🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and is not publishing new content. Learn more here and stay tuned for updates. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Local women’s bike fashion company launches ‘Dress to Ride’ project

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Quick Study Clothing makes dresses
that are comfortable while bicycling.
(Photos: Shola Lawson)

Local fashion designer Caitlin McCall is the owner of Quick Study, a women’s apparel company that focuses bike-friendly dresses made in Portland. To help with the launch of her website next month she wants to interview and photograph 16 local women who, “fearlessly adapt their wardrobes to the demands of going by bike.”

‘Dress to Ride’ is the name of the project and all the women who participate in the interviews will be featured in a permanent photo gallery on QuickStudyClothing.com (shot by photographer Shola Lawson) and will be used in McCall’s social media efforts.

This is the first we’ve heard of Quick Study and somehow we missed the profile on the company in the Portland Mercury’s Bike Issue back in May. Here’s more from Mercury fashion writer Marjorie Skinner:

Read more

Beige Trek 2nd District 2010

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2010
Brand: Trek
Model: 2nd District
Color:Beige
Size:54cm
Photo: http://static.bootic.com/_pictures/1211941/trek-2nd-district.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97202
Stolen:2013-12-05
Stolen From: Pioneer Courthouse Square
Neighborhood: Downtown
Owner: Gregg Brekke
OwnerEmail: gregg.brekke@gmail.com
Reward: 50
Description: Converted to flat bars – silver flat bar, ergo grips. Silver plastic fenders. Silver rack mounted to rack mounts on frame. Black bear claw pedals.
Police record with: Portland
Police reference#: T13012368
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

The Friday Profile: Craftsman Jeff Lauten, maker of unicycles and cargo bike boxes

polishing

Working from his basement for a few hours each week, full-time-dad Jeff Lauten will soon finish on his 34th “semi-custom” wood box for a Bullitt cargo bike.
(Photos by M.Andersen/BikePortland unless noted)

Jeff Lauten became a carpenter midlife, he says, because he had no choice.

“The house is 100 years old,” the 48-year-old explained Thursday morning, standing in a North Portland basement that seemed suspiciously crowded for that of someone drawn to physical craftsmanship against his will.

Read more

Snowy cycling in Portland! (photos)

Snow scenes in Portland-6

At N Skidmore and Mississippi, two riders revel in the snowy conditions.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

By my recollection, it’s been almost two years since we had real snow on the ground here in Portland, so when I woke up this morning and saw the white stuff accumulating on N Michigan Avenue in the Piedmont Neighborhood I was more than a little excited.

Read more

Black & Pink Specialized Ruby Elite 2011

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2011
Brand: Specialized
Model: Ruby Elite
Color:Black & Pink
Size:51 cm
Serial:wsbc604128099F
Photo: http://img3.findthebest.com/sites/default/files/975/media/images/2011_Specialized_Ruby_Elite_Apex_86642.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97203
Stolen:2013-12-05
Stolen From: My house on N Fiske Ave and Depaw. down the street from University of Portland. my entire house was robbed
Neighborhood: N portland
Owner: Chelsa Shelton
OwnerEmail: yellow_bug_99@hotmail.com
Reward: cash reward $300
Description: My bike is black with pink and says specialized on it. It has black handlebars and the tips of the handlebars are pink. There are a few small scratches/dents in the frame.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-101909
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Springwater now paved — and open — from Portland to Boring

Newly paved, now open.
(Photo: Clackamas County)

As promised last month, Clackamas County has just announced that paving is complete on the final segment of the Springwater Corridor Trail from Rugg Road to Boring Station Trailhead Park. This 2.25 mile section now means the popular paved path extends 21 miles from downtown Portland to Boring.

The new section is 10-feet wide with 2-4 feet of compacted gravel shoulders (for people on horses). The County has also added a new bridge deck and railings and improved intersection treatments and signage at street crossings. Funding for the $1.9 million project came from a $1.2 million federal Transportation Enhancement grant and addition funds from Metro’s 2006 Natural Areas Bond Measure and Clackamas County Parks.

Read more

Events tonight: Foster Road Open House, Bikes & Tech, West End Bikes party and more

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

New design for Foster Rd will be front and center at
open house event tonight.

It’s another one of those nights in Portland where there’s a ton of great bike-related events going on. Fortunately for you, we’ve put together a nice menu to aid in your selection…

The big advocacy event tonight is an open house for the City’s Foster Road Streetscape Plan (6-8pm at SE Works on SE Foster and 78th). As we shared back in October, a citizen committee already approved the City’s ideas for re-allocating the roadway to make room for bicycle access. Now the public-at-large will get a chance to see those plans and weigh in with their feedback.

Read more

Cold commute open thread

Frosty Esplanade

Frost on the Esplanade floating path yesterday morning.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

How are you dealing with the cold conditions?

Read more

black/Large 56 Scott sub 20 2008

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2008
Brand: Scott
Model: sub 20
Color:black/Large 56
Serial: GA875217
Stolen in Portaland, OR 97202
Stolen:2013-12-3
Stolen From: Riverpark condo parking garage.
196 SE Spokane St, near Springwater Corridor.
Neighborhood: Sellwood
OwnerEmail: sfsbice(A T)yahoo.com
Description: Bar ends on handlebars.
Black metal rack (rear rack)
clipless pedals
Police record with: Portland Police
Police reference#: 13101620
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

From New Orleans to New Haven, driving is on the decline

Austin Day 1-9

People riding bikes in Austin, Texas.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

A new report Wednesday from U.S. Public Interest Research Group shows, among other things, that there are many ways to look at the same numbers.

Most Americans, including most Portlanders, “still” drive for transportation? True.

The use of cars is on the longest slide ever recorded, one that seems only partly related to economic trends? Equally true.

And as US PIRG’s latest report, Transportation in Transition: A Look at Changing Travel Patterns in America’s Biggest Cities shows, this isn’t just because of the rapid drops in supposedly “weird” enclaves like Portland or Austin. It’s happening almost everywhere. To quote from PIRG:

Read more

Local bike shop offers library card for saddles

Gladys Bikes bike shop-10

Saddle selection at Gladys Bikes.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Remember Gladys Bikes? The small shop on N Williams Ave opened back in October with an aim to cater specifically to women. When we visited the shop one of the things that stuck out was that owner Leah Benson stocked a relatively huge selection of saddles. Now it turns out she’s even more serious about getting people the right-fitting saddle than we imagined.

Benson has unveiled a nifty program called the “Saddle Library” Here’s how it works (via the Gladys Bikes website):

  • Step 1: Come into the shop and talk with our knowledgeable staff about your saddle needs and concerns. We’ll make recommendations about which saddle(s) might be a good match for you.
  • Step 2: For $25 you get a Library Card, which gives you access to check out any of the saddles in our loaning library. For each saddle you check out you get one week try it out on your bike.

    • Read more

Latest Headlines

I’m going on hiatus

Come to BikePortland’s 20th birthday and beer collab release party!

Big day for PBOT budget as new revenue proposals head back to Council Wednesday

Monday Roundup: Paris in Brooklyn, ‘Trail Towns’, e-bike reviews, and more

From the Archives

The 10 busiest bicycling spots in Portland