2016 winners include PBOT’s Janis McDonald (left), Community Cycling Center CEO Mychal Tetteh (right) and Better Block PDX.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland and Better Block)

The 32nd annual Spirit of Portland Awards have been announced and the 2016 winners include three names you’re probably very familiar with.
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Thanks to battery power, Jeff Bernards is cycling again.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Chronic foot pain threatened to make cycling unbearable for 56-year old southeast Portland resident Jeff Bernards. Now, after installing an electric-assist kit on his bike, he’s riding again. And loving it.

Bernards is a veteran of local bike events. Years ago he started the “Get Lit” program to give out free bike lights to those in need (the program has since been taken over by the Community Cycling Center). He also loves leading bike tours. He’s taken a group of Portlanders on a three week bike tour in Death Valley, California and he’s led numerous overnight bike trips to Oxbow Park. More recently, Bernards has worked tirelessly to get a ban on studded tires on the Oregon ballot. [Read more…]

Ellen Price grabs a parking spot in front of Bipartisan Cafe on SE Stark and 79th.

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Paul Jeffery, photographed at
Common Grounds coffee shop
this morning.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

48-year-old southeast Portland resident Paul Jeffery (he goes by PJ) used to enjoy a daily ride from his house near 40th and Salmon to the Goose Hollow MAX stop. From there, he’d zip through the hills and down into Beaverton where he’d pedal the final leg of his journey to his job at Electro Scientific Industries (a producer of high-tech laser systems and industrial production equipment).

PJ’s routine changed back in November when he was part of a 10% workforce reduction. In other words, he was laid off.

Without work, PJ missed the routine of getting up and getting out on his bike. So, at the end of January, he started riding to the top of Mt. Tabor each morning. I met him this morning at Common Grounds coffee shop on SE Hawthorne Blvd (a very nice place I must say)…
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David Auker (L) and long time friend
Danny Knudsen share a laugh at
Auker’s 62nd birthday gathering
last night in Hillsdale.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

On November 16th, 2010, a man that friends and family thought would never stop pedaling his bike — did.

David Auker is a living legend in local and national bike racing circles. You might not know his name, but Auker was once one of the most feared racers on the west coast. He never signed a pro contract because he was too much of an independent spirit to go that route; but friends who were there back in the 1970s and ’80s say he won plenty of races against much more famous opponents like Alexi Grewal, Bob Roll, and others.

“In the old days,” former teammate Danny Knudsen recalled at a birthday party for Auker in Hillsdale last night, “the pros would not like to see Dave when they showed up. He’d ruin their plans.”

Auker’s racing prowess made it all that more shocking when his own plans to keep riding well into his 60s nearly came to an abrupt end. [Read more…]

If you can work it into your commute, Forest Park is a perfect respite from busy roads and its winter charms are sure to please.

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Sellwood resident Dan Kaufman is no stranger to BikePortland. The man behind Crank My Chain! CycleTV has helped us with video projects in the past like coverage of the Aerial Tram and a video ad. His most recent project is a new video about the effort to ban studded tires in Oregon. [Read more…]

Russ Roca
(Photo: Laura Crawford)

Bike tourer, photographer, foodie, train lover, journalist, artist, and advocate Russ Roca has recently launched a line of t-shirts. Like his varied interests, the shirts have many themes. They also have a mission — to help fund he and his partner Laura Crawford’s upcoming bike adventure and their ongoing Path Less Pedaled project

I first came to know Russ through his bike activism in my home town of Long Beach, California. Since those days, Russ and Laura have logged thousands of miles by bike and train criss-crossing America in search of interesting people, places and projects that they’ve then shared with their growing legion of fans through their website and Facebook page.

They’re now plotting a trip to New Zealand and Russ hopes the sales of his t-shirts help get them there.

We recently asked Russ a few questions about his shirt designs, the Big Trip, and more…
[Read more…]