Tyler Farrar certainly looked like he's over whatever has been ailing him as he beat Mark Cavendish in a man-to-man bike sprint to the finish on Stage 5 of the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old sprinter from Wenatchee, Washington, won the stage without benefit of a lead-out from teammates on his Garmin-Transitions cycling team.

In the closing kilometer of the race, he sat near the front behind ...

Sounds reasonable to me.

Streetfilms has a new video on 20's Plenty for us, a campaign in the U.K. working to make 20 mph the standard speed limit in residential areas. The campaign is catching on quickly, with more and more U.K. cities adopting the policy all the time. Given that PBOT might be considering a legislative fix to wrest greater control of speed limits from ODOT, and the fact that Mayor Sam Adams has already shown an interest in reducing speed limits and has made safety his number one transportation priority, this could be an idea that catches on here in Portland.

The 20's plenty pitch is simple: Lower speeds make for more pleasant places to live, work, and play. Seems like everyone would agree to that. Watch the excellent video to hear how people working on the campaign pitch the idea:

A 20 mph speed limit isn't just fodder for a catchy campaign slogan, its impact on saving lives has been confirmed by major study findings and even the World Health Organization has endorsed 20 mph speed limits. (Learn more about London's success with 20 mph zones in this Streetsblog article.)

PBOT has used the "Effects of speed on stopping distance" chart (see it below) in neighborhood meetings and presentations for at least five years now (I first published it in 2005). It shows that 20 mph is the maximum speed at which someone can operate a motor vehicle and still stop in time to avoid hitting someone...

Effects of Speed on Stopping Distance
- View full size -
(Chart: PBOT)

The Streetfilms piece also reminded me of a law that passed in 2007 but that I've not heard much about since (thanks to reader Robin Dale for bringing it to my attention again). In the 2007 legislative session, State Rep. Carolyn Tomei sponsored a bill (H.B. 2297) that defined a "narrow residential roadway" as any street "not more than 18 feet wide at any point between two intersections or between an intersection and the end of the roadway" and "Not of sufficient width to allow one lane of traffic in each direction." The bill amended Oregon's basic speed rule so that all such roadways could have a maximum speed limit of just 15 mph. Unfortunately, it seems that there aren't many streets that fit that bill and it seems to have had little impact thus far.

Here in Portland, most residential streets have a 25 mph speed limit and many streets which run through highly residential areas (like N. Rosa Parks Way for instance) have speed limits of 35 mph.

One way I can imagine PBOT approaching new speed limit laws and policies is to legally leverage the "neighborhood greenway" concept. Neighborhood greenways are PBOT's new name for bike boulevards, which are "family-friendly," residential streets where people on bicycles and on foot are prioritized. Similar to how Rep. Tomei was able to define "narrow residential roadway," PBOT could define neighborhood greenway in the ORS and then attach a 20 mph speed limit to it in Oregon's basic speed rule. Then, any street officially classified as a neighborhood greenway would automatically have a 20 mph speed limit.

Lower speed limits -- when coupled with smart engineering, focused enforcement, and a bit of marketing -- would do wonders in helping create residential streets where everyone feels safe and welcome.

-- Read more of BikePortland's coverage of this topic by browsing our "speed" story tag.

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French pro cyclist Laurent Fignon died at age 50 on Tuesday after battling cancer for the past year.

Although he won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, he was best known to Americans as the cyclist who lost the Tour to Greg LeMond by 8 seconds in 1989 on the final day of the race.

On a visit to France during the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to grab a photo of Fignon riding at the head of the peloton with Miguel Indurain (in yellow, of course) and Claudio Chiappucci (in the polka dot jersey). He was easy to recognize with his receding hairline and long blond hair.

Talking to my French brother-in-law later....

Super D!

After several months of jam-packed event calenders this Weekend's light schedule will give you a chance to go on that ride you've been thinking about, revisit your favorite regular events, and for those who have already given up on summer altogether, go shopping for rain gear.

