Cycling News & Blog Articles

Rex Burkholder at Bike Happy Hour, April 10th. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Portland City Council candidate Rex Burkholder wants one of the three seats in District 3, and he visited Bike Happy Hour on April 10th to tell us why. As I do whenever a candidate shows up, I handed Burkholder the mic and let him share his stump speech.

Under sunny skies on the Gorges Beer Co patio overlooking the SE Ankeny Rainbow Road Plaza, Burkholder grabbed the mic and stepped up onto a bench. Below is most of his speech (edited slightly for clarity):

“Despite some of the noise that we hear, especially from some of our downtown business owners, Portland is still a rockin’ place. You try to go out for dinner or something, you can’t get a seat. And the theaters are full. And I went to music last night, at the Old Church, and it was jammed. I mean, this is a great place to live! And I think we have to remember that.

Screenshot of @whatstherushlents on Instagram.

I am often asked the question: “There’s a traffic safety issue in my neighborhood, what steps can I take to raise awareness and fix it?”. I feel like a grassroots effort in southeast Portland’s Lents neighborhood is a great model for how to answer that.

Launched in March, 2002, the Whats The Rush, Lents? website has an impressive amount of timely, relevant information. The Instagram account is also worth following. I wanted to learn more, so I asked the person behind it a few questions via email. (They wanted to remain anonymous, “for the few neighbors who think we’re anti-freedom.”)

What is your goal?

I want Lents (and all of East Portland) to be a pleasant place to live, walk, and bike. 

An installation in the Policing Justice exhibit at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. (Photo: Lois Leveen)

— This article is by Portland-based author, Lois Leveen.

The community protects the community. That is the very essence of corking.

Most BikePortland readers are familiar with corking from our participation in group bike rides: individuals intentionally block cross-traffic at an intersection until all the ride participants have passed through, to prevent motor vehicles from endangering riders.  Perhaps you are someone who loves to cork. Sensing a need to ensure the well-being of the community. Assuming a space of vulnerability. Practicing skills of de-escalation while demonstrating to drivers how we engage in bike fun.  

Or perhaps you are someone who appreciates not having to cork, knowing as you move along with the group that other members of a ride are keeping you and everyone else safe.

Back in January 2023 I got an email from Travis Preece, owner of Gorges Beer Co and Ankeny Tap & Table. In addition to those two spots on Southeast Ankeny, he owns the main Gorges location in Cascade Locks in the Gorge. He’d heard about how bicycling will boom in the Gorge once the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail is finished and he wanted to make sure all his restaurants were on the map when it comes to bicycling.

When a business owner contacts me with words like, “We really want to be an ally of the cycling community and be a welcoming place to stop in,” I can’t wait to get back in touch with them.

My first reaction is usually a business-minded one that involves an advertising pitch. But if that isn’t a good option, I’ll consider other possibilities. In the case of Travis and BikePortland, we came up with the idea of weekly events and I called it Bike Happy Hour (BHH). He would share his venues, make them as bike-friendly as possible, and give us a discount; and I’d tell everyone to show up once a week for good drinks, good food, and good times.

It worked! One year later and Bike Happy Hour is going strong. Now let’s have a party to celebrate what we’ve all done together!

Happy Monday friends. Hope you enjoyed the weekend and that you can still feel the sun on your skin. I’m eager to get started on the week and I can’t wait to see everyone Wednesday night at the Bike Happy Hour Anniversary Party. I’ll kick things off by sharing the best stories we’ve collected in the past seven days.

I also want to shout out all the BP readers who send me Monday Roundup suggestions. It’s very helpful. Thank you.

Dog power: It takes a very cute little pup to humanize a bicycle rider in lycra — and to transform drivers into respectful, caring human beings. (The Guardian)

Drive-through cities: I’m glad Portland has relatively few drive-throughs, but after reading this article about how terrible they are it validates my inclination to fight against the ones we have and support an even stronger ban on them going forward. (Vox)

(Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

The 7th First Annual Ladds 500 took place in southeast Portland today and it was absolutely amazing. Well over 500 people (estimated!) pedaled circles around Ladd Circle Park until they hit 100 miles. They began at 10:00 am and some of them are probably still pedaling as I type this.

Fears of the event becoming too big were calmed a bit as organizers realized within minutes of the green flag being waved that the sheer volume of riders created slower traffic overall — which means less likelihood of crashes; but also that it might be dark before some teams finish.

Today’s turnout was by far the most the event had ever seen since the first year in 2016 when about 40 people attended. The perfect weather and an eagerness to emerge from winter and dive head-first into cycling season brought out all of Portland’s vaunted bike clubs and bike lovers. The riders, fans and friends packed nearly every inch of the circular park, every inch of the street around it, and every inch of the sidewalk and median along the edge.

