BikePortland Podcast
Pedaltown Media Inc
Subscribe
BikePortland is a daily news outlet that covers all the ways cycling and street culture impacts our lives. Our podcast features interviews with newsmakers, timely conversations about major issues, reporting from the field, and more.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
4 days ago
In the Shed w Eva & Jonathan - Ep. 4
A holiday edition of "In the Shed" featuring Jonathan Maus and Eva Frazier. This week they chat about the latest twist in the BikeLoud PDX v City of Portland lawsuit, whether or not memorial events make an impact, what Eva thinks about the "Vision Zero is failing" narrative, the Portland Trail Blazers' new G-League team, and more.
playlist_add
Nov 21, 2023
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus takes you to the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims event that was held in Portland on Sunday, November 19th. You'll hear interviews recorded while walking from Lloyd Center to a memorial and speeches at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, speeches made at the demonstration, and an interview about safe streets funding and policy with The Street Trust Executive Director Sarah Iannarone.
The event was organized by The Street Trust, Oregon Walks, and Families for Safe Streets OR/WA.
People in this episode (in order of appearance):
* Jonathan Maus (host), founder/editor/publisher, BikePortland
* Lena Wiley (unnamed in the episode, sorry!), pedestrian and march participant
* Brendon Haggerty, Healthy Homes and Communities Manager, Multnomah County
* Claire Vlach, Oregon Walks
* Jackie Yerby, bike advocate and member of the board, The Street Trust and Cycle Oregon
* Sarah Iannarone, executive director, The Street Trust
* Michelle DuBarry, member, Families for Safe Streets OR/WA (also interviewed in episode 16)
* Wendy Serrano, equity and inclusion manager, Portland Bureau of Transportation
* Charlene McGee, director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Multnomah County
* Sarah Iannarone, executive director, The Street Trust executive director
Links:
* BikePortland recap and photo gallery from event
* BikePortland coverage of Multnomah County Public Health report on traffic crash deaths and Safe Systems approach (August 2023)
* PBOT Safe Systems webpage
* Families for Safe Streets OR/WA
* Oregon Walks
* The Street Trust
* World Day of Remembrance national site
* BikePortland Fatality Tracker
playlist_add
Nov 13, 2023
In the Shed w Eva & Jonathan - Ep. 3
Eva Frazier (Clever Cycles co-owner and BikeLoud PDX board member) and I (BikePortland founder/publisher/editor Jonathan Maus) are back with another fun episode of "In The Shed"! This one was recorded November 10th.
Here's what we talked about:
* Our favorite musicals
* My interview with City Council candidate Steph Routh.
* Quiz on the new Portland City Council District Map
* Congressman Earl Blumenauer's retirement announcement
* Fashion: How we stay warm in winter.
* Shop news: Eva makes house calls for Clever Cycles customers.
* Eva's pitch for why you should invest in generator lights.
* Those damn bumps on the Eastbank Esplanade floating ramps.
* WTH happened on 33rd Ave?
* Thoughts on Portland's lack of protected bike lanes.
* Hami Ramani and the importance of lovely infrastructure.
* Eva's friend hosted a mushroom potluck!
Thanks for listening! And tell your friends how much fun we're having "In the Shed."
playlist_add
Nov 10, 2023
City Council Candidate Steph Routh
Routh is running for Portland City Council District 1 (East Portland). She's well-known in local bike and transportation advocacy circles for her role as a thoughtfully wonky, yet warm and approachable leader and organizer. She's also a member of the Portland Planning Commission and has a fascinating background that includes a degree in theater performance, stints as a cannery worker in Alaska, a skin-dive team leader in Thailand as part of 2004 tsunami recovery efforts, and she's lived in northern China and NYC. She's also an adjunct professor at PSU who teaches community organizing and social change.
This interview was recorded in the public plaza on SE Ankeny between SE 27th and 28th on Wednesday, November 8th during the weekly Bike Happy Hour.
Thanks to all BikePortland financial supporters and subscribers. If you are not one yet, please visit BikePortland.org/support and become one today. This is community-powered journalism that needs community to survive!
***
Steph Routh Campaign Website
Portland Planning Commission
playlist_add
Oct 27, 2023
In The Shed w Eva & Jonathan - Ep 2
Back for another chat in the BikePortland Shed, it's Eva Frazier and Jonathan Maus!
Eva is a bike mechanic, art school grad, and bike shop co-owner. Jonathan is founder and editor of BikePortland. They sit in the shed and talk about random stuff. In this episode, they touched on:
* Portland city council race and candidate Angelita Morillo
* What's better: Fenders or rain pants?
* Why Eva doesn't ride an e-bike.
* Eva's latest "nerd overlap" Venn diagram and how it explains why Brompton riders love ponchos.
* A pedal-powered pipe organ (Jonathan's TikTok vid)
* Verboort Sausage Fest
* Reflections on Jonathan's NYC Trip
* Why Portland Trophy Cup is so amazing.
* and more!!
playlist_add
Oct 16, 2023
In The Shed w Eva & Jonathan - Ep. 1
I'm excited to share the inaugural episode with new co-host Eva Frazier! Eva is a co-owner of Clever Cycles, a board member of the nonprofit BikeLoud PDX, and just an all-around quality person who cares about Portland and wants to see cycling thrive.
In what I hope is the first of many "In The Shed" chats to come, Eva and I chat about a wide range of topics. It's fun, free-flowing banter between two bike and urbanist nerds — a change from the more formal interviews and event recaps this podcast has done in the past. I will still do those things, but will make "In The Shed" a regular feature.
In this episode (recorded Thursday, October 12th) Eva and I talked about:
* Life in the shop (squirrels and cats!)
* Eva's preferred route from inner southeast to The Shed in NoPo
* The Street Trust Alice Awards
* Automatic shifting bicycles (Trek's "Lime" bike in Portland 2007)
* Tapas Tuesdays (link to event)
* First bike on Mt. Hood (Mazamas story)
* PBOT SE Hawthorne Blvd Evaluation Report (PDF)
* Broadway Bike Lane Scandal (all BP coverage)
* The first bakfiets in Portland and subsequent Dutch bike invasion.
* and more!!
Episode made possible by BikePortland advertisers, subscribers, and financial supporters. Please become one today at BikePortland.org/support.
playlist_add
Oct 10, 2023
The Annual Bike Town Hall Ride
In this episode, your host Jonathan Maus takes you on the 14th annual Bike Town Hall Ride that took place in southeast Portland on Sunday, October 8th. You'll hear remarks from Oregon Senator Michael Dembrow and House representatives Khanh Pham and Thuy Tran. In addition, you'll ride along and hear about community projects like the Arleta Triangle Square, 70s Greenway, and more. Jonathan Maus provides narration along the way.