Friday, September 3rd

6:30pm: Vegan Dinner Bike Ride
Meet your fellow deep-rooted vegan enthusiasts and branch out to try new and exciting cuisine. Ride meets at on the Colonel Summers Park greens and heads to a different vegan-friendly restaurant or food cart, followed by a chance to talk chop at an area watering hole.

Saturday, September 4th

8:30am (Returns Monday Evening): Cycle Wild Primitive Bike Camping up the Clackamas
Like to get your hands dirty and your feet wet? Join bike camping pros Cycle Wild on an unsupported group camping trip up the Clackamas river to a primitive (that means no showers, toilets, or cable television) camp spot.  Group meets at 8:30am at the Cleveland Max Station and rides 45 miles to the site.  Read more about the trip on Cycle Wild's Facebook event page and learn all about bike camping at cyclewild.org.

Sunday, September 5th

10:00am: Sandy Ridge Super D
An action-packed downhill cross-country mountain bike race on the Sandy Ridge, the Super D is the main event of a weekend of dirty bike fun just outside of Windell's Camp.  Camping, lodging, and registration information available on the Oregon Super D website.

2:00pm: Bike Polo
Bike polo has been sweeping the country and is popping up in almost every town.  If you have never seen or participated in this great sport come watch or join the gang at Alberta Park that have been playing there every week for over five years.  Bike polo is lots of fun to watch, and even more fun to play, so bring a beater bike if you want to jump in.

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One of the freshest faces at the Vuelta a Espana this year is US pro cyclist Tejay van Garderen, who is making a mark at his first Grand Tour.

In Tuesday's hard-fought Stage 4 with its steep climb at the finish, for instance, Van Garderen finished just 8 seconds behind the day's winner, Igor Anton (Spain) of Euskaltel Euskadi.

That helped preserve the 22-year-old cyclist's position in the Top 10 for the fourth day. He's currently sitting in 6th place, 29 seconds behind overall leader Phillipe Gilbert ..

The "Clinton to the River" multi-use
path is part of the $10 million request.
- Larger version here -

A month ago I shared details of the big project TriMet planned to apply for (in close collaboration with Metro and other partners) in hopes of garnering a piece of the $600 million available from the Obama Administration's TIGER II grant program.

The project is now known officially as the "SE Corridor Project." With the application submitted last week, the project partners have unveiled a new website and video to go along with it, making it clear that Metro (they put the application together) has learned lessons from the first round of TIGER grants. Metro applied for four active transportation projects last year, but none of them were among the winners when the awards were announced last April.

Judging by what's on the project website, Metro has gone down a checklist of things that helped Indianapolis win $20.5 million for their Cultural Trail. There's mention of connecting communities, economic and job-producting benefits, local matching funds already lined up, and so on. And the most talked-about part of Indy's application? The video. Now we've got one too...

SE Portland Corridor Project from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo.

TriMet, the City of Portland, the City of Milwaukie, the Portland Development Commission and Metro are all signed onto the project and are seeking a total of $10 million from TIGER II grant fund to complete the $12.8 million project.

Learn more about the project's five main components -- which include the "Clinton to the River" multi-use path and two new biking and walking bridges -- at SECorridorProject.com.

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So fresh and so smooth. A portion of the Springwater near SE Luther Street this morning.
(Photos by reader Jonathan Ragsdale)

Adding finishing touches.

A $1.8 million, federally funded project to repave eight miles of the popular Springwater Corridor Trail is almost complete. The project was supposed to be done by now, but record rainfall in June pushed things back a full month.

Portland Parks & Recreation broke the project into four different pieces, three of which are now open and ready for use. The last segment that remains closed for another few weeks is the "Purple Route," a four mile stretch running from SE 128th east to SE Circle Ave (just east of Powell Butte Nature Park). Check the detour map below for the somewhat complicated detour route (or download PDF here).

