Cycling News & Blog Articles

Can you believe it? It’s been 15 weeks since we last published a Weekend Event Guide. This nasty little Covid-19 monster shut down all the fun events we like to share.

This week however, we noticed a trickle of new events on the calendar and figured there were enough good things to warrant sharing them here. Please remember to stay safe out there, especially when you are near other people. The names of the game are masks, distance and only riding with family or other people in your quaran-team.

Friday, June 26th

Pedalpalooza Theme Day: Superheroes
When you ride a bike you’re a superhero whether you dress like one or not. Dress like one and you get extra powers — and you have even more fun! More info here.

Springwater Corridor Path Clean-up – 9:00 am to 11:00 am at location TBD (SE)
Portland Parks & Rec has partnered with SOLVE for this volunteer event that aims to clean up our beloved path and the creeks and natural areas around it. Location will be near Johnson Creek and you’ll need to RSVP to get precise details. Space is limited, so if you don’t get a spot, you can always grab a sack and clean up the path on your own. More info here.

On June 17th, the Portland City Council made Juneteenth (June 19th) an annual “Day of Remembrance” and paid holiday. Portland Bureau of Transportation Deputy Director Millicent Williams was one of a slate of people invited to speak about what the holiday means.

Here’s what she said:

The Northwest in Motion Plan is done. After a two-year process to identify and prioritize shovel-ready projects that could give a major boost to biking, walking and transit use, PBOT is ready to take the plan to City Council and start breaking ground.

And unlike other plans, PBOT believes this list of projects has the feasibility and funding to get built right away.

There are many reasons to be bullish about biking in northwest. People who live there are nearly four times more likely to not own a car than the citywide average (38% to 10% respectively) and 38% of all trips made by automobile are less than three miles long — a very doable distance by bike. PBOT sees a glaring lack of connectivity and safe streets infrastructure in this part of town, which is probably why it has only 8% bicycle mode share while other inner neighborhoods in north/northeast and southeast Portland have 14%. Biking’s inherent affordability compared to driving and transit should also be appealing to northwest residents, given that households in the area this plan focuses on have significantly lower average annual household incomes compared to the rest of the city ($48,000 and $64,000 respectively).

One of the largest and most well-known group bike rides in the Pacific Northwest won’t let Covid-19 get in the way of its 41st year.

Cascade Bicycle Club announced today that the 200-mile Seattle-to-Portland (STP) ride will be a “virtual challenge” this year. 2020 will be only the second year the ride has been cancelled, with the other time being the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980.

This year’s STP will begin on July 18th and you’ll have until August 5th to complete the ride. Registered participants will create their own challenge — like 200 miles in 1 day or 10 miles a day for 20 days — and then log miles online and watch a “virtual challenge unfold” as they earn badges for reaching the traditional food stops along the route. The virtual journey will share bits about the history of STP and the places it rolls through.

For years local transportation reform activists have pushed City of Portland to go beyond car storage and driving and think more creatively about what we can do with our streets. And when calls for new uses of street space were made, it was often restaurant owners who lined up to say their business would perish without maximum access for car users.

Then a pandemic hit and relatively overnight we’ve seen the most robust transformation of public right-of-way in Portland’s history. I’m talking about the new Healthy Business permit program that launched last week.

With nearly 200 permits issued so far, restaurant owners have wasted no time turning parking lots, parking spaces, and even streets into dining areas. A map of who’s received permits shows the program has been very popular with businesses along popular commercial corridors such as Lombard in St. Johns and Stark Street in Montavilla.

(Note: Photos taken during 90-degree temps in middle of the day. These spots were packed later in the evening!)

Around 3:00 pm on Monday (6/22) someone riding a bike was involved in a collision with the driver of a car in the Lloyd area.

It happened in the intersection of Northeast 16th and Multnomah. We don’t have many details at this time, but according to the Portland Police Bureau the bicycle rider suffered trauma-level injuries and was transported to a hospital. “The vehicle operator was cooperative and remained at the scene,” said a PPB Public Information Officer. No word yet on charging decisions or what type of behaviors preceded the collision.

A BikePortland reader rolled past shortly after it happened, snapped a photo, and spoke to an investigating officer. “I asked if someone was hit and hurt. He said yes and it doesn’t look good,” the reader shared.

Is there anything people on bikes can’t do?

The latest example of the power of these wonderful machines and the people who ride them comes in the form of a partnership between Pedalpalooza and Hacienda Community Development Corporation (CDC). Hacienda is a nonprofit that supports Latino families by providing affordable housing, economic development, and educational resources. (You might recall how this group helped Cully residents earn a grant to build secure bike parking back in 2015.) They’re one of many organizations working with the State of Oregon to boost participation in the 2020 Census as part of the We Count Oregon campaign.