For a full recap and photo gallery from the ride, see this story on BikePortland.
playlist_add
Oct 3, 2023
Ayleen Crotty - Filmed By Bike Founder and Portland Bike Culture Creator
There are very few people in Portland who've had as large an impact on our bicycle scene as Ayleen Crotty. She moved here in 2000 from central Illinois as a scrappy, artistic kid, fresh-out-of-college. Ayleen quickly found her people — and most of them were on bikes.
Many of you know Ayleen as the force behind Filmed By Bike, a festival that draws filmmakers from all over the world and has shown over 1,200 films since it started in a small theater on Northeast Alberta Street 21 years ago. But before that, she was at the table for the creation of major pieces of our scene that still exist today — like Breakfast on the Bridges, Midnight Mystery Ride, Shift, Pedalpalooza, and more.
Now that Ayleen has decided to sell Filmed By Bike and move on to other creative ventures, we both sensed it was time to sit down and have a chat.
In this episode, you'll hear what Portland was like long before "Portlandia" and the many changes of the past two decades. Ayleen and I talk about early bike culture, why Portland was so ripe to blossom into a leading bike city, her impetus for launching Filmed By Bike, how she's used bike movies to make our scene more racially inclusive, and much more.
I think you'll love our conversation.
playlist_add
Sep 21, 2023
City Commissioner Mingus Mapps on Broadway Bike Lane Scandal
In this episode, I share a video call I had with PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps about the Broadway Bike Lane Scandal. His office set up this 30-minute interview to respond to our stories about Mapps' involvement in a push from his PBOT Director Millicent Williams to make significant changes to the protected bike lane on NW/SW Broadway. Williams' email to PBOT staff on September 14th made it clear she was ready to move forward — with what she claims was Mapps' approval — on reversing the protected bike lane and replacing it with a less safe configuration. Williams has since made a clear apology for her actions, saying that she made a "mistake" and that she "moved too fast."
For more on this story, read the full coverage on BikePortland.
Download a PDF of the full transcript here.
playlist_add
Jun 14, 2023
Billy Sinkford and the MADE Bike Show
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus talks with Billy Sinkford, a bicycle industry insider and VP of PR and marketing firm, Echos Communications. Billy lives in Portland and is the man behind MADE, a major bike show coming to Zidell Yards in the South Waterfront August 24th-27th that will feature over 200 custom bike builders and other companies in what he calls the largest handmade bike show North America has ever seen.
I've known Billy for years, but have never been able to sit down and have a chat with him, so I was really excited he was able to swing by The Shed for this interview. We talk about his interesting past, how he got into the bike industry, the work he does with Echos, why he's such a big fan of handmade bikes, and more.
Oh, and he was also nice enough to share the strange — and I'll just say, very personal, story — of how he got his nickname, "Souphorse" - the name many people know him by and the name that's tattooed across his neck.
_Links:_
* MADE Bike Show
* Echos Communications
* Full text transcription
playlist_add
May 29, 2023
Protestors Take Over TriMet Board Meeting
Get a front seat to all the wild drama at the TriMet Board Meeting on May 24th where they voted to increase transit fares for the first time in 11 years. Activists stormed into the meeting and made the board so uncomfortable they retreated to a private meeting room. In this episode, host Jonathan Maus takes us through the meeting and the protest rally organized by OPAL Environment Justice Oregon.
You've read the headlines, now go into the meeting with exclusive audio footage!
***
Links:
* BikePortland recap and photo gallery from the meeting
* OPAL Op-ed against the fare increase
* TriMet statement on the fare increase
playlist_add
Apr 18, 2023
The Fight For a 'Right Sized' Interstate Bridge Project
Your host Jonathan Maus (Editor & Publisher, BikePortland) went to the State Capitol in Salem on April 13th to cover the Transportation Future Day of Action. The event was a lobbying day organized by Just Crossing Alliance (a coalition of environmental and transportation nonprofits) as part of their "Right Size, Right Now" campaign that seeks to reduce the cost and footprint of the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program project.
In this episode, you'll hear a range of interviews including:
* Adah Crandall, Sunrise PDX
* Zachary Lauritzen, Oregon Walks
* Aaron Brown, Office of Rep. Khanh Pham
* Brett Morgan, 1000 Friends of Oregon
* Khanh Pham, Oregon House Rep
* Mark Gamba, Oregon House Rep
* And several others!
Links:
* Day of Action event page
* BikePortland Coverage and photo gallery from the day
playlist_add
Apr 18, 2023
Live from the Ladds 500!
Take a journey into the heart of Portland's amazing cycling community in this episode where host Jonathan Maus and BikePortland reporter Taylor Griggs wade into the thick crowds at Ladds 500 to chat with the assembled characters.
Links:
* BikePortland coverage of Ladds 500
* Ladds 500 page on the Shift website
playlist_add
Mar 31, 2023
Royal Johnson and Timberwolves Cycle Recovery
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus welcomes members of Timberwolves Cycle Recovery into he Shed. Also known as the Sith Lord Vader Squadron Timberwolves, they're a grassroots group of Portlanders who are taking the law into their own hands to recover stolen bicycles. They are led by Royal Johnson, who is the main voice you'll hear in the episode. Royal and Jonathan were joined by Laura Dallago, the group's treasurer, and Rich Baker, who coordinates their events and rides.
Royal started the group in Austin, Texas in 2011 and he maintains a chapter of the group there, as well as one in Los Angeles, Colorado, and Houston. Their MO is to enlist people to help them spot stolen bikes, research online to find out of it the bike is indeed stolen, and then if it is, they hit the streets and try to recover it.
On March 18th, Royal went on a recovery mission in the South Waterfront district that was first reported as a robbery by gunpoint. Alarmed by the initial reports, we did a story immedia…
playlist_add
Mar 28, 2023
TriMet Bus Driver Dan Christensen
In this episode you'll get to know TriMet bus operator Dan Christensen. Known as "bus driver dan" to his many Twitter followers, Dan is more than just bus driver — he's a storyteller, a community builder and a big part of what makes Portland so special. And from his seat behind the windshield, watching what he calls "Portland on the big screen" — he's seen a lot since he started driving for TriMet 16 years ago.
Host Jonathan Maus wanted to talk with Dan not just because of what he's seen on his bus over the years, but because of how he sees it. In this interview Dan shares stories from his bus and why he thinks transit is so much more than just a way to get from point a to point b. He and Jonathan also talk about whether TriMet's bad reputation has gotten to him, how he drives around bike riders, why he still remembers the name of his first school bus driver, why he only counts some of the "Thank yous" he gets from riders, and much more.