Lynn Barlow, Portland Parks & Recreation's Eastside Natural Areas Supervisor, says they hope the inconvenience has been worth it. When asked to comment she shared this statement via email:

"For the first time since the Springwater Corridor was opened, Portland Parks & Recreation has been able to secure the funding, through federal stimulus dollars, to repave this very well-used trail. We appreciate the patience of trail users during this process, but we're sure they're going to find the results worth the inconvenience the detours might have caused this summer."

Barlow also says the newly paved trail now features permeable asphalt, fog lines at the edges of the trail, and new wooden sign bollards.

For more on this project, check the Portland Parks website.

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Albuquerque officially opened a new bicycle bridge over the Rio Grande River on Monday that helps link the city's 400-some miles of bicycle paths and trails.

The $6.9 million bridge just north of I-40 is named for Gail Ryba, the founder of Bike ABQ, the city's first bicycle advocacy group. She died of cancer earlier in May.

The Gail Ryba Memorial Bridge, together with the approaches, is about a mile long. It was built with $5.3 million in federal stimulus funds, along with $1.3 million kicked in by the city.

It provides a central link for the the north-south Paseo Del Bosque Trail ...

Go carfree on the day that
corresponds to your car color
(mine would be Tuesday).

Here's a interesting new campaign that would feel right at home in Portland. This Saturday, the City of Boulder Colorado will launch Driven to Drive Less, a new program to get people to go one day a week without their car. What's refreshing is that they're going about it in a creative way, by asking people to consider going carfree on a certain day of the week depending on the color of their vehicle. Here's a snip from the campaign website:

"Let’s make a game out of going carless at least once a week. A game that everyone who plays wins. One day a week. That’s 14.3% less congestion, pollution and road rage for Boulder and the rest of the world.

Here’s how it works: Your car’s color corresponds to an assigned car-free day of the week (see chart at right). If that day works with your schedule, then give your car a well-deserved day off, and go forth carless."

I like how they're also using social media to build some community around the "game." The message is simple, the call to action is fun, and the execution is very professional (they hired a solid local creative firm). I feel like more cities should be doing this type of thing.

Read more about the campaign via the Daily Camera newspaper.

Do you think this is a good approach to getting cars off the road and/or raising awareness about how we get around?

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A new group of junior road cyclists recently completed a trio of kermesses in Belgium while their off-road counterparts raced against world-class fields at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup finale. U23 rider Andrew Talansky was second in a stage of Valle de Aosta last week. On the women's side of USA Cycling's development initiatives, a team of six young women just completed the Classica Citta di Padova and are now racing in the Holland Ladies Tour in the Netherlands.

Today’s Guest Post is brought to you from Renaissance Bicycles.  A very cool company bringing heritage and craftsmanship of bicycles with today’s latest technology. This is a re-post from their own blog, with their permission.

Seth Godin, the author and social media marketing maven, is one of the most interesting and relevant people on the Web. He recently wrote a short article entitled How Big is Your Red Zone? that illustrates the balance between the time and effort needed to engage in a new activity as contrasted with the long-term benefits. This idea is not new, but Seth’s take on the one key element that determines long-term success is insightful.

Seth Godin Article

Every activity worth doing has a learning curve. Riding a bike, learning to read, using Facebook… the early days are rarely nothing but fun.

“Take a look at this three part chart. The first shows how much joy someone gets out of an activity. Over time, as we discover new things and get better at it, our satisfaction increases. At some point, there’s a bump when we get quite good at it, and then, in most activities, it fades because we get bored. (In the top graph I’ve also added the Dip, showing the extra joy from being an expert, but that’s irrelevant to this discussion).

“The second graph shows the hassle of that same activity. Riding a bike, for example, is horrible at first. Skinned knees, bruised egos. Twitter is really easy to use the first few times, so not so much red ink there.

“The third graph is just the two overlaid. That zone on the left, the red zone, is the gap between the initial hassle and the initial joy. My contention is that the only reason we ever get through that gap is that someone on the other side (the little green circle) is rooting us on, or telling us stories of how great it is on the other side.

