Report and photos from test ride of Organic Transit’s ELF trike

ELF trike test ride-19

Organic Transit CEO and Founder Rob Cotter inside the ELF during a test ride event in Portland on Tuesday.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s not a bike and it’s not a car, but the ELF trike is quickly finding fans in Portland who are looking for something in between.

ELF trike test ride-7

The event drew a good crowd —
some who arrived by bike, others by car.

Organic Transit, the North Carolina-based company that makes the ELF solar and pedal-powered trike, just wrapped up three busy days of test rides (two days in Troutdale and one day in Portland). I dropped by the test ride event Tuesday on the eastbank of the Willamette River near the Hawthorne Bridge to take a closer look, meet the company’s founder and CEO Rob Cotter, and get people’s impressions of these interesting vehicles.

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Weekend Event Guide: Cycle City, Sects, Caddyshack and more

Bike Temple Joy of Sects Ride-9

Join Bike Temple’s Monogamous Sects ride
for a closer look at a local Lutheran church.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to our Weekend Event Guide sponsored by Hopworks Urban Brewery.

Yes, the rain is back, but the weekend forecast doesn’t look half-bad. There might even been a bit of sunshine.

As for rides and events, things are a bit quiet by Portland’s usual standards; but there are still some really fun things to do on (and off) your bike. Have a look below and start planning your weekend…

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BTA up for national ‘Bicycling Magazine People’s Choice’ advocacy award

The addition of those three words into a funding
bill are a major success story for the BTA.

The Portland-based Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is up for a Bicycling Magazine People’s Choice Advocacy Award. The awards, promoted by the magazine in partnership with the Alliance for Biking & Walking, will be given to one of ten finalists who gets the most votes in an online poll made public yesterday.

The BTA has been recognized for their work with the Oregon legislature to pass a major change to the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) ConnectOregon transportation funding program. For its first four years of existence, this state lottery-backed funding source, also known as the Multimodal Transportation Fund, was open to just about every “non-highway” transportation mode except bicycling and walking. That glaring omission was corrected last year when Senate Bill 260 was passed into law.

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BBQ Cannondale Bad boy 2007

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2007
Brand: Cannondale
Model: Bad boy
Color:BBQ
Size:Xl
Serial:5023782
Stolen in Portland, OR 97217
Stolen:2013-01-27
Stolen From: Pause restraunt Interstate Ave
Neighborhood: Interstate Killingsworth
Owner: Dennis Elmer
OwnerEmail: Djacobelmer@yahoo.com
Description: Black with rock and roll stickers on the frame. Kiss Ramones etc. Rack and bags on back
Police record with: Portland
Police reference#: 14-150776
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Purple Haro Vector 1994

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 1994
Brand: Haro
Model: Vector
Color:Purple
Size:Women’s
Photo: http://lisairis.free.fr/haro/haro.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97211-6812
Stolen:2014-01-26
Stolen From: In front of The Farm Cafe, SE 7 & E. Burnside
Neighborhood: Buckman/Kerns
Owner: Lisa Szymanski
OwnerEmail: lisa(at sign)lisairis.net
Reward: $100
Description: Black bullhorn handle bars, black fenders, aluminum kick stand, nice puncture resistant tires. Bought at a shop in CT (perhaps Amity?) 20 years ago.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 14-150690
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Woman files complaint after harsh encounter with Union Pacific police on Cement Road (updated)

Disaster Relief Trials -45

Diana Rempe at the 2012 Disaster
Relief Trials cargo bike challenge.
(Photos by J.Maus/BikePortland)

A Portland woman who concedes she was illegally biking on the private Cement Road to Swan Island with her 6-year-old daughter says she was “bullied” by a railroad police officer and has filed a formal complaint.

“As I explain in my complaint, I do not mean to suggest that I was in the right riding the Cement Road,” Diana Rempe of North Portland wrote in an email Wednesday to Portland Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick, Swan Island Transportation Management Association Director Sarah Angell and BikePortland. “I understand fully that it crosses Union Pacific property. However, I do believe strongly that there is no excuse for the intimidating bullying my 6 year old daughter and I experienced from Officer Bender of Union Pacific. I am a middle aged, white woman with a lot of privilege and that guy really scared me. I can only imagine how he might treat someone less system savvy than me.”