If you love transit... Actually, if you lo…
playlist_add
Mar 23, 2023
Why Reading Names of Crash Victims Matters
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus shares clips from a recent meeting of the Metro Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT). He highlights an exchange between county commissioners that was spurred by the "reading the of the names" - an increasingly common practice at meetings where someone reads names of people killed in traffic crashes at the outset of a meeting in order to add urgency to road safety efforts.
Jonathan shares why he thinks this practice is so important — and how it can gain even more value when it spurs an exchange like the one between two commissioners and a Metro staff person in this episode.
Links:
* Nafisa Fai - Washington County Commission website
* Paul Savas - Clackamas County Commission website
* Juan Carlos Gonzalez - Metro Council website
* Metro JPACT home page
* Details on Metro's $2.4 million road safety planning grant (BikePortland)
playlist_add
Mar 22, 2023
Portland's Cycling Decline
This episode is all about the headlines I'm sure all of you've seen — that the number of people riding bikes in portland has fallen sharply in recent years. It's a decline that started long before Covid, and it's something we've been stewing about around here for many years now. But now we've got hard numbers from the City of Portland, so it's time to dig in and confront this unfortunate reality.
So sit back and hang out with BikePortland Editor Jonathan Maus and Staff Writer Taylor Griggs to hear their reactions to the news, reasons why it's happening, and what implications might be going forward. We'll also share a few reader comments and reactions from folks Taylor bumped into over the weekend.
Links from the episode:
* Something has gone wrong in Portland - May 2014 BikePortland article that nails the start of the decline.
* 2019 Bike Year in Review - PDF of presentation by PBOT Bike Coordinator Roger Geller where he makes the case that "hidden" neighborhood greenways" are…
playlist_add
Mar 8, 2023
Behind the Scenes With B-Line Urban Delivery
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus will take you on a tour and ride with Tegan Valo from B-Line Urban Delivery. B-Line is a Portland company that was founded in 2008 and they have carved out a great little niche for their innovative approach to last mile freight logistics.
If you're a BikePortland reader, you'll recall several stories we've written about them over the years because of this simple fact: they use pedal-powered electric cargo trikes for their delivery fleet.
B-Line has replaced well over 320,000 truck miles with these trikes in over 42,000 deliveries in the past 15 years. And while they're much smaller and safer than a truck or a van, B-Line trikes can still carry up to 700 pounds of cargo.
A few days ago, Jonathan met Tegan at their large warehouse in the Central Eastside to learn more about the company, get a rundown of what a typical day looks like. They then hit the road for a few deliveries.
playlist_add
Mar 6, 2023
Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps
For this episode, host Jonathan Maus rode down to City Hall and recorded an interview with Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps. Mapps has served as one of Portland's five council members since 2020, and was recently named the commissioner-in-charge of the transportation bureau.
Mapps is a graduate of Reed College, he has a PhD in government from Cornell and is a former political science professor. Prior to ousting former Commissioner Chloe Eudaly from her seat in 2019, Mapps worked for the City of Portland's office of civic life.
Jonathan and Commissioner Mapps covered a lot of ground in this interview. They talked about the type of person he's looking to hire as the next director of PBOT, how he thinks transportation policy and projects can help revitalize Portland, why he thinks the 2030 bike plan is outdated, his rationale for wanting more police officers patrolling Portland streets, his position on the I-5 Rose Quarter project, and much more.
LINKS:
* LA Times article on…
playlist_add
Feb 14, 2023
Former Metro President & Transit Center ED David Bragdon
As a veteran of Metro Council (our elected regional planning authority) — including a seven-year stint as president from 2003 to 2010 — David Bragdon has been around the block when it comes to Oregon transportation politics. And for the past decade he's been executive director of TransitCenter, a nonprofit foundation that funds and conducts research and advocacy to improve public transit across the U.S. Before that he led a planning office for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Suffice it to say, Bragdon has a mix of experiences in advocacy and government that I feel BikePortland readers could learn a lot from. So when I heard he was leaving his post at TransitCenter and was making a stop in Portland to visit family, I figured it was a perfect time to invite him into the Shed for an interview.
We ended up talking about a range of issues including: how advocates can influence government, what PBOT should look for in their hiring of a new director, PBOT's budget woes, wh…
playlist_add
Feb 10, 2023
PBOT & The Search For a New Leader
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus (BikePortland's publisher and editor) sat down for a chat about the Portland Bureau of Transportation with Kiel Johnson, a Portland bike advocacy veteran and current chair of the nonprofit BikeLoud PDX.
PBOT is currently looking to hire a new director of the agency and Jonathan and Kiel have some thoughts about it! They share insights on the state of PBOT in general, why they feel this is a pivotal moment for the agency, what traits they'd like to see in a new director, and much more.
Links from the show:
* BikePortland story about departure of former PBOT Director Chris Warner
* _On paving vs bike routes, The Oregonian got it wrong_ (2012 BikePortland story about former PBOT Director Tom Miller's controversial attempt to reduce the paving budget)
playlist_add
Feb 7, 2023
Car Culture Researcher Tara Goddard
When it comes to the goal of safer streets and "Vision Zero," how much of a focus should we put on individual driver behaviors and infrastructure design? The "systems versus people" debate is raging as cities and advocates grapple with record traffic fatalities.
Tara Goddard, PhD, is an assistant professor at the School of Urban Planning at Texas A & M University. She earned her doctorate in urban planning from Portland State University and she's led several studies about car culture, "windshield bias" and more.
Host: Jonathan Maus, editor and publisher of BikePortland.
Links:
* Dr. Goddard Texas A & M Bio Page / @DrTaraGoddard on Twitter
* PSU Transportation Safety Culture Webinar with Dr. Goddard on February 16th
* That driving-centric KATU-TV story
* Book: There Are No Accidents, byJessie Singer (Simon & Schuster, 2022)
* _Cars are rewiring our brains to ignore all the bad stuff about driving_ (Article on Ian Walker's "motonormativity" research in The Verge)
playlist_add
Feb 3, 2023
Voices from the PBOT Maintenance Workers Picket Line
PBOT workers are on strike. Host Jonathan Maus visited the picket line outside PBOT's Maintenance Operations headquarters on the first day of the walkout and talked to a few workers — the same folks who sweep our bike lanes, patch the roads, replace signs, and so on. In this episode you'll hear those interviews, learn a bit about why the strike is happening, and hear what PBOT says the impacts will be.
Links from the episode:
* City of Portland Strike Impacts Page
* BikePortland Strike Coverage
playlist_add
Dec 9, 2022
BikePOC PNW Co-Founder Will Cortez
In this episode we welcomed BikePOC PNW Co-Founder Will Cortez into the Shed. Host Jonathan Maus wanted to check in with Will about Portland's progress on welcoming more Black, Indigenous and people of color into the local cycling and transportation advocacy scene — nearly three years after the George Floyd protests.