“The bigger your red zone, the louder your green dot needs to be. Every successful product or passion is either easy to get started on or comes with a built-in motivator to keep you moving until you’re in. This is so easy to overlook, because of course you’re already in…”

Hopefully as you read the article, the application to bike commuting is obvious. There are lots and lots of individuals in “the Red Zone” of bicycle commuting — in fact you probably already know a few — and they need the big Green Dot. Not the obnoxious, smug, public spectacle Green Dot, but the cheer leading, supportive, you-can-do-this-too Green Dot.

In other words, the most effective means for the cycling community to promote the very thing we value is … to promote the thing we value through inclusion. Certainly infrastructure, equipment, advocacy, safety, etc. are all relevant issues, but they are all a sidebar to what will really make a difference … You.

Though it sounds like a theme to an After School Special, actively taking the time to positively support and encourage others is the real golden ticket to increase cycling for transportation. Connecting with the aspiring bike commuter, treating them with respect, and helping them achieve their goals are the fundamental keys to increased ridership. In other words, lose the Us / Them mentality and just be a big Green Dot.

In a soon-to-follow post, we will list the Top 8.5 things you can do to be a Green Dot for Red Zone bicycle commuters. In the mean time, let us know your best practices, success stories, and words of encouragement.

[Unofficial graphic, not created by TriMet.]

Graphic showing location of vehicles just prior to collision.
(Graphic: BikePortland)

There has been a lot of speculation and confusion about the crash involving a TriMet bus and a bicycle on SW 6th and Morrison back on August 12th.

The bus operator turned left prior to the collision and came in contact with Richard Krebs, who was on his bicycle (he suffered serious leg injuries and remains at OHSU getting reconstructive surgery). The Portland Police Bureau issued a citation to Krebs, for failure to obey a traffic control device. The bus operator was not cited.

Photo of the crash scene. The bus in front is the one involved with the crash. Note its angle relative to the left lane it was traveling in.
(Photo: Bill Jackson)

But how exactly did the collision occur? Was Krebs cited for running the light, the "Don't Walk" signal, or the bus's flashing "Yield" signal? What lane was the bus in prior to its left turn? According to an update I just received from TriMet, I can now offer a better answer to those questions.

• Both vehicles were in the left-most lane of SW 6th headed north.
• Krebs was behind the bus "traveling at a high rate of speed" (according to TriMet). (Krebs has also allegedly stated that his brakes malfunctioned).
• Just before making the left turn onto Morrison, the bus veered into the center lane in order to make a wide left turn, which was necessary to clear a MAX train that was stopped on Morrison at the Pioneer Square North station. (TriMet referred to this as a "button hook" turn*.)
• The bus entered the intersection on a green light.
• During the turn, the light changed to yellow.
• The collision occurred on a yellow light.
• Krebs was cited for entering the intersection on a yellow light.

And here's what TriMet's Mary Fetsch says about the bus's turn signal:

"The yield signal on the back of the bus has no bearing in this incident, since it’s only used for pulling back into a travel lane after servicing a stop."

I hope this new information and the graphic above helps to clarify what happened. Given that TriMet won't release the video because of pending court action, more information will likely come out in the weeks and months to come.

UPDATE: *A bus operator in the comments has pointed out that the ODOT Commercial Driver's Manual warns against making the type of jug-handle turn that the bus operator appears to have made. TriMet has said the bus made a "button hook" turn (staying in the lane), but the photos from the scene show that the bus more likely swung into the adjacent lane and made a "jug handle" turn, which the ODOT manual says is "incorrect." Here's the graphic from the manual:

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Park beer. Secret case. Ipod with built-in speakers. Lay in the sun and forget it all.

I noticed a flyer on NE 37th yesterday advertising yet another bike-related business that has cropped up in Portland recently...

Flyer spotted on NE 37th.

According to the SimpleBicycle.com website, this is a new business run by local racer and professional mechanic Jason Pfiefer. He's offering a 4-week bike maintenance course for $300. Classes are limited to two people at a time. Sounds like a good deal, given what an expert Pfiefer is. Here's a snip from his website on his qualifications:

Learn personally from Jason who is a registered Category 2 professional mechanic with USA Cycling (there are less than 15 in the nation at that level of skill and ability). He has worked in bicycle shops for over 23 years, and spent almost 10 years working as a professional mechanic with Shimano America as a mechanic for professional road races.