A mobile feast for the eyes on an unending loop was available to everyone lucky enough to be there. Folks wore costumes and makeup and rode every type of bicycle imaginable. There were unicycles, skateboards, scooters, runners, roller-skaters, and even a karaoke bike or two. Local radio station X-Ray FM boomed music from the east while they broadcasted live from the middle of the street. Clubs and teams set up elaborate picnics on the infield. There were too many BBQs to count, and some of the items they cooked were being offered as free hand-ups to any rider who rolled by.

Roll onto the sidewalk for even more fun.

We can all use a bit more joy in our lives. And what better place to find it then on the streets in our neighborhoods by bike?!

Today I learned about the Sidewalk Joy Map and couldn’t wait to share it with you. This excellent map includes 65 locations citywide where you can find wonderful, community-made delights like little free libraries, artistic displays, interactive public art, free swaps, and much more. It’s as if Hidden Portland for the Curious (one of my fave Facebook Groups) has been organized into a map.

The Sidewalk Joy map was created by the folks behind PDXDinorama and PDX FLAG, two instagram accounts that highlight front-yard art and little free art galleries throughout Portland.

There’s a Google Map where you can find all the attactions and descriptions of each one. And there’s a PDF with all the descriptions you can print out if you want a hard copy.

(Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Report cover

Portland’s oft-maligned Vision Zero program will make a trip to City Council next week. The Portland Bureau of Transportation plans to update council members and share their 2023 crash report and Vision Zero Action Plan update.

BikePortland previously reported on the plan update when it was released back in November. But I don’t think we’ve covered the 2023 Deadly Traffic Crash Report, which was finalized in February.

PBOT’s crash report is a summary of where and how people were killed on our streets in 2023. The city’s grim tally of fatalities last year was 69 — the highest death toll in at least three decades and a figure that surpasses 2021’s record high. In the opening of the report, PBOT refers to “those killed by traffic violence” as representing a broad cross-section of Portlanders.

If you count the words of every Portland City Council candidate’s platform, it’s likely Chad Lykins would have the highest tally. The District 4 candidate is big on policy. His BikePortland debut was all about him wanting to have the best transportation platform of any candidate in the race. That might be because he has a lot of ideas and is eager to implement them, or because he has a PhD in research and public policy.

I spent a few hours with Lykins in his district yesterday. We rode our bikes and talked about infrastructure and policy — from protected bike lanes to homeless shelters. We both wore microphones as we pedaled around and I’ve shared the conversation above (and on our podcast feed).

Lykins is a leading candidate in District 4. Last month he became one of only seven candidates to qualify for $40,000 in matching funds. He’s a former professor, small business owner, and nonprofit leader. He’s also a proud progressive. It’s a label he defines as the center of Portland politics.

When I asked him how he’d navigate the divisive discourse that defines (and plagues) local politics these days, he said, “I think that for this next city council to be successful — and I’ll borrow the phrase from [Paul] Wellstone — ‘We don’t need to focus on if we’re on the left, or the right, or the center. We need to be out in front where the problems are.’ That’s really what I’m focused on.”

Lykins says his guiding light isn’t a particular ideology or political label; it’s evidence. “Before I think about ideology, whether something’s progressive or moderate… I just look at the evidence. Trying to win a seat on city council is really trying to elevate a bunch of people that care about evidence-based policy so we can govern.”

It started off so innocently! (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

19 years ago this week I published the first-ever blog post about biking in Portland. On April 8th, 2005 I wrote a short post about the arrival of spring (I went back and added a lead photo a few months later because I was publishing on The Oregonian’s OregonLive.com at the time and they didn’t let us to share photos). The photo is of my wife Juli and my daughter Eleni wearing bunny ears (above). We were setting out for the Bunny on a Bike ride, one of the first group rides I ever attended in Portland.

The time I’ve spent doing this weird job really hits home when I think about how Eleni is now in her third year of college.

My first 155 posts were done via email. I would type them up and email them to someone at OregonLive, then they’d post it to the “Bike Fun” blog. Once I got the hang of blogging, I got frustrated with The Oregonian and went out on my own. I bought the BikePortland.org domain name and shared my first post there on July 29th, 2005.

July 2005 selfie (before they were called that).

Pain is temporary, the view is forever. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

It’s officially spring riding season in Portland. If the amazing sunny weather isn’t a sign, then the Ladds 500 is. Lots of good stuff to choose from this weekend as folks sharpen their quads and quivers for lots of riding to come.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: This week’s guide is brought to you by the fantastic folks at River City Bicycles and their big Spring Sale where you can save 30% storewide through the weekend.

Ladds 500 – 10:00 am at Ladd Circle Park (SE)
“It’s spring, let’s do something stupid,” is the official slogan of this beloved event that has turned into a phenomenon. It’s a party in the park and a pedaling frenzy in the street. Weather will be perfect, so will the vibes. Learn more about the event by browsing stories in the BP archive. More info here.