Will and Jonathan touch on a number of topics including: Will's concerns on how BikeLoud PDX tokenizes "equity" in the framing of their new lawsuit against the City of Portland, why progress to diversify government advisory committees is slow/nonexistent, his disappointments with the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association's attempt to attract more Black racers, and more.
He also shares about his beloved cat (named after a Japanese fruit) and why he thinks the PDX Trophy Cup cyclocross series is the best local example of progress toward a more welcoming and inclusive community.
***
LINKS:
* Making Nature Accessible (Story on Will's work at Metro)
* Bob Stacey, Khanh P…
playlist_add
Nov 21, 2022
Lawyer Scott Kocher on the Bike Bill Lawsuit
Go deeper into the lawsuit filed Friday (11/18) by BikeLoud PDX against the City of Portland in this informative conversation between host Jonathan Maus and Oregon lawyer Scott Kocher of Forum Law Group.
***
LINKS:
* Coverage of the lawsuit on BikePortland
* Official complaint filed filed in Multnomah County 11/18/22 (PDF)
* ODOT Bicycle & Pedestrian Bill Screening Process (PDF)
* ORS 366.514 (the "Bike Bill")
* BikePortland stories written by Scott Kocher
Our Podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.
playlist_add
Nov 17, 2022
What Charter Reform Means for Bike Advocacy in Portland
Portland voted for a new form of government. It's a huge deal and bike advocates need to understand why — and more importantly — how to take advantage of it.
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus talks to two people with important insights into what lies ahead: former policy advisor for City Commissioner Mingus Mapps Matt Glazewski (who was interviewed in ep. 18), and researcher/writer at Sightline Institute and former BikeLoud PDX leader Catie Gould.
***
LINKS:
* Charter reform coverage on BikePortland
Our Podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.
playlist_add
Nov 1, 2022
Voices from the SE Powell Blvd Community Forum
Host Jonathan Maus attended the Powell Blvd Community Forum at Cleveland High School on October 20th. For this episode, he has pulled out several powerful remarks from attendees. It's a rare opportunity to hear advocates speak out about the tragic collision that killed Sarah Pliner on October 4th just a few hundred yards from where the Forum took place.
Among the voices you'll hear from in this episode is Bike Loud PDX Chair Kiel Johnson, who starts things off with a moving speech delivered on stage as ODOT Director Kris Strickler and PBOT Director Chris Warner sat just a few feet away.
***
LINKS:
* BikePortland's recap of the Community Forum
* BikePortland coverage of Sarah Pliner collision
Our Podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.
playlist_add
Aug 2, 2022
Live From the World Naked Bike Ride
Host Jonathan Maus put on his headphones and took off his clothes to bring you the first-ever podcast episode recording by a naked person riding a bike. Seriously!
Join him for a full episode of interviews with attendees of Portland's 18th annual World Naked Bike Ride. You'll hear from a wide variety of people — from professional nudists to people who have never shown their bare bodies in public — and you'll hear why this ride is so meaningful to so many people.
***
LINKS:
* PDX WNBR, official Naked Bike Ride website.
* Jonathan's WNBR photo gallery
Our Podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.
playlist_add
Mar 22, 2022
Metro Council Candidate Ashton Simpson
This week you'll get to know a rising star in local political and advocacy circles, Ashton Simpson.
At just 34 years old Simpson is running for Metro Council, and with no challengers for his east Portland district seat, he's now Metro Councilor-elect Ashton Simpson.
Simpson will be just the 2nd Black man to ever sit on Metro Council, following in the footsteps of Ed Washington in the early 1990s. It will be the start of his career as an elected official and the culmination of a whirlwind life journey that has seen him bounce through many life experiences, both highs and lows, that are on par with someone twice his age. After growing up in tough urban neighborhoods in Houston, texas and dropping out of college his first go-round, Simpson found work as a mall cop. When he declined a promotion in the mall security business, his boss urged him to join the Air Force and he served stints as a civil engineer at bases around the world before moving to Portland in 2015. In the relatively s…
playlist_add
Mar 16, 2022
Voices From Portland's Carfree Plaza Movement
This week we delve into the topic of carfree streets, plazas and great public spaces in Portland.
You might have read our recent story about the big announcement Monday morning from the City of Portland that they want to double down on their outdoor dining patios, plazas and carfree public space programs.
In this episode, host Jonathan Maus shares clips from remarks made at the press conference (which was held on Pride Plaza, a 2-block section of carfree street on SW Harvey Milk Street) as well as several interviews with people at the event. You'll hear from PBOT Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, PBOT Director Chris Warner, Portland restaurant co-owner Eli Johnson, Friends of Green Loop Executive Director Keith Jones, and others.
Links:
* PBOT press release about Healthy Business and Vibrant Community Spaces program
* "Commissioner Hardesty wants more carfree streets in downtown Portland" (BikePortland, 1/12/2021)
Theme music:
* Kevin Hartnell
playlist_add
Mar 9, 2022
Women of the E-bike Revolution
It was International Women's Day when I edited this episode and what better subject to explore than the impact the e-bike revolution is having on women.
In historical terms, the skyrocketing popularity of e-bikes among women feels a bit like a deja vu.
At the turn of the 20th century, as the and price and safety of these magical, human-powered machines improved and the bicycling craze swept Europe and America, it had a profound effect on women. Bicycles leveled the mobility playing field between genders and in so doing ushered in a new era of independence that had vast influence on everything from fashion and popular culture, to politics. Susan B. Anthony, the famous women's rights pioneer said in 1896: "Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world."
Fast forward 120 years or so and another great leap in bicycle technology is once again changing everything for women: electric bikes. The popularity of e-bike…
playlist_add
Mar 1, 2022
The People Behind Oregon's Best Bike Rides
As I edited this episode and I work on our stories I often think that bicycling doesn't really matter right now. I mean, I know that riding bikes always matters to some people in some ways... But with so many more serious things going on it can feel not just less important, but talking and creating content about bicycling can even feel insensitive given all the other more serious things going in people's lives right now.
But for many of us who are lucky enough enough to be able to do so, knowing that we can look forward to a bike ride, is one of things that gives us hope, keeps us going, and provides some levity and balance in gloomy times. And if you consider the mental and physical benefits of bicycling, it actually isn't such a trivial thing at all. In some ways, riding our bikes, setting future goals, and having rides to look forward to, is more important these days than it has ever been.
