Our Year End Wrap Up and… A BIKE MAP!

We are too excited to spend hours trying to think of a pithy introduction to this newsletter, so here we go!

Drum Roll Please…. A BIKE MAP!

Bend Bikes spent the vast majority of 2021 pouring hundreds of hours of volunteer time into developing Bend’s first bike map! We rode every corner of Bend, scrutinized base layer map data, and had a lot of discussions about what this bike map should look like. Our hope for this map is to allow all people who ride bikes to find ways to get across town on streets that feel comfortable for them. We also see this map as a tool to help us advocate to fill in the gaps in the infrastructure for people who bike. 

This version 1.0 of our bike map is just the beginning and we know it is far from perfect. We felt it was more important to get the map out to our community with the goal of engaging with residents, neighborhood associations, and really, anyone who is excited to help us make it better over time (like, if you are someone with the technical expertise to help us with website integration, the legend, and user interaction, please email us at [email protected])! 

Sooooo… check out the Bend Bikes BIKE MAP (v1.0)!

[Photo: Bend Bikes] A small sample of the bike map. 

We want to throw a special thanks out to the following folks who poured their hearts and energy into this project for no other reason than they love bikes and wanted to roll their sleeves up and help develop the bike map for our community:

  • Eric Holscher – board member team lead and technical whiz
  • Rob Garrott – volunteer team lead and also technical whiz
  • Ani Kasch – volunteer and also also technical whiz
  • Henry Abel – volunteer
  • Morgan Crowell – volunteer

We would also like to thank our major donors this past year, Spurcycle and TallTreeTrust, whose donations made it possible for us to hire a contractor and use the time we would have otherwise spent on fundraising to focus on this project! 

Board Secretary Elisa Cheng Named To Core Area Advisory Board!

[Photo: City of Bend] The core area.

Board Secretary Elisa Cheng was named to a 3-year term on the Core Area Advisory Board (CAAB), alongside community partner Corie Harlan from Central Oregon LandWatch. 

The CAAB will advise the Bend Urban Renewal Agency on implementation of the Core Area Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Plan, including oversight of the $195 million of debt that can be issued to invest in projects in the area. The goal is to invest in the core area of Bend over the next 30 years to support transforming it into an urban, mixed-use area where people can live, work, and play. The CAAB will make recommendations on the development of criteria for prioritization and selection of projects to receive TIF funds as well as evaluating applications for projects and making recommendations on which projects should receive those funds.

Bend Bikes sees this as a great advocacy opportunity as the core area includes key East-West crossings of 3rd Street and the parkway from Revere down to Wilson. We hope to see projects that benefit people who walk, bike, and roll prioritized. 

Elisa brings expertise in multi-modal transportation, social justice, and sustainability and environmental justice to the CAAB.

Thank You! The Transportation Bond Projects are Underway!

We were blown away by the energy and the written public comment from our supporters to get us through the December 15th City Council meeting finish line. The vast majority of written public comment submitted was nothing but an overwhelming showing of support from our community to make Bend a place where we can walk, bike, and roll across town. You made it easy for City Council to vote to accept the recommendations of the Transportation Bond Oversight Committee and next year, we have lots of design open houses to look forward to!

Bend Bikes Vision: All the Kinds of Bikes

Mobility equity is one of the foundational parts of Bend Bikes’ vision for our community. People of all ages and abilities from all parts of the city should have access to multi-use paths and protected bike lanes. This means designing our transportation system to support the diversity of bikes that support getting a diversity of people on bikes. This means:

  • Providing more space for bikes to queue up for a crossing that can accommodate a tandem bike, a cargo bike, an adult bike with a child tag-along-bike, or a wheelchair cycle.
  • Providing more space for all types of bikes to turn smoothly.
  • Designing wider bike lanes.
  • Ensuring crosswalk buttons are accessible for a person on a recumbent bike. 

Bend Bikes Fundraiser Spotlight: Ariel Mendez

Former Bend Bikes board president Ariel Mendez gave Bend Bikes a special holiday gift this year… he decided to raffle off a rare signed first edition paperback copy of Dune by Frank Herbert as a fundraiser for Bend Bikes and the Warm Springs Community Action Team. To be entered into the raffle, community members had to donate to either organization and in the end, raised $1,565 from 23 donors! Thanks Ariel!

[Photo: Ariel Mendez] Super rare signed copy of the first edition paperback of Dune!