Cycling News & Blog Articles

Gotta’ do what you gotta’ do. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Don’t let the weather get you down. There are plenty of fun ride options to inspire you and people who will face the cold, rain, snow — or whatever else is thrown our way — with you!

Bike Dykes – 6:15 pm at Wilshire Park (NE)
There’s a country dance happenin’ and the fun crew at Bike Dykes wants to take you there. More info here.

New Library Day Ride – 9:00 am at Grand Central Bakery (NE)
The new North Portland Library is re-opening after major renovations and since bike lovers and book lovers are one in the same, it’s very fitting to ride together and celebrate this awesome new community resource. More info here.

Saturday Social Ride – 10:00 am at Woodstock Park (SE)
An experienced road ride leader from Portland Bicycling Club will lead this 20-mile or so excursion in the metro area. More info here.

A large truck completely blocks visibility of a curb ramp in Portland. This type of parking is illegal in Portland. Trucks over six feet high are not allowed to parking within 50 feet of an intersection. (Photo: Melissa Kostelecky)

The City of Portland has made a new commitment to daylight 200 more intersections over the next two years. The news comes in the form of a quiet update to the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s website.

Daylighting, or what PBOT refers to as “vision clearance”, is an intersection treatment that removes visible barriers like parked cars and trucks from corners in order to improve visibility. The treatment has gained popularity among transportation advocates nationwide because of how it can radically improve safety at intersections (where most serious injury and fatal crashes occur) and it’s extremely inexpensive. In Oregon it also has legal backing.

In 2020 nonprofit Oregon Walks launched a “Clear the Corners” campaign to ratchet up pressure on the City of Portland to abide by the Oregon Vehicle Code (ORS 811.550 section 17) which says drivers can’t park within 20-feet of a crosswalk. But the law makes individual cities responsible for parking regulations, and road safety activists think PBOT is using that to shirk legal requirements. Also in 2020, the City of Portland was slapped with a lawsuit brought by a person who was hit as a result of what his lawyer claims was negligence on the part of the city to enforce the daylighting law. Pressure from the lawsuit (which is still pending in the Court of Appeals) and advocates worked. In 2021, former Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty secured $200,000 to daylight 350 intersections.

But as BikePortland reported one year ago, there are still way too many intersections in Portland with terrible visibility due to people parking cars at the corner.

Colleen Barclay stopped for a portrait of her trusty steed with the bridge at Deception Pass, on Hwy 20 between Fidalgo and Whidbey islands, during a tour of the Olympic Peninsula last year.

As we hunker down in Portland winter, why not let your mind wander to the possibilities of you and your bike on the open road? There’s simply nothing like traveling our world on two wheels and there’s an event tomorrow (Tuesday, February 4th) that will help bring you closer to that undisputed truth. Ted Buehler, a longtime friend of mine through his tireless advocacy for cycling, is hosting the first in a series of bike touring slideshows.

“I’ve been bike touring since I was 18, and have met a lot of fellow Portlanders who have also gone to far flung parts of the world on their bicycles,” Ted says. “So I’m organizing this slideshow series to give us all an opportunity to learn from each other, and provide motivation and instruction for people who would like to begin touring the world by bicycle.”

Join Ted and three other special guests for a night of storytelling and tips to help you take that trip you’ve always dreamed about. The event will take place at Migration Brewing on North Williams Ave (same place as Bike Happy Hour). Below are the folks who will be presenting at the kickoff event tomorrow:

6:30: Ted Buehler — Bike touring in Rural Ukraine I rode through the Carpathian Mountains, visited the cities of Lviv, Odesa and Kyiv. Rode trains from place to place. Enjoyed the chill pleasantness that was Ukrainian Culture pre-2022. Photos, maps, stories on my Facebook page.

Detail of funeral service for Tuyet T. Nguyen, the 71-year-old killed while walking on SE Cesar Chavez on Sunday, January 26th.

The bad news is another person was hit. The good news is changes are likely coming soon.

As a southeast Portland neighborhood grapples with the loss of a beloved member of their community due to a fatal traffic crash along Southeast Cesar Chavez Blvd, BikePortland has confirmed that yet another person on foot was hit by a driver on that street yesterday. 