On that note, in this week's episode I wanted to help us all - if just for a few minutes…
playlist_add
Feb 22, 2022
Shop Talk: Joel and Barb Grover of Splendid Cycles
This week we've got another installment in our Shop Talk series and I'm excited to welcome Splendid Cycles co-owners Barb and Joel Grover. This duo has been working in the local bike scene since the 1980s and came up through the ranks as employees of Bike Gallery, which was one of the largest bicycle retail chains in the country. Joel was a product analyst and buyer for many years at Bike Gallery and when cargo bikes first came on the scene in the U.S. in the mid to late aughts, he and Barb had a feeling they weren't reaching their potential being sold in traditional bike shops. So they decided to take a big risk: They left Bike Gallery in 2009 to create a shop that would sell only cargo bikes — and despite being laughed at by some of their peers, Splendid Cycles opened one year later. In 2014, four years after they opened, their business was so strong they moved from their tiny storefront on lower SE Belmont to a larger location in an industrial building in the central eastside righ…
playlist_add
Feb 15, 2022
Bike Theft Superhero Bryan Hance
This week's guest is Bike Index co-founder Bryan Hance.
Bike Index has listed over 730,000 bikes since it was founded in 2013 and has become a formidable force in the battle against bike thieves — and Hance is its heart and soul.
In December 2021 Hance and the Bike Index team published a report on a case they'd spent 10 months working on that involved 100s of bike thefts in Colorado and a Facebook marketplace store based in Mexico named Alexander's Bikes.
In our interview, you'll learn the sordid details of how Hance connected the dots from desperate victims in Denver and surrounding cities, to his expansive network of partners on-the-ground, to the online storefront in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Hance also shares why he got involved in this work, his thoughts on the state of bike theft in Portland, his frustrations with Facebook's inaction against fraudulent sellers, and much more.
_Links from this episode:_
* Closing the loop: a deep dive on a Facebook reseller of bikes sto…
playlist_add
Feb 8, 2022
Shop Talk: Tom Martin of TomCat Bikes
Host Jonathan Maus: Ever since I got seriously into cycling in my freshman year of college or so, I've loved hanging out at bike shops. My friends and I were huge shop rats back in the day, and as I record more of these Shop Talk episodes, I'm realizing how much I've missed it.
Getting to know and chat with people like my guest this week, Tom Martin of TomCat Bikes on SE Milwaukie and Powell, is a big reason why.
So much of what we think of as "local bike culture" exists in and/or comes from bike shops and I believe they're a vital part of our cycling ecosystem.
Tom Martin seems to embrace that responsibility. Since opening TomCat Bikes in 2018 after 35 years wearing many different hats in the bike industry, his shop has become firmly established in the Brooklyn neighborhood. In this interview you'll hear how friends helped him survive the Covid boom, learn why he's become the go-to shop for fans of Burning Man and freak bikes, find out why he thinks major shifts in the bike indus…
playlist_add
Feb 2, 2022
Oregon State Representative Khanh Pham
After a short break I'm really happy to be back at the mic and cannot wait to share this interview with Oregon State Rep Khanh Pham.
Rep Pham is a former community organizer who's worked with OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon and the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO). Most recently she was a founding member of the coalition that created the Portland Clean Energy Fund and she continued that momentum by playing a major role in passing three clean energy bills in her first session.
You might recall hearing from Rep Pham in a previous episode, when I caught up with her at a Youth vs ODOT rally in September of last year. Back then she was a rookie legislator and just emerging as a transportation reform leader. Since then she's firmly established herself in that role by speaking up with testimony on several big projects and, most notably, by grabbing a seat on the powerful Joint Committee on Transportation down in Salem. It's also worth noting she's recently hired former pol…
playlist_add
Jan 12, 2022
Veteran Advocate and New Portlander Cathy Tuttle
For this episode, host Jonathan Maus caught up with veteran advocate and recent Portland transplant Cathy Tuttle. Cathy has been an activist for climate change, transportation, and healthy cities for over 30 years and has long list of accomplishments and awards for her work as a community organizer, nonprofit founder (Seattle Neighborhood Greenways) and city staffer. In 2019 she ran for a seat on Seattle City Council and tied for third in a crowded race. Last summer, this 65-year-old, self-described "climate warrior" decided to move to Portland, currently lives downtown, and uses a bike as her main way to get around. While some people in Cathy's shoes might consider slowing down after working so hard for so long on these issues, Cathy is just as committed as ever to make an impact and was just voted to the board of Bike Loud PDX, a local nonprofit whose main goal is to push Portland into being a city where 25% of all trips are made by bike by 2030.
In this interview, you'll hear why…
playlist_add
Jan 5, 2022
Sellwood Cycle Repair Owner Erik Tonkin
In this episode we hear from Erik Tonkin, the owner of Sellwood Cycle Repair who celebrates his 30th anniversary with the shop this year.
We first wanted to have Erik on the show as part of our Shop Talk series, but then realized there was much more to talk about than just running a business. In this interview, you’ll learn how he got his start in the local bike industry, why he seriously considered running for a seat on Portland City Council in 2015, and you’ll even hear him say there’s a possibility he might run again in the future. We also talked about his advocacy work pushing for more trail access at River View, helping the City of Portland write new code to prevent fencing of stolen bikes, and working to find new bike race venues.
If you love bike racing, listen closely for the big news about how Erik has been working with Commissioner Carmen Rubio’s office and the Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau to bring his Bridge City CX event to Waterfront Park in downtown Portla…
playlist_add
Dec 22, 2021
Shop Talk: Community Cycling Center and Bikes for Humanity
We're just about to sign off for the week to enjoy the holiday (and my daughter turns 19 tomorrow!), but before we take a break I wanted to share the work of people and organizations who are making the season brighter for people in need.
I loved talking to shop owners last month for our first Shop Talk series episode. This time I talked to two local nonprofits — Bikes for Humanity and Community Cycling Center — that provide bikes for the community, but have a much different approach. They focus on making bikes more accessible for people on low-incomes and for people who either don't have a shop in their neighborhood would likely never feel comfortable walking into a traditional, for-profit bike shop
Bikes for Humanity on southeast Powell started (as Community Exchange Bike School/Exchange Cycle Tours) in 2005 and became an official non-profit in 2015. I spoke to their current executive director, Andrew Shaw-Kitch, who's been with the group since 2014.
The Community Cycling Cente…
playlist_add
Dec 13, 2021
City Council Candidate Vadim Mozyrsky
Show notes:
Last week we shared an interview with Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. This week we hear from one of the candidates who wants her seat: Vadim Mozyrsky.