Learn more about Pfeifer and the classes and services he offers at Simplebicycle.com.

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Temporary bike parking at PGE Park was a hit during a Timbers game last weekend.
(Photo: Jeff Castro/Bikeracker)

As more people use bicycles to get around our city, more businesses are taking notice and bike parking continues to expand and improve. The PGE Park sports complex and the Whole Foods Market in Laurelhurst are the latest locations to unveil bike parking that goes above and beyond what's required.

Temporary parking at PGE Park.
(Photo: Jeff Castro/Bikeracker)

The City of Portland worked with PGE Park on temporary bike parking during Portland Timbers soccer games. PBOT Bicycle Program Specialist Sarah Figliozzi, the woman who's also in charge of the City's on-street bike corral program, helped PGE devise a plan for parking around 100 bikes directly in front of the park's main entrance on SW Morrison. The new bike parking was unveiled back in July and is now in place at all Timbers home games.

PBOT worked with local bike parking provider Bikeracker on the racks and Figliozzi says PGE is considering purchasing their own racks and taking over the management of the bike parking themselves for the 2011 Major League Soccer season. PBOT has no formal event parking program yet, but Figliozzi has published some very helpful information online. The PBOT Event Bicycle Parking page includes the application for street/sidewalk closure permit, bike parking recommendations, and more.

People who arrive by bike are clearly welcome at the Whole Foods in Laurelhurst.
(Photo: Brian Eustis)

Another place in town where some new bike parking will catch your eye is the Whole Foods Market on 28th and E Burnside.

(Photo: Brian Eustis)

Local designer and metal sculptor Matt Cartwright (he created the bike people on the roof of River City Bicycles, among other things) installed their new, covered racks last week. Whole Foods' Marketing and Community Relations Specialist Helen Lee says the racks were "eagerly anticipated" and they went in just in time for a special Bike Day event on Saturday. The event featured free bike repair from Citybikes, giveaways from New Belgium Brewing, live music, and more.

The racks themselves were made using mostly recycled materials and the design incorporates a banana, oranges, and a pineapple. Whole Foods made the racks hard to miss by having them painted orange. There are five staples (space for at least 10 bikes) and a roof overhead to keep bikes dry.

It's great to see these collaborations between the City, businesses, and local artists to make these projects happen, not to mention what they say about respect for people who arrive by bicycle.

-- Browse more stories on this topic on our Bike Parking story archive page

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The Richardson Bike Mart USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships will go off September 1-5 at the Superdome in Frisco, Texas. The two- and -three kilometer time trial events will kick things off on Wednesday. In all more than 250 masters track athletes will compete for the right to wear the Stars-and-Stripes signifying the country's best.

Although Catherine Cheatley and Luis Amaran all but had the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar 2010 individual titles in the bag heading into the final event, their teams were still fighting for every point. The Fly V Australia men's squad pulled out all the stops at the Chris Thater Memorial, finishing one-and-two to lock down the men's team title. Cheatley finished second to help earn the overall women's title for the Colavita/Baci p/b Cooking Light ladies.

Richard Krebs' bike rests under the
wheel of a TriMet bus after the
collision on August 12th.
(Photo: Bill Jackson)

TriMet has released an update on the investigation of a collision involving a bus and a bike in downtown Portland on August 12th.

TriMet Communications Director Mary Fetsch says that following a review by the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division, the man operating the bicycle, Richard Krebs, was given a citation for "failure to obey a traffic control device" (ORS 811.265). The bus operator was not cited, but was "provided retraining" according to Fetsch.

Fetsch also adds that the on-board video of the collision is not publicly available yet because, "... it is material evidence that may be used in court in relation to the citation."

According to details of the crash relayed by TriMet and the Police Bureau, here's how the collision occurred.

