Cycling News & Blog Articles

Trying out non-electric bikes at Clever Cycles. (Shannon Johnson/BikePortland)

“I really want to improve my physical health and cycling stamina. Is the e-assist holding me back?”

I have recently been thinking about returning to an “acoustic” front-box cargo bike. Yes, I might give up my much-loved electric-assist bike.

First, let me praise e-bikes to the sky! I have loved my Bunch e-trike. Having the e-assist has been a game-changer. It is so much fun. My husband says riding with the e-assist feels like riding downhill both ways, even when pedaling uphill with four kids in the front. That’s saying something! The battery power helps eliminate so many excuses and hesitations. With an e-assist I easily doubled, and perhaps quadrupled, the amount of biking I was doing. The e-cargo bike functioned more easily as a car-replacement, as we were happily able to replace most of our nearby car trips with the bike, and it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice. I don’t have to toil and sweat, or worry about running out of steam. The joy of coasting down a hill is the joy of every e-bike trip. I highly recommend an e-bike to everyone, especially bike newbies. An e-bike can really blast through biking barriers and hesitations and turn non-bikers into enthusiasts. And for those with fewer children, or kids young enough to all fit in the e-bike, the battery power can really help you get to your destinations a lot faster. The newer fancy e-bike models really zoom.

But I have been feeling stuck in a biking rut.

3 out of 4 traffic deaths in Portland happen on “High Crash Network” streets like 122nd Ave. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

“PBOT can design safe streets, but we cannot reach our safety goals by focusing on street design alone.”

It’s no longer possible for the City of Portland to dismiss the startling toll of traffic deaths as an aberration. At City Council today, leaders of the transportation bureau will face the incontrovertible facts as they ask Mayor Ted Wheeler and the other four commissioners to accept a Deadly Crash Report that includes 69 confirmed fatalities — the most recorded in at least three decades.

2023 was the fourth year in a what the Portland Bureau of Transportation referred to in a statement released today as an, “increase in egregious travel behaviors among people using the streets.” Those behaviors, PBOT will share in a presentation today, are partly to blame for a consistent spike in the annual death toll that has been over 50 Portlanders per year since 2020. Prior to that year, the last time we suffered more than 50 road deaths was 1996.

When Portland proudly passed its Vision Zero goal in 2015, there were 37 traffic fatalities. That means despite our city’s focused effort on this problem and millions invested in infrastructure, education, and programs, we’ve nearly doubled the amount of deaths with just two years left before our target date of eliminating them.

Adah Crandall outside the home of Vice President Kamala Harris. (Photo: Allyson Woodard)

When we first introduced you to Adah Crandall, she was just 15 and already fighting a freeway in the backyard of her former middle school. A few months later, in the summer of 2021, she was leading youth climate activists in a weekly protest outside Oregon Department of Transportation headquarters in downtown Portland.

And one year ago this week, Crandall confronted a powerful state legislator in a hallway in the State Capitol in Salem.

Now Crandall has a full-time job with Sunrise Movement and has thrust onto the national stage after being arrested early Monday morning in Los Angeles. Crandall and about 40 other young climate activists coordinated a protest action outside the home of Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a video of her arrest sent to BikePortland (below), Crandall is in handcuffs with several officers around her and can be heard saying, over a chorus of supportive singing from other activists, “My home in Oregon is on fire and Biden is continuing to expand fossil fuels at record rates!”

Earlier today I talked with advocates Kiel Johnson and David Binnig from BikeLoud PDX. We talked about the crossing of SE Powell on 79th and Kiel shared a few updates on BikeLoud’s lawsuit against the City of Portland, and a few other projects they’re working on. Please note: This is sort of a new format I’m working on where I can quickly jump onto a video call with newsmakers and story subjects and then turn it around and share it as a video.

The transcript of our conversation is below:

[00:00:00] Jonathan Maus: Hey everybody. Welcome into the shed. I’m here with, uh, Kiel Johnson and David Binnig from BikeLoud PDX. They have agreed to come on and chat a little bit about the crossing project on Southeast 79th at Powell and who knows what else other BikeLoud updates might be on the table as well.

So David and Kiel, thanks for being in here.

[00:00:19] Kiel Johnson: Glad to be here.

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.