Hacienda wants volunteers to hang posters in neighborhoods with historically low Census response rates and they’re working with Pedalpalooza organizers to find an army of bicycle riders to do it. The mission is to increase awareness of a live-streaming event on July 16th that will help people in underrepresented communities learn how to participate in the 2020 Census.

If you haven’t been out to the Crown Zellerbach Trail in a while, it’s time to go back. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s time to listen up.

The Crown Z (what Columbia County would prefer you to call it) underwent a major facelift late last year and with summer finally here, this rail-trail is ready for its close-up.

The Crown Z used to be a major railroad line that ran timber and supplied work camps between the Multnomah Channel in Scappoose and the Nehalem River in Vernonia. Today it’s a 22-mile long linear trail that offers easily accessible and safe riding great for all ages and abilities.

The summer hiring season is in full swing as local (and even non-local!) businesses need to bulk up staff to handle the ongoing bike boom. Have a look at these fresh listings…

– Bike Valet Lead Mechanic – Go By Bike

– Precision Assembler – Efficient Velo Tools LLC

– Full Time Mechanic – The eBike Store

– Retail Sales + More – Cyclepath PDX

Black urbanists unite: A broad movement of Black, Indigenous and people of color from across the professional urban planning industry have come to the forefront to change the way American cities are designed and built. Their goal according to this article in Curbed, is to “end anti-Blackness in cities.”

Racist segment names: San Francisco resident Nehemiah Brown called out Strava for offensive segment names and the company responded quickly by deleting them.

Spatial anti-Blackness: Amina Yasmin issued a clarion call to everyone who designs and plans cities to acknowledge the anti-Black racism endemic in the field and work to eradicate it.

(All photos by Ebony Hall.)

By all accounts, Friday’s Black Liberation Ride (held on Juneteenth) was a beautiful gathering of Black, Indigenous and people of color from all over the region who came together to support each other and the movement for racial justice.

We had local photographer Ebony Hall in the crowd to capture some of the people who made it such a special day.

Here’s what she saw:

This ride was organized by Jené Etheridge and Stephen Marea. They’ve created a new Instagram account @MobilizeTheMovement so you can stay updated about future rides.

Another group of peaceful bike riders was assaulted by the driver of a car. It happened yesterday during the Black Liberation Ride in northeast Portland.

According to witnesses, including someone who was driving by and shared a recording of the incident taken from their dashcam (watch below), it happened on Northeast Skidmore between 14th and 15th. Several riders were involved in the incident. One rider, Rene Morin, sustained minor injuries and his bike is heavily damaged. The community has already rallied around him with donations to get the bike fixed/replaces (his Venmo is @Rene-Morin if you’d like to help).

The suspect was driving a 2007, grey metallic Ford Escape Hybrid SUV. The vehicle had no license plates (something that I’ve noticed has become much more common on Portland streets these days). A Reddit user named SocialSchmedia who specializes in identifying cars (seriously) shared this key additional information which will help identify the vehicle:

We bike lovers talk a lot about what we ride and how we ride, but we don’t talk enough about where we ride. And I don’t mean comparing “epic” routes in the wilderness. I’m talking about the history of the places we pedal through.

If you ride in Portland there are a few things you should know. If you’ve been here a while, you’ve likely heard some of what I’m about to share. But if you’re new to town, listen up!

And yes, this post is about racism.

There’s a lot of race-related history to uncover about our state (which was formed to exclude Black people and with a vision to be a “perfect white society”) and our city.

One month after it was first announced, the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Healthy Business program is starting to bear its first pieces of fruit. And with Multnomah County set to enter the phase 1 stage of reopening Friday (6/19), many local restaurants are eager to expand their services into the streets.

As we reported in May, PBOT is offering a free permit program that allows business owners to use the public right-of-way for dining. This means they can set up space for customers in parking spaces/lots and travel lanes in front of their businesses. The permits allow for everything from installations like the “street seats” we currently have, to carfree plazas that spread out across the entire street — as long plans leave space for bikers, walkers and emergency vehicles to get through.

Earlier this week, PBOT held an online Q & A with members of the Portland Independent Restaurant Alliance. On that call, PBOT staffer Greg Raisman described the Healthy Business program as a partnership. “What we have is a lot of free square feet and a free permit… We are offering you an empty box. That empty box is in the shape of some section of the street. You get to decide what goes in that box.”

If all goes according to plan Multnomah County will begin work on a new “earthquake ready” Burnside Bridge in 2024. On Monday, the community task force charged with decided what that bridge will look like reached a big milestone by choosing the “long span bridge” alternative.

