Blogtown, PDX

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Mercury Bicycling Makes You Better Looking. FACT.

Posted by Matt Davis on Tue, Jul 31 at 9:14 PM

If tonight’s Mercury debate club on bikes vs.cars has taught me one thing, it’s that bicycling makes you better looking. Thanks to all the “beautiful people” (Sam Adams’ words, not mine) who showed up tonight at RonToms for convincing me to make more longer trips. I want the chiseled cheek bones. The washboard abs. That’s all there is to it. Although strangely, this obvious benefit of cycling wasn’t covered during the wide-ranging debate. Anyway here are some snaps:Especial thanks to Commissioner Sam Adams for moderating the discussion, and to panelists from left to right: Mel Zucker (from the Oregon Trasportation Institute), Sreya Sarkar (from Wheels to Wealth), Jonathan Maus (from BikePortland.Org) and Scott Bricker (of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance). It was a moving occasion. Get it? Moving?! Ha. I crack myself up sometimes. Seriously though, thanks for giving me such an interesting evening, everyone! (And of course not forgetting the Mercury’s own news editors Scott Moore and Amy Ruiz who did all the hard work co-ordinating with the Bus Project to pull things together.)

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Comments

but what was said at the panel Matt?

Posted by vanessa | August 1, 2007 8:53 AM

Is there any way the video of the car vs. bike can be posted on blogtown? i am very curious about that and couldn't make it last night.

Posted by yeah what she said | August 1, 2007 9:07 AM

All in good time, guys. All in good time.

Posted by Matt Davis | August 1, 2007 9:19 AM

That dismissive-eye-roll photo (last one) is classic.

Posted by Dave J. | August 1, 2007 10:22 AM

Washboard abs from cycling? Not every time...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/health/nutrition/17essa.html?ex=1186113600&en=e98e92d3cdc69052&ei=5070

Posted by scott | August 1, 2007 10:54 AM

I guess if the Mercury wasn't pandering so hard to its fixie-hipster constituency, it'd be more of a "Cyclists: Threat or Menace?" type of event to match their typical Yellow Journalism.

Glad we got some reasoned debate out of it...

Posted by Robert Dobbs | August 1, 2007 1:15 PM

Wait, do we hate fixie-hispters or love them? I can't remember which unfounded stereotype we're supposed to adhere to this week. If everyone could get together and figure out who it is the Mercury is supposed to hate, and then let us know, that would be awesome. Thanks!

Posted by Scott Moore | August 1, 2007 2:34 PM

Okay, did anyone breach the topic of the absolutely inane number of cyclists in this city that do not signal, those that run stop signs, those that hog the sidewalk, those who IGNORE bike lanes when doing so, and the cyclists who think they can plow through crosswalks?

I'm just going to post my "cyclists breaking laws" photos online, I think.

Posted by Alex-jon | August 1, 2007 8:48 PM

I found the discussion interesting, but I found that the strongly pro-bike stance by Sam Adams was inappropriate. I happen to be one of his biggest fans, but if you're moderating a debate, you should display impartiality. On the other hand, it was very refreshing to finally hear a debate where the focus wasn't on who breaks the most laws (Alex, so the thousands of federal dollars spent on speed-cams are for lawless bikers?).
Many real issues were brought up, and I think the audience got a good show.

Posted by Aaron | August 1, 2007 11:36 PM

I ride a bike AND drive a car and guess what? Car drivers make moving violations too. My favorite is how they are too busy holding onto the phone to operate their turn signals. Car driver's run lights and stop signs, speed up to go around cyclists and then cut them off taking right turns. They drive in the left lane really slow on the freeway when it is the law that "slower traffic keep right" and then you have people passing on the right. The big difference is when a car makes a moving violation they can kill someone and a cyclist is only likely to hurt themselves. Car drivers also hit pedestrians and cyclists and drive away, and sometimes they kill them and get a $1000 fine.

When you say "plow through crosswalks" do you mean when their light is green and the pedestrians are jaywalking?

I could fill up my camera with cars making moving violations in an hour, either driving or biking, but i think t would be too distracting to drive a car or ride a bike while taking pictures.

Posted by SKiDmark | August 2, 2007 1:08 AM

Every driver in the world breaks a traffic law every single time he or she drives.

Posted by zach | August 2, 2007 3:35 PM

Every cyclist in the world breaks a traffic law every single time he or she rides.

Posted by scott | August 3, 2007 10:35 AM

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