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First look at PBOT’s official design drawings for Williams Ave project

The new design coming to Williams Ave will
look mostly like this: One buffered bike lane
next to one standard lane.
(Graphic: PBOT design plans)

About three years (to the day) after the City of Portland’s first meeting for their N. Williams Ave Traffic Operations + Safety project, the public will get a chance to see detailed design drawings of the project.

When the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for this project voted to adopt the changes on Williams 18 months ago, they did so based on concept drawings and rough renderings of the proposed changes. These “30% design” plans offer the first real detailed look at how PBOT will change Williams Ave.

Bureau of Transportation project manager Rich Newlands announced today that PBOT staff will host a meeting at Legacy Emanuel Hospital on Tuesday, February 4th “to review the plan set and talk with staff from the design team”.

We’ve been taking a closer look at the 44-pages of plans and here are a few things we noticed:

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Portland Police now put stolen, unclaimed bikes up for auction at GovDeals.com

Do I hear $15?

Are you looking for a good deal on a used bike? Did you you get your bike stolen but gave up on finding it or had no way to prove it was yours? You might want to check the listings at GovDeals.com. That’s the online marketplace that has just inked a deal with the Portland Police Bureau to sell unclaimed property.

There are currently 59 items listed for sale and 11 of them are bicycles. Auctions last about a month and bids start at just $10.00.

Among such items as jewelry, art, computers, and tools, there are some pretty high-end bikes available. These bikes were recovered by the PPB but if their rightful owners could not be tracked down, they are now offered up to highest bidder.

Here are a few more of the bikes currently listed…

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Portland, model city: Six skeptical questions for author Julie Campoli

Writer Julie Campoli.
(Photos courtesy Campoli)

Julie Campoli’s mission is to convince the world that Portland is, more or less, right.

In her books, Campoli makes the case that density is desirable, mixed-use neighborhoods are the best ones, and designing streets for walking and biking is good for everyone — even if it reduces auto travel speed and volume, because it’ll foster proximity which is key to healthy behaviors. Free auto parking, on the other hand, hurts the economy by making proximity expensive.

For Portlanders (not to mention BikePortlanders) things were reaching dangerously high levels of self-reinforcement. So in advance of her free talk tomorrow in inner Northwest Portland, The Real Estate Beat decided to ask Campoli about six reasons her arguments might be wrong.

Here’s what she said.

Your new book Made for Walking opens with the story of the Hurst family who live north of Vancouver, Wash, and drive 627 miles a week among them to get to work and school. Do you know why they choose to live in Venersborg despite the drive? Does their choice have any lessons for us?

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Blue Fuji Supreme 82

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 82
Brand: Fuji
Model: Supreme
Color:Blue
Size:26
Stolen in Tigard, OR 97223
Stolen:2014-01-28
Stolen From: 9068 sw 91st ave apt 1′
Tigard, or 97223
Neighborhood: Ole son woods apartments
Owner: Rick Smith
OwnerEmail: Smithtronics(at sign)hotmail.com
Reward: Please help me
Description: The bike has a rack on the back, and the right brake has no tape on it, but the left brake has spread apart tape on part of it. The bike also at the time of the theft, had a grocery bag on the back with a green sweatshirt inside and the lock was on the back rack as well.
Police record with: Sheriffs office
Police reference#: 14-501497
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

white&red diamondback podium 6 2011

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2011
Brand: diamondback
Model: podium 6
Color:white&red
Size:54cm
Serial: U12C17992
Stolen in Vancouver, WA 98664
Stolen:2014-01-27
Stolen From: JACK IN THE BOX 221 NE 104THAV VANCOUVER
Neighborhood: MILLPLAIN & 205 freeway
Owner: James Walton
OwnerEmail: jwwalton88(A T)yahoo.com
Reward: YES
Description: full carbon – white with red on top tube &forks – black bar tape & saddle-incredible chrome bell-cateye computer-1 bottle cage-velcro holding small led flashlite-blade type spokes
Police record with: VANCOUVER
Police reference#: v14-1431
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

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From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike