Category Archives: Everything Bicycles
Rush Hour- Portland Style
Check out this great video of bike and pedestrian traffic on the Hawthorne bridge:
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/portland-bike-rush-hour-on-the-hawthorne-bridge/
Create A Commuter
Another Happy Biker
Yesterday we had a great Create A Commuter class at Pedal Headquarters. 16 eager pedestrians walked in at 10AM and they all emerged five hours later with a newly refurbished bicycle.
“The Community Cycling Center’s Create a Commuter Program provides low-income adults with fully outfitted commuter bicycles and five hours of training on safe bicycle commuting. Federally funded initially through the Job Access Initiative, it is the first program of its kind in the nation. The program provides a flexible option to meet the transportation needs of low-income adults.”
These bikes allow many in our community to get around, to work, the store, medical appointments and everywhere else quickly and at low cost. These people don’t take access to a car for granted, many of them have no access to one. In addition, the bicycle is cheaper than public transportation and in many cases is far faster.
The Community Cycling Center aims to get 230 new riders on the streets every year. With their distinctive yellow fenders, it’s easy to spot a Create A Commuter bike around town, which gives me a little thrill of victory. Let’s hope we fill the streets with them!
This Couple Each Got A Bike!
Book- Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities
Portland’s own Jeff Mapes has done what many would like to but few have the skill, time or energy to do- document America’s 4th bicycling golden age and compare it to the bicycling meccas of Europe. The book is a comprehensive chance for us to drag our eyes off the pavement ahead of us and see how our local scene fits in with other places in the US and Europe. The bottom line-we’re way behind, but catching fire quickly.
Mapes includes a lot of great statistics for an objective look at where we all really stand, but he also tells a lot of stories of the people who are shaping the “Pedaling Revolution” and pulling more people out of their cars every day in this country. I learned a lot about the culture in my own town, and a whole lot about the happenings in New York, Chicago, Boulder, Davis, Copenhagen and of course the big daddy, Amsterdam. Being a seasoned political journalist, Mapes knows how to tell a story and still keep it succinct.
I’d recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in getting a quick yet indepth look at where we are today in biking and where we might be going. After all, by this time next year we’re all going to be on bikes (I wish).
Pedal Teams Up With Oregon Legislators For A Neighborhood Bike Tour
Come join us on a bike ride, we'll find out if legislators really can ride bikes!
A New Kind of Town Hall
Rep. Dembrow and Sen. Dingfelder to lead bike tour
PORTLAND – Join Rep. Michael Dembrow and Sen. Jackie Dingfelder as they lead a bike tour in the Cully neighborhood of Portland. On Saturday, May 9th the legislators will meet at 9:30am in Wilshire Park, located at NE 33rd and Skidmore, before heading out on a six-mile jaunt around the neighborhood. The tour will stop at the Rigler School community garden for a brief work party followed by lunch from the tamale vendors at Hacienda Community Development Corporation.
All interested participants should RSVP to Rep. Dembrow’s office at rep.michaeldembrow@state.or.us or 503-986-1445. We are partnering with Pedal Bike Tours and the Bus Project. Pedal Bike Tours will provide bikes to those who need them.
WHO: Rep. Dembrow, Sen. Dingfelder and You
WHAT: Bike Ride in Cully Neighborhood
WHEN: Saturday, May 9th, 9:30am
WHERE: Wilshire Park (NE 33rd and Skidmore)
Small Cars Sacrifice Safety
My how cheap gas changes headlines! Last year it was “SUV’s rot on sales lots while millions flock to gas efficient cars.” Yesterday there was a New York Times article entitled Study Says Minicar Buyers Sacrifice Safety. The implication is that if you want to be safe you should be in the largest vehicle possible. So if everyone drove M-1Abrams tanks then it would be SUV drivers sacrificing safety.
It’s a matter of escalation, if everyone drives a larger car than the last person, then of course the smallest vehicle is going to be the most unsafe. Anyway haven’t SUV’s been proven to be a rollover hazard and therefore more dangerous than smaller cars?
So where does that leave bicycles which are a lot smaller than the smallest car? Here at Pedal, we recognize the dangers of being a defenseless human on 20 lbs. of steel moving at 10-20 miles per hour, but we do it anyway. Dangerous? More than an encasing yourself in steel. Good for you? Certainly. The health benefits for ourselves, our neighborhoods, cities, and planet are undeniable. Here in Portland bicycle use since 2000 has risen 144%, yet traffic fatalities have stayed the same. It’s getting safer to ride a bike here every day. The answer is not to jump in the largest vehicle possible, but rather the smallest.
Once more people get out of the tanks and into smaller cars, or better yet bicycles, then the world will be safer for everyone.
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