Mozyrsky is an administrative law judge who specializes in disability law (and sees improving city policy for people with disabilities as one of his top priorities if elected). He lives in the Goose Hollow neighborhood and, while he's a relative newcomer to local politics, he's well-known in civic circles for his service on a number of committees and commissions. Mozyrsky is currently a member of the Portland Charter Commission, that's looking into changing Portland's form of government; and the Portland Committee on Community Engaged Policing, a group charged to be a liaison between the community and the Portland Police Bureau. Mozyrsky is a former member of the Citizen Review Committee, formed by the City of Portland in 2001 to improve police accountability; the Portland Commission on Disability; and the Portl…
playlist_add
Dec 6, 2021
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty
In this episode, we hear from Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. Hardesty was elected in 2018 and became the first Black woman to ever sit on Portland's five-member city council. In January of this year Mayor Ted Wheeler put her in charge of the transportation bureau. It was a surprising choice, given that Hardesty had never expressed an interest in the bureau and up until that time was mostly known for her politics and activism around policing, government accountability, and racial and social justice issues. Now, with almost a year under her belt, she's gone from having no experience in city transportation policy to being - what she referred to in this interview as, "the big dog when it comes to the city of Portland transportation".
This episode was recorded in the commissioner's office in city hall where we had a wide-ranging conversation about everything from automated enforcement cameras to the decline of biking in Portland, the role of police in transportation safety, he…
playlist_add
Dec 1, 2021
From Trauma to Triumph: The Story of Felipe Nystrom
In this episode, we hear the story of Portlander Felipe Nystrom.
Please be advised of this content warning: This episode includes mentions of physical and sexual abuse, suicide, and descriptions of excessive drug and alcohol use.
We first first heard about Felipe's story in fall of 2019 and he and our host, BikePortland founder and editor Jonathan Maus, got together for an interview in July of that year. For various reasons, we never shared the story on BikePortland and it's been nagging us ever since, so we're very excited to finally bring it to you. We're also grateful that Felipe trusted us with personal details about his childhood he's never shared publicly before.
Some of you might know Felipe as an elite competitor on the regional racing circuit who's had a meteoric rise through the ranks — in just a few seasons he went from beginner in 2015, to Costa Rican National Champion in 2019 and a World Cup competitor this year. But his cycling success is just a tiny part of his life…
playlist_add
Nov 22, 2021
What are Portland Bike Riders Grateful For?
For this short and sweet episode, host Jonathan Maus (founder and editor of BikePortland) tried something new: On-the-bike interviews with random riders. He grabbed his recorder and a mic, hopped on his trusty Tern HSD e-bike and rode up alongside complete strangers to ask one basic question: What about biking in Portland are you grateful for? Almost every person stopped and smiled and was happy to chat. He talked to people of all ages and riding styles.
"I've gotten pretty cynical from my work over the years," Jonathan said about this episode, "so it was great to get out from my activist and online Twitter bubbles to hear from folks in real life. Maybe it was just because both days I did the interviews the sun was out and it was absolutely wonderful biking weather - but there was no negativity to be heard. And there was lots of gratitude. It reminded me about the vital role bicycling plays in so many people's lives."
All the interviews were recorded while biking on either N Willa…
playlist_add
Nov 16, 2021
Casey Kulla: Yamhill County Commissioner and Candidate for Governor
For this episode, host Jonathan Maus (BikePortland Founder and Editor) sat down with Yamhill County Commissioner and candidate for Oregon Governor, Casey Kulla. We first met commissioner Kulla in December 2020 when he was embroiled in a debate about the Yamhelas Westsider Trail, a rail-trail project he pushed for strongly, only to see it stopped in February of this year when he found himself on the losing end of a 2-1 vote, with his fellow commissioners fueled by the opposition of dozens of local farmers.
Kulla understands both sides of the issue, because he runs a farm himself.
Being a farmer in rural Oregon who supports public land access and rail-trail projects is just one of many facets of Kulla's background that give him a legitimate claim to being that rare Oregon politician who just might be able to bridge the much talked about urban/rural divide. From growing up in an evangelical household, to working at a bike shop as a teenager on the Oregon Coast and living carfree duri…
playlist_add
Nov 11, 2021
Shop Talk: Surviving Covid and the Boom
In this episode, I'll share conversations I had this week with two Portland bike shop owners. The first is Brad Parker from Metropolis Cycles on North Williams Avenue and the second is Cassie Hidalgo, the owner of Gladys Bikes on NE Alberta.
As we move further away from the peak of the pandemic, I wanted to circle back with shop owners who've been at the front lines of a tumultuous 20 months. First Covid hit and they had no idea what the future would hold. Then before they coucatch their breath, people were knocking down their doors as a bike boom took hold. They they ran out of parts and bikes as they set up an entirely new business model and scrambled to meet demand, while keeping staff and customers safe.
I waited to do these interviews, because it feels like bike shop life is finally getting back to normal and these owners are starting to breathe easier again.
Stay tuned for future episodes as I expand this series to a wider variety of shop owners across Portland.
The Bikeportl…
playlist_add
Oct 27, 2021
Catching Up With Vivian Satterfield
In this episode, our host (BikePortland Editor and Publisher Jonathan Maus) talks with Vivian Satterfield, one of Portland's busiest advocates whose work happens mostly behind the scenes as a member of many of the key committees, coalitions and task forces that shape local and regional transportation policies.
Vivian is director of strategic partnerships at Verde NW, a nonprofit based in northeast Portland's Cully neighborhood that "builds environmental wealth through social enterprise, outreach and advocacy". Just one example of Verde's work is how they organized, lobbied and helped build Cully Park, which opened in 2018. She's also worked as a transit activist with OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon.
I wanted to talk to Vivian not just because she's a smart and respected leader in the fight to reform transportation in our region, but because she brings a layered perspective to her work as a mixed-race, first generation Chinese American born and raised in urban Chicago. She's also a…
playlist_add
Oct 21, 2021
Matt Glazewski and Portland Climate Change Politics
In this episode, BikePortland editor and publisher Jonathan Maus talks with Matt Glazewski about the politics of climate change in Portland. Matt is a climate expert with 15 years of government experience who's worked on disaster resiliency projects at the local, regional and federal levels. He's worked with the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the National Weather Service where he once briefed a U.S. cabinet secretary. He also helped draft the first Climate Action Plan for Clackamas County, and most recently was a senior policy advisor for Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps. I wanted to share Matt's perspective because earlier this summer he left his position out of frustration with the lack of urgency at the City of Portland around climate change. And in his final days as a City Hall staffer, he shared his concerns publicly in testimony at a city council meeting
____
Matt's website - https://www.tamarackconsultingnw.com/
Follow Matt on Twitter - @sentenc…
playlist_add
Oct 18, 2021
Journalist Ryan Packer and the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project
In this episode I spoke to Ryan Packer, a journalist based in Seattle who covers transportation issues for The Urbanist. Their name might sound familiar, because Ryan is also BikePortland's special correspondent on the Interstate Bridge Replacement Project, or what we often refer to around here as Columbia River Crossing 2.0.