Here’s more from the County:

The long span bridge alternative (PDF) would replace the existing bridge in the same location and alignment. The long span alternative has the fewest support columns of four alternatives that were studied. Fewer columns avoids costly construction in geotechnical hazard zones near the Willamette River and restricted spaces between lanes of Interstate 5 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks on the east side.

Task force members cited these reasons for choosing the long span alternative:
— Best for seismic resiliency – locating fewer columns in liquefiable soils gives it the least risk from soil movement during an earthquake
— It is the lowest cost of four build alternatives ($825 million compared to as high as $950 million for the most expensive option)
— The reduced number of columns also benefits Waterfront Park users, crime prevention, and preservation of the Burnside Skatepark
— Additional deck width over the river provides a safer facility for bicyclists, pedestrians and other users
— Reduced impacts to natural resources due to fewer columns in the water.

(Scenes from Tuesday’s march that took over the Fremont Bridge/I-405. Photos by Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

An organized squad of bike riders have become a key part of the daily marches supporting Portland’s Black Lives Matter movement.

For nearly two weeks now there’s been a concerted effort to use bicycles to protect marchers and help protest organizers make their events smooth and safe. As marches led by Rose City Justice have taken over major interstates, the need for a bike-mounted traffic safety volunteers has become more acute. The bike squads work together but aren’t centrally organized. They work in coordination with protest organizers and do whatever is asked of them — from corking intersections and ferrying supplies, to clearing lanes for support vehicles and directing traffic.

At the start of Tuesday’s protest at Jefferson High School in north Portland I was impressed by what I saw: There was an eager group of riders clearly there to help, someone gave a mission debrief and instructions, and hi-viz vests were passed out to riders who wanted them.

I talked to three people who’ve shown up to many of the protests about what they’re doing and why.

I was afraid of this.

For years we’ve been warning about the threat of vehicular violence by people using cars. Now it’s on the rise amid the daily marches against police violence and racism that have been going on in Portland for three weeks straight.

There have been several documented cases of Black Lives Matter protests being disturbed by car drivers intent on causing harm.

— On May 29th someone driving a Volkswagen sedan drove into a man riding a skateboard near NE Grand and Shaver. The incident was caught on camera by The Oregonian photographer Dave Killen.

The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association, our state’s official sanctioning body for competitive cycling, knows it isn’t doing enough to support participation of Black, Indigenous and people of color. And they’ve taken a first step to do something about it.

In a statement shared with the group’s 4,500 members yesterday, OBRA Board of Director members Stacy Westbrook and Christy Hawkins wrote, “The events over the last few weeks have shone a spotlight on the systemic racism prevalent in our communities. OBRA recognizes that the cycling industry, and the sport of cycling, has contributed to this.”

Westbrook and Hawkins then acknowledged that OBRA is not living up to its vision statement that “each and every person in the state of Oregon” has an opportunity to participate in bike racing. “We continue to fall short of supporting this vision in our outreach and support of cycling with communities of color, specifically Black communities,” they wrote.
 
The OBRA Board established a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee earlier this year (a move that came after widespread outcry over the anti-transgender views of former board member Inga Thompson). The aim of that committee is to “explore ways to make the sport of cycling more accessible and accepting of communities that have historically been underserved by our organization and sport.”

Climate change activism group Sunrise PDX is hosting an info session tomorrow (6/17) on Metro’s Get Moving 2020 transportation funding bond measure.

It’s been easy to forget with the pandemic and protests dominating the news since March, but Metro still hopes to put this measure on the ballot in November. If all goes according to plan it will raise $3.1 billion for infrastructure projects, including $975 million for the new SW Corridor MAX light rail line.

“Now more than ever the intersectionality of environmental justice, racial justice and transportation justice is a major key in how our city proceeds with its priorities,” reads a description of the event. “Feedback about the anti-oppression and community engagement portions of this bond will be an especially important part of how we move forward.”

Sunrise will be joined by Getting There Together Coalition, a group of 50+ organizations that’s working to make sure investments are equitable and don’t result in displacement of low-income people.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office says a Portland man was found dead Saturday on a dirt trail north of Highway 20 about 28 miles east of Bend. According to their statement, 36-year-old John Eric Sims was believed to have been riding a mountain bike prior to his death.

Here’s more from DCSO:

“On 6/14/20 at 12:32 p.m., deputies from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a deceased male, who had been located by ATV riders. This location was approximately one mile north of Hwy 20 near milepost 28. Deputies arrived on scene and began conducting a death investigation. Detectives and a Deputy Medical Examiner from the Deschutes County Medical Examiner’s Office arrived on scene to assist in the investigation. The male was later identified as John Eric Sims, age 36, of Portland, Oregon.