The scene outside Aladdin Theater Tuesday night. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

How do you go from an engineering consultant to a celebrity that can pack a theater with 600 people on a weeknight in Portland in just a few short years? Upload consistently excellent videos about city planning to YouTube.

That’s the path Ray Delahanty took to become what the host of last night’s event, Lilian Karabaic, called a “YouTube celebrity for deadpan urbanist humor.”

Delahanty was chosen as the special guest speaker for the Portland State University Transportation Research and Education Center’s Ann Niles Active Transportation Lecture. Niles, who died in 2011, was a Reed College graduate who moved to Portland with her husband Phil Niles (who was in the crowd last night) after a career in academia. In Portland, Ann Niles became a dedicated transportation and urban planning volunteer and advocate who worked in support of projects like the streetcar, MAX light rail, bike lanes, sidewalks and more.

Niles would have likely been annoyed if she showed up to the theater last night on her bike, only to find almost no bike parking. The lack of spots meant folks had to walk several blocks to find a place secure enough to store their bikes during the show. Once everyone got inside, all was right with the world as they were treated to a fun, casual and free-flowing conversation between Karabaic and Delahanty.

Screenshot of DirtyFreehub.org. Inset photo: Linda English.

Linda English, a runner-turned-cyclist and tech industry retiree, has built something very special. Linda and her crew have uploaded about 300 gravel ride routes onto DirtyFreehub.org and the site has become a must-browse for anyone who seeks adventure on two wheels. I’ve watched the site’s impressive growth over the past decade — right along with the explosion of interest in riding drop-bar bikes on unpaved roads.

I talked to Linda a few days ago about the site, the rise of gravel riding in Oregon, the projects she’s working on, and more.

Based in Bend, Linda says about 200 of the routes she’s uploaded are in Oregon. In addition to being a resource for cyclists, Linda’s work has become recognized for its role in economic development in rural Oregon towns. Dirty Freehub (a nonprofit) has secured contracts with agencies like Travel Oregon and the Oregon Coast Visitors Association to develop routes specifically with tourism in mind.

“It’s what we call ‘drip tourism’,” Linda shared with BikePortland. “where instead of having two or three hundred people show up to an event, which is really stressful for a really small town, we can just sort of run people through there. It’s just been this explosion. We can go into tiny little places like Paisley, Oregon, and create ride guides out there. And the next thing you know, there’s people out there and they’re just loving it. And the town loves it too because it’s economic development.”

Last night I had a few minutes to kill on my way to an event, so I posted up on North Williams Avenue to observe some bike traffic (as one does).

If you’re new here (welcome!), People on Bikes is a portrait gallery series BikePortland launched in 2011. It’s basically a way to appreciate the beautiful diversity of cycling and develop a deeper understanding of bike culture in a specific location. In addition to busy bike corridors across Portland, we’ve shared galleries from New York City, Miami, Amsterdam, Colombia and Copenhagen.

You can take whatever you want from these images. I personally find it interesting to have a snapshot of what riders look like at a given time and place. As I browse the gallery, I look at the type of bikes folks are riding, how they’re riding, what type of gear and accessories they’re using, and what type of person is on the bike.

What do you see when you look at these photos? Are folks on e-bikes or fast road bikes? Flat bars or drop bars? Are they on a training ride or just getting home from work? Or both? Are they Black, white, brown, small, large, tall or short? How many women? Are most of the riders young or old? Do they use panniers or a backpack? Are their bikes expensive or cheap? Do they look happy, relaxed, or stressed? Are they wearing bike-specific clothing? Helmets?

The patio will be poppin’! Come on out and join us.

Hope you can swing by Bike Happy Hour tomorrow (Weds, 4/10), because we’ve got two special guests and ample opportunities for activism. We’ll hear from Portland City Council candidate Rex Burkholder, learn about an exciting project from a group of Portland State University students, and activists from BikeLoud PDX will meet up for their bi-monthly Bike Loud Action Mixer (BLAM).

Burkholder is running for a seat in District 3, which encompasses (roughly) southeast Portland from the Willamette to 82nd, and I-84 to the southern border. Burkholder is an advocacy veteran and former Metro Council member who’s well-known in local cycling circles. In late 1990, Burkholder co-founded the Portland Area Bicycle Coalition, which in 1992 incorporated as the nonprofit Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) which grew to prominence in the 1990s. The BTA changed its name (and its mission) to The Street Trust in 2016.

Burkholder was a leader in the successful “Outdoor School for All” effort in 2016. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

After he left the BTA, Burkholder was elected to Metro Council in 2000 and held that position for 12 years. He ran for Metro president in 2010 but didn’t win the race. After that, he went into consulting and worked on various environmental advocacy issues. Burkholder now finds himself in a highly competitive race to represent southeast Portland on city council.