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Monday, August 10, 2009

Bikes It's Like the Olympics of Fixed Gears.

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 3:59 PM

Remember that time at Multnomah County Bike Fair when we hosted a contest to chuck water balloons at track standers and then a guy with his arm in a freakin' sling wanted to play and it felt a little shameful at first, assaulting the helpless guy with water balloons, but then he KICKED EVERYONE'S ASS and won a big prize?

Now that same unlikely champ is hoping to fly to Japan for the world track stand contests and is looking for sponsors. Help make this poor bike messenger's one wish come true!

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  • Jonathan Maus

Also, if you're looking for an Olympic challenge without leaving the city limits, MLK in Motion notes that some kids are aiming to reclaim one of the most dangerous biking streets in Portland:

e61b/1249944642-ridemlk.jpg

 

Comments (15) RSS

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1
You could ride MLK every Monday morning, or you could choose not to be a dick, and just use Williams and Vancouver two blocks over.
Posted by Blabby on August 10, 2009 at 4:08 PM · Report
2
With such a professionally done sign and dedication to 'SHARING THE ROAD' I don't see how this could at all go wrong.
Posted by D on August 10, 2009 at 4:11 PM · Report
3
Or, you know, Olympic track racing could be like, Olympics for fixed gears, since they ride fixed gears, and stuff. At the Olympics.
Posted by Babygorilla on August 10, 2009 at 5:14 PM · Report
4
Or YOU could just not be a dick and try to understand that everyone has the right to use the road they choose to use. Dick.
Posted by a.O on August 11, 2009 at 8:58 AM · Report
5
Yeah, this post is made of fail. I'm an avid cyclist, commute every day by bike...

And yeah... Blabby nails is. Go fucking ride on the streets that are designed for bikes. There's no reason to be a bunch of douchebags and clog up MLK. It proves nothing.

And smaledog also nails it. Track cycling is an olympic sport. Track bikes are fixed gears. Q.E.D.

God, smirk doesn't do any research ever. Can we get a fact check up in this mutha?
Posted by Graham on August 11, 2009 at 9:03 AM · Report
6
I'm a pretty uppity cyclist myself-- but I have nothing but vitriol for those fools who ride MLK and act like they belong there. As Blabbly pointed out, there are perfectly safe and reasonably fast bike routes just blocks away. 6th, 7th, Williams, Vancouver-- it's all right there for you.

But apparently riding MLK is revolutionary act in the mind of some kid who just moved here from a small town. Fucking hilarious!

I respect the right of bikes to take the lane as needed-- this is important for many connections in the metro area that weren't originally intended for bike traffic. But the best way to "take back" MLK would be to organize support to get it re-striped or redesigned in the future. Riding it now isn't going to change anybody's minds.
Posted by Chunty McHutchence on August 11, 2009 at 9:53 AM · Report
7
Agree Blabby, Graham, Chunty. I prefer biking in the excellent wide bike lanes on Vanc./Williams to taking my life in my hands on MLK. It's perfectly OK with me that some streets remain bike-unfriendly.

I think MLK in Motion's next political act should be seizing the Willamette back from the fish, sewage and Matt Davis. To the river, fixie guerrillas!
Posted by Commenty Colin on August 11, 2009 at 10:13 AM · Report
8
I have a question for the cyclists that ride on Marine Drive. Why is it that the majority of them choose not to ride on the nice blacktop bike path, but ride on the road instead? I uised to drive trucks on MD, and it seems to me to be a very dangerous place to ride. If I rode a bike there, it would be on the bike path.
Posted by ujfoyt on August 11, 2009 at 10:15 AM · Report
9
I should mention that I recognize an urgent need for more north/south bike boulevards, but screwing up MLK at rush hour (it's technically a state highway I believe) is not the way to go. Cars need large fast moving arterials too, and MLK already moves at 20 to 25 mph a lot of the time.
Posted by Blabby on August 11, 2009 at 10:36 AM · Report
10
Amazing, everyone's in agreement. I'm all in favor of better bike boulevards, and spending the money to build them, and being able to ride safely on the streets - but there's such a thing as choosing which battles to fight, and MLK isn't one of them. Try making NE 7th Ave the bike-friendly street it should be instead...

I would also like to point out that they have a cycling road race in the Olympics. With gears. Pedants, consider yourself out-pedanted.
Posted by Stu on August 11, 2009 at 10:41 AM · Report
11
I feel like such a prude for riding a bicycle with brakes.
Posted by Brian Libby on August 11, 2009 at 12:09 PM · Report
12
Have any of you folks ever actually ridden on MLK before? During rush hour, traffic is slow enough that you can easily keep up on a bike -- you aren't blocking anyone. And during other times, traffic is light enough that it's easy for people to go around you. The only problem with riding this route is that it's kind of boring -- too many lights.
Posted by MLK rider on August 11, 2009 at 12:16 PM · Report
13
If you think you're 'not blocking anyone' there's a line of drivers behind you that beg to differ.
With 2 lanes and parking spots there is literally less than 2 or 3 feet for a bike, hardly safe for anyone.
Unless they widen it or add bike lanes, stay the hell off MLK.

Posted by D on August 11, 2009 at 1:17 PM · Report
14
I've done the MLK ride on a number of occasions and it's never proven dangerous to me. The ride is not aggressive, does not clog lanes, is not organized by newbies or new transplants, and is not a *protest*.

It's like any other bike ride in that it makes it safe in numbers.

Multiple riders on the MLK ride (which is admittedly, quite small) have been involved in cycling and cycling politics for 15-20 years and have found that lobbying for new stripes is NOT the most efficient way to get things done.

But I am a big fan of telling people what battles they should fight. It's a lot easier than letting them choose. And I know better anyway.
Posted by biddy on August 11, 2009 at 1:21 PM · Report
15
Bicyclists, I love ya, and thanks for doing your part to keep Portland sexy and green. But HIGHWAY 99, aka Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is a HIGHWAY. For CARS.

There are safe bicycle-friendly thoroughfare streets three blocks to the east of HIGHWAY 99 (7th Avenue) and four blocks to the west of HIGHWAY 99 (Vancouver/Williams). Cars expect to see bicyclists on these streets and adjust their driving style accordingly. Everybody wins!

But on MLK, aka HIGHWAY 99, car and truck drivers expect to drive fast because it's a HIGHWAY, and when they see a slow-moving bicycle on the congested HIGHWAY they freak out while trying to decide if they should slam on the brakes and risk getting rear-ended (because the cars behind them are traveling at HIGHWAY speeds), or make a sudden lane-change and risk a lateral collision.
Posted by john t on August 11, 2009 at 2:00 PM · Report

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