Ryan recently visited Portland, so I thought it'd be fun to sit down, talk a little shop about what it's like to be an advocacy journalist in the transportation space, hear his latest thoughts about where the project is headed, ask him why — despite all signs showing that we should do otherwise — transportation departments continue to arrive at a "solution" that involves widening freeways, and much more.
——
Follow Ryan Packer:
* On Twitter @TypewriterAlley
* BikePortland
* The Urbanist
————
The BikePortland Podcast is a production of Pedaltown Media Inc. and is made possible by listeners just like you. If you're not a subscriber yet, pl…
playlist_add
Oct 12, 2021
Michelle DuBarry Lost Her Child to Traffic Violence
In this episode host Jonathan Maus (BikePortland's editor and publisher) talks to north Portland resident and Families for Safe Streets volunteer Michelle DuBarry. Michelle and her family have endured the ultimate sacrifice in the War Against Cars.
In 2010, Michelle's husband Eric and her son Seamus were walking across the intersection of North Interstate and North Lombard when a man driving a car struck both of them. Eric sustained minor injuries, but Seamus died in the hospital a day later. He was just one year old.
I spoke with Michelle about how her grief turned to activism, how elected officials and policymakers have responded to her pleas for help, how she feels about the pace of change for safe streets in Portland, and much more.
We recorded this episode just a few blocks from the intersection where Michelle lost her young son, an intersection that, as you'll hear in our conversation, she still won't travel through even over a decade later.
___
Michelle's website - https://…
playlist_add
Oct 5, 2021
Marley Blonsky and Kailey Kornhauser on Fat Phobia, Feminism, and How Not to Heckle
In this episode, BikePortland's Maritza Arango takes over the mic for a conversation with Marley Blonsky and Kailey Kornhauser. Marley and Kailey are building a platform around All Bodies on Bikes, which is not only the name of their Shimano-sponsored documentary film that's been viewed over 230,000 times on YouTube, it's also the name of the nationwide nonprofit devoted to making the cycling world more inclusive of big-bodied bikers.
Marley and Kailey are leading a "revolution of inclusion". What started out as a few tweets because they couldn't find rain gear that fit them, has become a national movement with a very bright future. Whether you identify personally with Kailey and Marley, or if you just don't get what all the fuss about this dynamic duo is all about, I think you're going to love this conversation.
Host Maritza shares how she has struggled with her weight all her life and asks Marley and Kailey to explain fat phobia, how their work is connected to feminism, and much…
playlist_add
Sep 27, 2021
Pedalpalooza Memories
BikePortland Editor & Publisher Jonathan Maus attended the Pedalpalooza Ride Leader and Volunteer Appreciation party and asked seven ride leaders — Maria Schur, Madi Carlson, Shawne Martinez, Sumi Malik, Michael Mann, Eric Martinez, and Armando Luna — for their fondest memories.
For the uninitiated, Pedalpalooza is an annual festival of free bike rides that's been held in Portland since 2004. The 2021 version was three months long and had a whopping 615 rides!
Music for this episode is by Kevin Hartnell and Skilsel on Pixabay.
Links to stuff we talked about:
* @PDXCoffeeOutside on IG
* Meghan Sinnott on IG
* Madi Carlson - @FamilyRide on IG and Twitter
* Armando Luna - @DudeLuna on IG
* Michael Mann - @Velomann on IG
* Shawne Martinez - @RescueEwe Twitter
playlist_add
Sep 21, 2021
Tom Flood vs Big Auto
This week we talk about the all-powerful car lobby, from someone who's on the front lines of the all powerful bike lobby. Tom Flood (@TomFlood1 on Twitter) used to work in the advertising industry and helped car companies sell their products. Then he started biking with his kids and a light bulb went off. These days he entertains a massive online audience with ads of his own — short videos that focus on what he calls the absurdity of the everyday dangers and sacrifices our children and all of us make to drivers. His work has been viewed by 100s of thousands of people and I did my best during the interview to convince him to leave his current day job to do anti-car marketing full time.
If you think the power of marketing can be the ultimate force for good — and evil — when it comes to safe streets , this is a conversation you don't want to miss.
* Tom's website
* Tom on Twitter
* "Space to Play" video for nonprofit Transportation Alternatives
* Tom's "Muscle Car Makers M…
playlist_add
Sep 15, 2021
Portland's 2030 Bike Plan With Activist Catie Gould
In this episode we take stock of the Portland Bike Plan for 2030. Haven't heard of it? Well, that's not your fault. While it took a huge multi-year effort from hundreds of advocates, dozens of city staff, and several key elected officials to create it and get it adopted at City Council back in 2010, it hasn't lived up to its promise.
Instead of making Portland a quote, "Healthy Community with vibrant neighborhoods and bicycles everywhere!" as proclaimed across the cover of the plan, it has been all but forgotten by city staff. And in at least one recent example, completely forgotten. Meanwhile, Portland's bike usage rates have remained relatively stagnant as the number of people driving cars has gone way up.
To add salt to the wounds of bike advocates, in the past year or so, the plan has been snubbed several times. First, a presentation of a 10-year Bike Plan update at City Council was cancelled at the last minute in September of 2020, then never rescheduled. Then a newly appo…
playlist_add
Sep 9, 2021
Behind the Scenes with the Cast of Bike Play
Bike Play is one of the most amazing events of Pedalpalooza. It's been a part of the summer bike festival every year since 2009 and has become a favorite to many. It's open-air theater, a group bike ride, and public space activism all wrapped up into one very entertaining, community-building event.
BikePortland's Maritza Arango sat down with three members of the cast; Kristopher Mahoney-Watson, Nick Fenster, and Noelle Eaton. They shared how the play comes together, their best memories, biggest mix-ups, and they even shared a live rendition of the theme song. Don't miss this fun episode!
---
- Bike Play on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bikeplay/
- Bike Play 2021: The Resurrection full video! https://youtu.be/D35vr3rToew
playlist_add
Sep 3, 2021
State Rep Khanh Pham at Youth vs ODOT Rally
In this episode we hear from Oregon State Representative Khanh Pham. Pham was just elected to office back in November and represents House District 46 which stretches from Interstate 84 to Mt. Scott and from about Laurelhurst Park to just east of I-205.
She's garnered several headlines on BikePortland recently for her leadership in calling on the state of Oregon to invest more in 82nd Avenue. Pham lives in the Jade District and brings a lot of personal understanding and urgency around 82nd Avenue's many problems to her job as a legislator.
Known primarily for her work as an environmental justice organizer with the nonprofit Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) and the successful campaign for the Portland Clean Energy Fund, Rep Pham is becoming a leader on the transportation front as well. It's just the latest sign of how the tremendous challenge of fighting climate change is creating broad coalitions of activists that are connecting dots between the environment, social ju…
playlist_add
Sep 1, 2021
Ride Organizer and School Principal Nichole Watson
This episode is a conversation with Prescott Elementary School Principal Nichole Watson.
