway between Lincoln and Harrison.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Thanks to TriMet’s nearly completed Orange Line, the main bike route to the South Waterfront got smoother this week.

But as we discussed in a post last week, there are still significant complications with the bike connections to Portland State University that could have been solved if it had been possible to run a bike/walk/skate path on the new MAX viaduct.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Let’s hear it for Oregon’s National Parks Service staff and Travel Oregon. They’ve made carfree Crater Lake a reality. And it is good.
(Photos by Rebecca Hamilton)

As we mentioned in the Weekend Event Guide, Saturday is the last day this year to experience a carfree ride around Crater Lake. Contributor Rebecca Hamilton experienced it last week and has some tips to share.

Crater Lake National Park will host its last carfree day of 2014 this Saturday, September 27th. Although the West Rim Drive will remain open to motorized vehicles, the East Rim Drive’s 24 miles (of the 33-mile loop) around the caldera rim are yours to enjoy on foot or two wheels without a single stop sign or RV along the way.

Cycle Oregon Day 3 - Crater Lake!-21.JPG

Your last chance (until next summer) to ride carfree around Crater Lake.
(Photo: J Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.

How will you mark the change in season? How about a trip south to Crater Lake for 24-miles of carfree paradise? Or maybe it’s time to get serious about cyclocross and tackle “Ninkrossi”?

Whatever you have planned, make sure you check out this week’s guide. A big festival, Sunday Parkways, racing and riding — there’s something for everyone.

Have fun!

Friday, September 26th

ODOT Bike-Ped Plan update listening session-1

ODOT heard from experts about how they should tackle biking and walking policy.(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) hosted a “listening session” at their Portland regional headquarters yesterday. It was the fifth of five such meetings they’re using to gather insights and learn key issues they should address in a major update to their Bicycle and Pedestrian Mode Plan.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz at an
anti-Columbia River Crossing
rally in 2009.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

All of Portland is hurting for Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s family this week.

Carpooling to his job in Salem, Steve Fritz was killed in a traffic collision Wednesday after a northbound pickup crossed the freeway barrier and collided with Fritz’s Nissan. The husband of the city council member died at the scene.

A vigil for Steve Fritz is planned this Sunday, Sept. 28, at 5 p.m. in Terry Schrunk Plaza, across the street from City Hall at 1221 SW 4th Avenue.

“We will have an open mic and will be collecting letters to be given to the family at a better time,” wrote Cameron Whitten, a local human rghts activist who got to know Fritz during Occupy Portland’s 2011 encampment and his subsequent hunger strike outside City Hall for housing justice, in an email. Whitten, who later supported Fritz’s reelection campaign, is among the organizers of Sunday’s event.

For her part, Commissioner Fritz wrote on Wednesday that her family would be suggesting charitable donations in lieu of flowers or cards:

The new temporary traffic diverter at N. Rodney and Ivy.
(Photo: Zef Wagner)

People using the future neighborhood greenway route on North Rodney Avenue got a surprise last week: a temporary diagonal traffic diverter at Ivy Street, designed to reduce cut-through auto traffic.

Project manager Rich Newlands said in an interview Wednesday that the city installed the diverter as part of its Williams Avenue traffic safety project after months of pressure from the local neighborhood association.

Trucks frequently (and sometimes illegally) encroach on the SE Caruthers bike lane. A new street design will help bike riders navigate SE Caruthers more smoothly.
(Photo: Besty Reese)

Anyone who has ridden on SE Caruthers in the pathway gap between the southern end of the Eastbank Esplanade and the start of the Springwater Corridor trail (map) has likely experienced the problem of trucks encroaching on the bike lane. It’s common because two truck-heavy businesses — Apple Foods and McCoy Millworks — have loading docks adjacent to the street and a smooth, mountable curb is all that separates the parking zone from the bike lane.

Portland-based ‘Cylo’ aims for first production run

The Monday Roundup: Reclaiming street play, bad parking shaming and more

Comment of the Week: The Four Types of Bikeways

Careless Driving citation issued in collision that killed Kerry Kunsman

Local bike shops as important as infrastructure?

New TriMet path carves better route to South Waterfront, but PSU link still awkward

A how-to guide for the ultimate carfree Crater Lake rim ride

Weekend Event Guide: Bike & Beer Fest, Parkways, carfree Crater Lake, and more

Friday, September 26th

ODOT ‘listening session’ aids quest to modernize bike/walk plan

Sunday vigil set to honor and remember Steve Fritz

Eliot neighborhood gets temporary diverter on Rodney as part of Williams work

PBOT’s first ‘advisory bike lanes’ coming to SE Caruthers

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From the Archives

The 10 busiest bicycling spots in Portland