Building Advocacy Capacity in Central Oregon
This past month Bend Bikes supported and participated in three bike buses and a walk and roll event at local schools, hosted a social ride, co-hosted an educational ride and sent multiple letters to local government officials to continue pushing for safer streets for all. Perhaps most exciting, however, we welcomed several new board members to Bend Bikes! Read on to learn more.
Bend Bikes Welcomes New Board Members
This past month Bend Bikes expanded its board from eight to fifteen! We are pleased to welcome Kim Ely, Tom Gainer, Tessa Greegor, Charlotte Mountain, Grace Stonecipher, Patrick Walsh and Sheldon Zakreski on board. Our new members bring a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience from local, state and national level advocacy work, to marketing, engineering, planning, research and GIS. With this newly expanded capacity we are excited about what we can achieve in the months and years ahead!
Oregon’s 1971 Bike Bill: A Law Worth Fighting For
by Al Olson
More than half a century ago, a Republican state legislator from Jacksonville, Oregon, named Don Stathos, was run off the road while riding a tandem bicycle to Medford with his daughter. Gravel flew. Cars swept past. He and his kids had to swerve to survive a routine ride.
Following the incident, on June 11, 1971, Governor Tom McCall — never one to miss a theatrical moment — climbed the steps of the Oregon State Capitol and seated on a ten-speed bicycle, signed House Bill 1700 into law. The Oregon Bicycle Bill was born. It was the first law of its kind in the United States, and its core principle was both simple and radical: roads are for everyone.
Our Favorite Routes: Compass Park to the New Central Library
by Patrick Walsh
The new central library is now open! We’re excited at Bend Bikes about this incredible new community resource and hope you have a chance to visit soon. Following our updated route to the new library from Pine Nursery park last month, we’ve continued to receive questions about the best low-stress bike routes to reach the library from Bend’s west side. This month, one of our new board members, Patrick, put together one of his favorite routes from Northwest Crossing using our newly updated bike map.
Living in Bend Without a Bike
By David Green
I’m a bit compulsive and have been conducting an uncontrolled experiment for the last 10 years to find out if I could live without a car. It’s a bit of a conceit since I have access to a car anytime I want it. But it has been entertaining. And it has been a success: with a trailer and good weather, riding is pretty straightforward; with rain, good rain gear is needed; lights and a hi-viz vest are needed after dark; add studded tires and liberal use of sidewalks and winter riding is great in all but the deepest snow. An e-cargo bike would add a level of convenience that would make it easy to replace a car for almost all situations.
And then…a medical problem and I’ve been off my bike for three months and counting…what to do? Do I have to start driving?
Olney Project Over the Finish Line
by Doug Dryden
It was a long haul, but construction is finally complete on the Portland–Wall–Olney corridor. Now that the dust has settled, we can start to see the project in its full context—and overall, the results are encouraging.
Upcoming Events
Bike Rides and Social Events
- June 5: First Friday with Bend Bikes
Bend Electric Bikes (near the Commons downtown), 5:30 – 7:30pm
Bend Bikes will have a table set up outside for the first Friday ArtWalk this Friday, June 5, from 5:30 – 7:30pm. Come say Hi and learn about what we are up to! - June 20: Bend Bikes Saturday Social Ride
Pine Nursery Park, 3:15pm
Ride bikes and socialize while exploring new routes to favorite locations! This month’s ride meets at Pine Nursery Park at 3:15pm and rides to Bevel Brewing. Optionally, meet the group along the route at Pilot Butte State park at 3:45. All ages and abilities welcome! Bevel is offering $4 pints to participants! - June 23: Central Oregon Yimby and Bend Bikes Social
Upp Liquids, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Join us for a social at UPP liquids in partnership with Central Oregon Yimby! Enjoy a drink and discuss ways we can rethink how we build our city to support livability, accessible housing and a diversity of transportation options. - June 4 and June 18: Bend Cruiser Ride
Meet at Bunk and Brew, ride at 8:00pm
The folks at Bend Cruiser Ride are getting their bimonthly rides going for the summer! Festive, raucous, themed rides occur every other Thursday through summer.
Opportunities for Public Comment and Engagement
Downtown Bend Business Association Draft Parking Plan
The DBBA recently released a draft parking plan for downtown and are requesting user feedback. We find this to be an encouraging development and hope you will take time to weigh in on the plan. At its essence the plan would eliminate most free parking and implement a progressive pricing structure that allows for, but discourages, longer-term parking. Here is the link to the survey webpage.
In your responses, consider helping Bend Bikes advocate for:
- Paid parking to help reduce congestion and circling
- Increased use of parklets to help improve the vibrancy of downtown
- Reinvestment of parking funds to improve bicycle parking
Support Bend Bikes
As an all volunteer non-profit, your support helps us stay afloat. Your donation to Bend Bikes will help support:
- Advocacy work for the safety of people on bikes in Bend
- Community events promoting better bike infrastructure
- Our vision of a complete bike network in Bend
- Equitable access for people from all communities to bike across town
You can also email [email protected] for other options such as supporting us by volunteering your time.