Pizza delivery by car is so passé; by bike, so pedestrian. If this flier is to be believed, “exquisite epicurean” pies will go airborne in Portland early this summer courtesy of a PIZZA BLIMP. (Click to enlarge.) I’m all for any mode of pizza delivery that doesn’t involve a car, but the pizza blimp might just be a jokey takeoff (sorry) of Tacocopter. After all, would Portlanders do something as irresponsible as using up the United States’ dwindling helium resources? I will keep an eye on the sky and find out.
Check out “The Colbert Report’s” great segment on Tacocopter:
Greyhound division BoltBus is expanding to the Pacific Northwest, with trips that will cost much less than a tank of gas: as low as $1 (plus fees) between Portland and Seattle. (I checked out some weekday and weekend dates and found nothing above $10 after the May 17 launch.) The site also suggests it will have service to Vancouver, though the booking drop-down menu doesn’t have that city as an option yet. BoltBus, which began operating in the Northeast in 2008, offers “more legroom,” WiFi and power outlets. For peanuts. It’s like the Virgin America of the interstate system.
National Bike Month has, um, rolled around again, and either more people are into it than before or social media saturation makes it seem that way. Or maybe it’s just supersized for me now because I’m in Portland instead of Los Angeles, which always celebrates Bike Week but is not so into Bike Month. Evidently, bike season up here really gets going in June, but Portland still has plenty of events lined up for May. Had I not lost a month because of injury, I would have been out on some of the irregularly scheduled rides (i.e. the many rides that aren’t part of Pedalpalooza in June). My biggest group outing since I moved here has been a party of two, unless you count the time I biked through a formidable swarm of gnats. It’s an adjustment because I’m used to riding year round, except for a handful of rainy days. It’s been the opposite here, which I expected, but I’m slowly getting my feettires wet.
Speaking of these two ends of the spectrum: Because I’m new to Portland but still keep an eye on L.A., I find that I truly appreciate what I went through without a car in the mecca for cars. I have a whole new perspective on life sans vehicle. I also have a message for my former home: L.A., you need to work on your reputation as a bikable town. Time and time again, I will be chatting with someone about riding a beach path at 3 a.m. or how biking can shave time off a commute, and I’m given a look of surprise and a comment along the lines of, “Wow, people bike in L.A.?” It’s easier to believe that a friend of mine once got stuck on a freeway because the Batmobile was using it at the time. (True story that I recently shared with a friend here.)
Now, it would be premature to call L.A. a bike-friendly city. For a number of reasons (potholes, angry drivers, crazy intersections, size, etc.), it takes nerves of steel, or possibly a screw loose, to regularly traverse the city by bike. But those people are out there. Maybe it’s time for the minority to be a lot more vocal.
Catwoman: My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men. Batman: This isn’t a car.
Forgive the self-absorption, but this bit of dialogue was a prime opportunity for the Dark Knight to reply, “Car, schmar.” What I wouldn’t give to hear the name of my blog spoken in Batman voice.
Bike lanes spur bike commuting, but let’s go a step further
The Washington Post has written about a study showing that cities can influence the number of bike commuters by laying out lanes and paths for them. (The study represents only work trips, not all trips.) It makes sense that the presence of special lanes encourages bikers to hit the streets. However, bike-designated areas are only one piece of the puzzle. Another important effort — though a more difficult one — is educating citizens about cyclists’ rights to the road. Adding bike lanes leads to more biking, and that’s excellent, but what happens when bike commuters reach the end of the lane? They need to be able to stake a claim to the road and ride without fear of harassment. Unfortunately, a lot of drivers in the U.S. seem to have the attitude that cars belong in traffic and bikes do not. Anyone who rides regularly around a city probably has the echo of a horn blast or hollering driver to remind them of this fact.
While cities add miles and miles of bike lanes, they should also be aware that bikers’ feeling of “safety in numbers” (cited in the study) must translate to those streets without bike lanes. The question the Post poses in its lede (“Is there anything cities can do to encourage cycling?”) might seem to have a good answer — bike lanes — but city governments should not stop there.
Huh. Cargo bikes are trendy, according to Gizmodo. I appreciate the convenience of a commuter that can be stripped down to its rack-free state and gain speed back, but if you’ve got the cash and the storage space, a cargo bike makes a lot of sense, particularly if you don’t have a car. Check out a breakdown of popular cargo bikes here.
I’m a fan of any community effort to help bikers, especially newbies, feel comfortable riding on city streets. I stumbled on an event for May that is similar to programs I’ve seen elsewhere in which companies or organizations offer prizes (and the sheer fun of competition) for miles logged on a bike. The Bike 2 PSU Challenge is open to the university’s students and staff from May 1-31 and encourages them to organize teams to get to and from campus by bike. Events like these can motivate drivers to consider other commute options in the long term, and it adds bikes to the flow of traffic, which makes the streets safer. It’s a big win for everyone.
The weather in Portland since Saturday morning has been sublime (highs in the low 80s and strictly sunny). In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed azaleas blooming in yards around the city — just another example of how walking instead of driving brings a greater appreciation for your surroundings. Azaleas are one of my favorite flowering plants, so I nerded out and researched parks around town that have a good azalea contingent. This inspired me to take a long but leisurely ride to Sellwood and around SE Portland, and afterward, I sprawled out and zoned out at this idyllic spot. Vitamin D, nice views, exercise and relaxation: the recipe for a perfect weekend.
I got stuck on my first bridge yesterday. I also learned that Portland’s bridges are operated by the county they belong to, so there’s red tape involved in fixing malfunctioning gates, which is what seems to have happened yesterday. Now I can say I’ve watched a bus driver make a three-point turn on (and scrape) a bridge while passengers made “Speed” references. Thrilling, isn’t it?
The Washington Post has 