I first met Nichole in June 2020, during the height of the racial justice protests and just a few months into the Covid outbreak.
I was on the Black Girls Do Bike Ride and Nichole was one of the co-organizers of the event. When I first met Nichole at that ride we had a great chat and I loved what she said about why it was so important for Black people — and especially Black women and especially "curvy" Black women as she described herself — to get outside and "take up space" on the street.
I've talked to so many bike people over the years and I have sort of a radar for whether or not someone "gets it". Nichole definitely gets it.
That's why I wasn't too surprised when several months after that ride in June 2020 she popped up again as the organizer of Prescott Pedal, a ride and community event she led as principal of Prescott Elementary School.
When Watson and I spoke during that ride, sh…
playlist_add
Aug 20, 2021
Voices from the Climate Crisis: Youth vs. ODOT
BikePortland's Jonathan Maus attended a recent protest in front of ODOT headquarters. In this episode he interviews several of the participants, one of whom is a 15-year-old activist and another is a candidate for Oregon governor. Don't miss the full report and images from the event on BikePortland.
playlist_add
Aug 6, 2021
Community Activist Hami Ramani
In just a year since moving to Portland, Hami Ramani (@HamiRamani on Twitter) has become a formidable voice on the local bike scene. He leads the weekly PSU Farmers Market Ride and is a constant presence online (and off) as an agitator for better bikeways. He's also active with BikeLoud PDX. We talked about why he moved to Portland, his impressions of our bikeways, how he enraged haters on Twitter for saying bad things about big trucks, and more.
playlist_add
Jul 22, 2021
Aaron Brown and Anti-Freeway Activism
In this episode, we'll get into the weeds of anti-freeway activism.
You may have heard the story of how Portlanders successfully turned back the Mt. Hood Freeway plan and removed a major downtown highway in the 1970s. About 40 years later, activist rallied again to fight the Columbia River Crossing, a plan to widen I-5 between Portland and Vancouver.
The latest fight is being waged against the I-5 Rose Quarter project — right in Portland's backyard. Despite a state that is literally on fire due to climate change, and the fact that the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon comes from transportation, the Oregon Department of Transportation wants to add lanes to I-5 between Interstate 84 and the Fremont Bridge.
But standing between ODOT and their $800 million project is a plucky, all-volunteer nonprofit named No More Freeways.
In this episode, I interview one of their leaders, a 33-year-old community organizer named Aaron Brown. He's spent four years building an oppo…
playlist_add
Jun 24, 2021
Transgender Activist and Bike Racer Molly Cameron
Welcome to the relaunch of the BikePortland Podcast.
In our first episode since 2016 (!), BikePortland editor and publisher Jonathan Maus talks with Molly Cameron, the Portland-based professional cycling team manager and newly-minted transgender rights advocate who just founded RIDE, (Riders Inspiring Diversity & Equality). In this wide-ranging interview, Molly shares her views on anti-transgender legislation sweeping the US and how the cycling industry should respond to it. She also shares her personal story of being discriminated against when she first arrived in Portland, how she balances community expectations, and the deep sense of duty she feels to help transgender people and other marginalized groups.
playlist_add
Oct 25, 2013
(2013) The Joys of Rural Road Riding
Why on earth would someone want to ride for days on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere?
That’s the question this shameless city slicker and utilitarian bike rider wanted to ask BikePortland’s podcast producer Lillian Karabaic and publisher Jonathan Maus. So as the Pacific Northwest enjoys its fleeting annual glimpse of autumn, the three of us devoted our half-hour monthly podcast to discussing the fun, economics and safety of bike adventures on Oregon’s rural roads.
What are the best nearby destinations? Why is it so great? Is it actually that important to our economy? And how can we make it better? Lily and Jonathan had lots of thoughts, stories and advice to share.
“The way to get to know a state, a town, is really by, like, the curves of the landscape,” Lillian said. “When you’ve sweated up a hill, you have a way different connection to it than you do if you were just in a car passing by it. … I can tell you the name of each of those hills.”
We talke…
playlist_add
Sep 28, 2013
(2013) The Real Estate Episode
This month our podcast producer and resident transportation wonk Lily Karabaic and BikePortland News Editor Michael Andersen sat down to talk about the intersection of real estate and bicycling (unfortunately, due to a slower-than-expected recovery from a bad spill Jonathan took on his road bike, he didn’t make it to this month’s recording session). As Michael’s Real Estate Beat column has proven, how we approach housing and commercial development can have a significant impact on our city and our transportation choices. And in Portland, bicycling is at the center of this issue as we try to achieve our ridership goals and spread the benefits of change equally across all communities and income levels.
In this month’s podcast, Michael and Lily touch on several topics including:
* How the bike-friendly Green Zebra Grocery store is the future of 20-minute neighborhood retail;
* The connection between Portland’s bike-friendly housing/neighborhood commercial development bo…
playlist_add
Aug 21, 2013
(2013) Is Carnage Worth the Coverage?
NOTE: This isn't a new episode! This is the second of 18 old episodes we recorded between 2013 and 2016 when the BikePortland Podcast was co-hosted by Jonathan Maus (@jonathan_maus), Lillian Karabaic (@anomalily), and Michael Andersen (@andersem).
___
Two months ago, after returning from Amsterdam, Jonathan kicked off what he described as a “mini advocacy campaign” by BikePortland to raise awareness of the traffic carnage on our streets.
This is a delicate line for our news operation to walk. People read posts about crashes because they find them relevant, but they’re the opposite of enjoyable to read. We received emails and comments from people who thought covering collisions too closely was sensationalism and would only scare people away from riding. Also, there’s a widespread misperception among non-bikers that, hour-for-hour, biking is a generally dangerous way to get around. It isn’t. (See p. 27 of this PDF for Portland’s latest numbers.)
But carnage ruins live…
playlist_add
Jul 5, 2013
(2013) Death of the CRC, New Life at PBOT, Stoplight Behaviors
NOTE: This isn't a new episode! This is the first of 18 old episodes we recorded between 2013 and 2016 when the BikePortland Podcast was co-hosted by Jonathan Maus (@jonathan_maus), Lillian Karabaic (@anomalily), and Michael Andersen (@andersem).
___
This episode came out on July 5th, 2013. We talk about three topics, the death of the Columbia River Crossing Freeway Expansion Megaproject, our views on how newly-appointed PBOT Director Leah Treat and Commissioner Steve Novick will lead the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and the psychology and practice of stopping at red lights.
Music is They’re Going to Build a Motorway by the great Leon Rosselson.
___
Find more episodes and subscription links at BikePortland.org/podcast
playlist_add