According to the Portland Police Bureau, a person walking at the intersection of SE Stark and Cesar Chavez (Laurelhurst Park) was hit and injured around 4:15 pm on Sunday. Officers responded to the collision and found an adult female had been struck by a car driver. A Reddit user posted that they drove by and “saw a car… on top of a pedestrian.” The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of back pain. PPB have confirmed the case with BikePortland and say the driver was given a traffic citation for failing to stop for a pedestrian (ORS 811.028).

That collision comes just one week after 71-year-old Tuyet Nguyen was killed by a car driver two miles south of Stark St. That crash is still under investigation and I’m working to learn more about how it happened.

Welcome to the week. It’s a strange, confusing, and concerning time as the Trump Administration runs wild over our government and institutions. As we continue to understand how he will impact our country, this week’s roundup should help you learn what’s going on with transportation policy and beyond.

Trump and transportation: Biggest story of the week is what the impact of the Trump Administration will be on transportation policy and projects. David Zipper has a solid look at what’s going on and what cities can do about it. (Fast Company)

Trump doing Trump things: President Donald Trump’s zeal for upending everything he thinks liberals like has led to a funding freeze of road safety grants. (Streetsblog USA)

Social engineering: The US DOT under Trump has floated a memo that would tie transportation funding to very specific demographic statistics including giving priority to places with high birth rates. But yeah let’s talk about how bike lanes are social engineering. (Construction Dive)

Selfie at BHH #1, April 6th, 2023. (Note: We no longer meet on this patio on SE Ankeny. Current location is Migration Brewing on N Williams Ave.)

February 5th is my 50th birthday. And it just so happens to be a Wednesday, so that means I’m celebrating at Bike Happy Hour! I hope you can join us!

For the past 95 weeks in a row (give or take a few when I was out of town), I’ve spent my Wednesday evenings with a delightful group of people who loves bikes, love Portland, and who believe strength comes from community. Every week I meet new people and connect with regulars. I had no idea when we started doing this in April 2023 that I’d meet so many awesome people who I now consider my friends and who I look forward to seeing every week.

So it feels totally natural and serendipitous that I’ll get to spend this milestone birthday with all of you!

I don’t expect or want anything grand or special. I plan to be there from 3:00 to whenever it’s time to go. I’ll have some family there and I’m not sure who else might show up. As always, everyone is welcome and I look forward to seeing you!

A tragic collision between a driver and someone walking on SE Cesar Chavez Blvd over the weekend has re-ignited discussions about how to make the street safer. It also might be the first test of how Portland’s new form of government responds to high profile road fatalities.

Thiet Nguyen, a well-known figure among people who frequent the Reed and Woodstock neighborhoods, was killed after being struck by a car driver near the intersection of SE Cesar Chavez and SE Cora on Sunday. Details of how it happened are still unknown, but the dangerous history of this stretch of Cesar Chavez Blvd is not. Nguyen is the fourth non-driver to be killed within a two-mile section of the street since 2015.

The death of another person on this four-lane road caught the attention of Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo. Morillo, who represents the district where this fatality occurred (District 3) left a comment on a BikePortland Instagram post yesterday:

“Thiet and their family deserve better. I saw that news story last week and I plan to work with PBOT to bring this to the Transportation and Infrastructure committee to see what safety changes can be made to the entire strip. Thank you for continuing to highlight these issues and honoring the lives taken from us too soon.”

Screenshot from video taken on SW 6th north of Caruthers, where PBOT will remove one of three general lanes and repave and widen the bike lane this summer. (Video: Jonathan Maus)

A key portal for people who ride bicycles into downtown Portland from southwest will have more room for cycling and smoother pavement by the end of this summer. As revealed on the City of Portland’s website earlier this week, the Portland Bureau of Transportation plans to eliminate one northbound general purpose lane used by car drivers on SW 6th between SW Caruthers and SW Broadway (just south of I-405) in order to create more space for the bike lane (see before-after image below).

This segment of SW 6th is an important connection to the popular bike route on SW Terwilliger and is an area where PBOT has heard from advocates about the urgent need to improve cycling access. In March 2023 I joined southwest cycling advocate Keith Liden on a ride-along and we met at the exact spot where this new project will begin.

While demands for better bicycling here influenced this project, PBOT says the main impetus is an already-planned repaving project that gives them the opportunity to re-stripe the block any way they want. And as we’ve seen numerous times in recent years, when given a clean slate PBOT is very likely to adhere to their adopted plans and guidelines and reduce space for drivers and improve conditions for bike riders.