The man on the bike and the bus operator were headed northbound on SW 6th Ave in the left lane. As they approached SW Morrison (NE corner of Pioneer Courthouse Square), the bus operator swung wide to execute a "buttonhook turn" in order to clear a stopped MAX train that was stopped at the platform on Morrison. The man on the bike, who was on the left side of the bus, then "ran into the side of the bus as it was making the left hand turn." A PPB spokesperson also says that, "The bike rider said his brakes were bad and he went into the intersection."

At the time of the collision, the bus was on a temporary shuttle route due to a MAX train service interruption.

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"If we could have put a solid felony case together against Mr. Hanna, and we tried, we would have gone forward with much stiffer charges... I would have liked to seen felony charges, but at the end of the day, this was the best we could do."
-- Sgt. Todd Davis, Portland Police Bureau

Many people in the community are outraged at the light sentence given to prominent local business man and owner of Mt. Hood Ski Bowl Kirk Hanna for the drunken, 80 mph, hit-and-run he pleaded guilty to last week.

Like any high-profile case like this, there are a lot of moving parts at work; the District Attorney's office, the judge, the defense attorneys, the victim, the police, the defendant, and so on. I'll be looking into the story a bit more in the coming days, but one thing I wanted to share now is the role that the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division played (the Traffic Division handles all our city's hit-and-run cases).

Sargeant Todd Davis has recently taken over some of the duties of ex Traffic Division Lieutenant Bryan Parman. One of those is hit-and-run cases. In my dealings with Davis about this case, he's been clearly frustrated with how it turned out. After reading several comments here on BikePortland that were critical of the handling of this case, Sgt. Davis shared the following statement. It's a window into the high stakes poker game played out between an understaffed police force and a team of high-paid attorneys (emphasis mine):

"If we could have put a solid felony case together against Mr. Hanna, and we tried, we would have gone forward with much stiffer charges.

Before myself and the Traffic Investigations Unit even knew about this case, one of Mr. Hanna's three attorneys came to our office and gave us the keys to the Porsche. They told us where it was parked and also told us we could not search it or tow it without a warrant and that we could not talk to their client.

I sent an investigator out to look at it. He took pictures of it and informed me that it looked like it had struck a bicyclist and by the extent of damage, probably caused serious injury. We still did not have a case to match this to. I called all over the metro area trying to find an agency with a serious or possible fatal hit and run to a bicyclist. With no luck, I started sifting through closed radio calls in our own city. I finally found the case in question, the hit and run to Mr. Skof on Macadam Ave. The call had been taken by Central Precinct officers and the reports were still being processed.

We then wrote a search warrant and towed Mr. Hanna's vehicle. We contacted witnesses and family members. We located surveillance cameras and looked at footage, all trying to place Mr. Hanna in the driver's seat of the Porsche. After everything was exhausted, we couldn't put the case together without an actual confession by Mr. Hanna.

This is where all the legal wrangling with his attorneys and our lone District Attorney started. We basically held our cards close and sent our DA to the table holding only a pair of deuces. The end result was the plea deal you saw last Thursday.

Like I said, I would have liked to seen felony charges, but at the end of the day, this was the best we could do. Sometimes a pair of deuces wins the pot. At the same time, the victim's ability to recover civil damages was protected. We take our cases very seriously here, especially when they involve vulnerable road users. A lot of investigative work went into this, but at the end of the day, this was the best we could do. Had this case gone to trial, there's a good chance we wouldn't have done as well.

I hope that clarifies how we ended up with these charges and the plea agreement."

This statement from Sgt. Davis shows how difficult it can be to build a case that will hold up in court and ultimately hold a defendant accountable for their actions -- especially when very capable defense attorneys are involved.

I'll be looking into other aspects of this case in the coming days. If you have questions or concerns, please share them in the comments below.

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Man I get to slackin when summer is around. If I had to do this as part of my job I’d probably be a little more punctual, but hey, you’re getting what you pay for. So what was it, a couple weeks ago already? We went to Rickreall for Justine’s birthday and there were a [...]