The CCC’s Lale Santalices and a member of Andando en Bicicletas en Cully at Sunday Parkways in 2014.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Bicycle advocacy that’s inclusive of people from different racial and cultural backgrounds — commonly referred to under the umbrella term of equity — is something every bike group seems to be talking about these days.

But the Portland-based nonprofit Community Cycling Center has been doing this work long before it was common. And now they’ve been recognized with a “Catalyst Award” from the Alliance of Biking and Walking. The award was presented to the CCC at the recent National Bike Summit in Washington D.C.
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Her left hand is blurry because she just did that throttle-twist motion (which was immediately followed by this smile).
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

If you believe (as I do) that children are the true indicator species of a cycling-friendly city, then Portland just put a big down payment on its future. [Read more…]

Rep. Blumenauer at the Community Cycling Center this morning.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Looking to make his famous holiday fruitcake last even longer, Portland’s representative in the United States Congress, Earl Blumenauer, has issued a citywide challenge: He wants Portlanders to help provide 1,000 bikes for kids in the month of December.
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Lumberyard co-founder Will Heiberg.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s way too early for us to start talking about Christmas, but we’ll make an exception for this story.

Today in east Portland the non-profit Community Cycling Center will pick up $10,000 worth of new bikes from The Lumberyard. The CCC’s Melinda Musser says the donation will include 32 “high quality” BMX bikes.

Musser says the “unprecedented” donation will help kick-start the organization’s annual Holiday Bike Drive and provide a new fleet of bikes to use in their kids programs next year. The CCC runs summer camps and bike safety programs in neighborhoods where some families can’t afford to buy bikes. And in December the CCC will give away about 300 bikes at their 20th annual Holiday Bike Drive.
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Northeast Portland’s bikes-for-all charity/advocacy organization and nonprofit bike shop has a new look.

For the second time since its founding in 1994, the Community Cycling Center has “refreshed” its branding, offering a new digital-friendly logo and one of those scroll-y mobile-friendly websites.

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Commuter-related sales are generally up across the city.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

After a few uneasy years for many local bike shops, the people whose businesses are built around Portland’s core of daily bike commuters say they’re feeling the boom.

One week after a new Census estimate that Portland added 5,000 net new bike commuters in 2014 to reach a total of 23,000 citywide, we called a few of the city’s biggest bike sellers to see if that seemed right.

Yep. And what’s more, they said the boom got bigger in 2015.

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Velia Mendoza was one of the first users of the new lockers at Hacienda CDC. They were donated by the City of Portland but had sat empty since last year while residents and managers worked out an agreement for how to use them.
(Photo: Jaclyn Hoy for CCC)

After three years of meetings and negotiations, the group of Northeast Portland families who might be the city’s most dogged biking advocacy group got their goal Thursday: somewhere to park their families’ bikes.

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The New Columbia Bike Hub opens in 2012, offering basic bike repair tools, assistance and equipment loans in the North Portland development.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)

In 2008, Portland’s nonprofit bike shop kicked off an initiative to be known for more than reliable used bikes and Christmastime giveaways. And it succeeded.

The Community Cycling Center‘s 2010 report Understanding Barriers to Bicycling, based on interviews with dozens of residents of the New Columbia and Hacienda low- and mixed-income housing developments, is regularly cited around the country as a key piece of research about the ways bicycling decisions vary by race and ethnicity.

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See photos below.

Watch out Portland, there are a few hundred new bike riders in town!

The 19th annual Holiday Bike Drive took place over the weekend and the Community Cycling Center provided 300 bicycles to children from throughout the region. The kids are referred to the event by the CCC’s social service partners. They also got free helmets and lots of advice and training on how to ride safely.

It’s quite an undertaking to make this event happen smoothly every year, but the CCC has it down to a science. Of course it doesn’t heart to have a big crew of dedicated volunteers. Among the folks who showed up to lend their support yesterday were Portland Mayor Charlie Hales and U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer.[Read more…]

Balance bikes for bid. See more photos below.
(Photo: CCC)

From the Bike Mechanic Challenge back in June to their successful Transportation Trivia Nights, the northeast Portland based Community Cycling Center has a knack for dreaming up great ways to support their cause.

But this one might take the cake.

In the spirit of the season when little kids dream of their first bike, the CCC challenged five of its staffers to compete in a “Balance Bike Build-Off”. For the uninitiated, a balance bike is a tiny bike for toddlers without pedals or gears and a seat so low it can be powered by running instead of pedaling. They’re simply the best way to learn to how to balance, and ultimately ride, a bike.
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