The Albina vision. (Source: Hennebery Eddy Architects via Albina Vision Trust)

If you’re an urban planning nerd, a lover of great cities, and/or you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic about the future of Portland, consider attending a special event Sunday that will give you a peek into the future of our central city.

City of Possibility is the title of a series of events that kick off tomorrow night (January 31st) and run through March 17th. The initiative aims to give us, “an unprecedented look at the ongoing legacy of Portland architecture and urban design.” It’s being hosted by the nonprofit PDX Design Collaborative, which has partnered with the Portland Art Museum, Architecture Foundation of Oregon, Oregon Historical Society, Urban Land Institute (ULI) Northwest, UO College of Design, Portland Architecture Program, and the PSU School of Architecture.

Among the intriguing events in the lineup is “Portland’s Next Horizon: 7 Projects That Will Redefine the Central City” that takes place in the Mark Building downtown this Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. The event is billed as a, “fast-paced look the future of the central city with the people who creating it.”

In just two hours, you’ll hear opening remarks from Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and then view presentations from the following local luminaries and their exciting projects:

A group of people on bikes protested a gas station lobby group at a Shell station in southeast Portland on February 29th, 2012. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Not a ton of rides on the calendars, but here are a few gems to consider as you plan your weekend strategy…

Breakfast on the Bridges – 7:00 am to 9:00 am at Various Willamette River Bridges
Roll out and enjoy free baked goods and coffee while getting to know nice people in this time-honored Portland tradition of community building by bike. More info here.

Boycott Chevron – 1:00 pm at Abernethy Elementary (SE)
Part of the local BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Weekend of Action, this ride will bring together people who want to protest what they see as Chevron’s role in supporting and aiding genocide and profiting off fossil fuel emissions that are burning up the planet. More info here.

Caddyshack! – 12:00 pm on I-205 Path where it crosses NE Airport Way (NE)
It’s the annual Bill Murray tribute ride where you’ll go on a rollicking tour of golf courses and enjoy lunch at a clubhouse. More info here.

This is why you should never use a cable lock. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Bike Index, America’s leading bike theft registration and recovery organization, has released their annual report and it paints a picture of widespread loss with an estimated 2.4 million bicycles stolen nationwide each year. Of those, 118,942 were reported stolen in the Bike Index registry last year, an increase of 15% more than 2023. The report also details that beyond the loss of a vehicle and other challenges theft poses for victims, the fact that bike theft is woefully underreported by victims and law enforcement agencies remains a big hurdle to turning the tide.

Portlander Andrew B. had his bike (estimated value, $5,000) stolen from his garage in southeast in early December. He almost didn’t even bother contacting the Portland Police Bureau about it because, “they did nothing” when he tried to file a bike theft report on two previous occasions.  But this time he had an ace up his sleeve he thought would lead to a different response. “I remembered that this particular bike had an Apple Airtag concealed inside it, so I could see exactly where it was located,” he shared with BikePortland earlier this month. With this information, Andrew contacted the PPB and got in touch with an officer, who helped him create a file in the PPB’s evidence system. Unfortunately after the file was created, Andrew says the officer, “did precisely nothing.”

The lack of urgency and assistance from police (which is notably different than how they’ve responded to auto theft) is why many people don’t even bother to report stolen bikes through official channels. In their new report, Bike Index estimates 40% of bike thefts nationwide are not reported to police. And since 2021, law enforcement agencies across the nation have simply stopped reporting many crime statistics, including larceny (which bike theft falls under).

In their new report, Bike Index says, “The problem of underreporting remains a significant challenge in accurately assessing the true scope of bike theft. With many incidents going unreported, we likely will never know the exact number of bikes stolen each year.”

Carey and Jack rolling up to Bike Happy Hour on February 7th, 2024. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Don’t miss the latest edition of Portland Mercury Reporter Taylor Griggs’ Street View column where she highlights how our community helps bring people together. Like, really together. As in, love. It’s in the Mercury’s Love/Sex issue (which I realize now is why it’s also the Merc’s Wiener Week which means $8 yummy hot dogs citywide).

Taylor (yes, that one) lays out why bicycles — and more importantly, the wonderful community of people who love them — have such powerful forces of attraction. “For many, Portland’s bike scene has been something of an antidote to the poison of dating apps and dead-end situationships,” she writes. “And for those who aren’t in the market for romance, going to bike events is an excellent way to make friends.”

What makes the article even more fun is that it revolves around one of my favorite couples, Carey Booth and Jack Coleman, a duo who got to know each other at our weekly Bike Happy Hour (you might know Carey as the host of the event when I’m unable to be there):

“Booth said she specifically thinks the Bike Happy Hour, which takes place every Wednesday afternoon at Migration Brewing on North Williams Ave, provides a special opportunity to meet people. It’s easy to remember where and when it is, and the environment enables connecting with people.”

I just returned from five days in Washington D.C. and unlike the previous times I traveled there, I wasn’t toting around a big camera bag and a notebook. Between 2006 and 2017 I attended the League of American Bicyclists National Bike Summit nine times. The trips were full of excitement as I joined other bicycling believers on a wave of optimism about the future of transportation in America that was so strong it felt inevitable.

Imagine for a moment what it was like on March 11th, 2010 when former President Barack Obama’s US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood walked into the final gathering party of Summit attendees in a large Senate ballroom, cleared a path to a large desk, then stepped on top of it and exclaimed, “All of the work all of you have been doing for so long has paid huge huge dividends. People get it! People want to live in livable communities. People want streetcars that are made in Portland, Oregon. People want walking paths, biking paths, and opportunities for families to really do the things they do best — which is to hang together and have fun. Thank you!”

While I loved working the Summit and I’ll always remember those moments and the sense of shared purpose with advocates from across Oregon and the nation, it was freeing to not have the physical and mental stress of it looming over me every minute on this trip. (When I worked the Summit it was three days of nonstop work — shooting photos, scribbling notes, listening, talking, writing, editing, then searching for wi-fi and posting everything in real time (which wasn’t common in the era before social media).)

This time around, I could just freely roam the National Mall and appreciate all its glorious art, ideas and artifacts; then soak up all the knowledge I could on Capitol Hill. In addition to spending time in the major museums, we toured the Capitol Building, sat in on a Senate debate, heard a lecture inside the Supreme Court chambers, stopped by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley’s office, and toured the Library of Congress. I’ve always found that travel is the best teacher and throughout the past five days I’ve learned a lot about the history of America, our best and worst moments as a country, and the values our government and our people are supposed to stand for.

I sat in a chair inside Supreme Court chambers and thought about President Trump’s legal exploits while the phrase, “Equal Justice Under the Law” is scrawled across the pediment outside. I visited the Museum of African American History and Culture and thought about how we’ve treated Black people in this country while Trump has pardoned and allied with white supremacists. I walked through the Holocaust Memorial Museum and thought about the rise of fascism in Germany while Trump Advisor Elon Musk tried to turn his Nazi salute into a joke.

Looking west on SE Boise Street at intersection with SE Cesar E Chavez Blvd.

A fatal collision between a driver and someone walking along Southeast Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard on Sunday has re-ignited safety concerns about this notoriously dangerous street in District 3.

According to Portland Police Bureau Central Precinct a woman on foot near Chavez and SE Boise Street was struck by a car driver and seriously injured around 6:45 pm Sunday evening. The woman died at a hospital a short time later. The driver remained at the scene and PPB says they are, “cooperating with the investigation.” PPB haven’t released further details, but I’ve inquired and hope to learn if any updates are available.

The intersection of Cesar Chavez Blvd with Boise Street is just one block south of SE Gladstone. Boise, which runs east-west, is a small residential street while Chavez, which runs north-south is a notoriously fast and wide stroad with four general purpose lanes. Chavez has no shoulder or bike lane and the posted speed limit is 30 mph. Sidewalks along Chavez are relatively narrow. There is no marked crosswalk near Chavez and Boise (but keep in mind that in Oregon “every corner is a crosswalk” whether paint exists or not).

Chavez Blvd is known to many Portlanders for its tragic history. In 2015 Reed College student Mark Angeles was killed as he rode through the SE Gladstone intersection and was involved in a collision with a tow truck driver who was turning onto Chavez. That happened just one block north of Sunday’s crash. In 2021, 24-year-old Austin Boyd was killed by a driver near SE Clinton Street just 0.8 miles north of where the woman was hit on Sunday. The person who hit Boyd with their vehicle did not stop and was/is wanted for hit-and-run. Then in 2023, 1.6 miles north of SE Boise Street, Portland librarian Jeanie Diaz was hit and killed by a reckless driver while waiting at a bus stop on Chavez and SE Taylor.