How many people bike over the Hawthorne bridge every day? Now anyone walking, biking, or driving past will be able to see. Thanks to a $20,000 grant from Cycle Oregon, the city installed an electronic bike counter on the bridge yesterday.

When I stopped by yesterday afternoon, a crew was putting down the cords that will count bikes as they zip past. So it's not functional yet, but here's what the counter looks like (bigger photo below the cut):

I've seen these counters in other countries, but this is the first in the US. The counters are made by a Canadian company called Eco-Counter and the point of them—besides being interesting to wonks—is to raise visibility of the sheer number of people who are biking. The last city bike count tallied by over 8,000 people biking across the Hawthorne during a normal day.

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E-bikes are dorky. They're great for getting up hills without breaking a sweat and, if done well, could help a lot of people start biking... but they weigh a ton, have huge batteries strapped to them, and just look rather clunky.

Which is why I'm totally in love with the Faraday, a gorgeous bike that was first designed as a concept prototype for the local Oregon Manifest challenge and is now launching into real-life production.

The Faraday was just one of many beautiful bikes this year at Oregon Manifest, a challenge that asks bike builders to create the "ultimate utility bike." Designer and Northeast Portland native Adam Vollmer spent nights and weekends for three solid months creating that first bike with a small team. "We built some scrappy prototypes, Frankenbikes with wires all hanging off," says Vollmer. "It looked like a bomb on wheels."

After the slick design got an avalanche of positive feedback at the challenge, Vollmer quit his job and is working to bring the Faraday into production. Right now you can only buy one of the first 250 Faraday bikes via Kickstarter for $3,500.

Details about how the bike works and plenty of drool-worthy photos below the cut. I rode it around the Pearl for a few minutes. The thing's a breeze.

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Right smack in downtown, courtesy of Pedal Bike Tours:

This is the time of year that really makes me angry at the streetcar tracks. A whopping seventy percent of Portland cyclists crash on the tracks at some point and right now, when people are getting on bikes for the first time in a long time, is when arm casts and wrist-braces start popping up more frequently.

There's a couple partial fixes to this deepening frenemy stalemate (like putting streetcar tracks on the left side of streets and marking ways to cross the tracks safely) but a couple German designers modified a bike to ride IN the tracks.

Portland Streetcar Training Wheels^TM, anyone?

Local bike accessories' maker Portland Design Works (PDW) is heading up a fun event for the 3,100 or so people who bike on North Williams every day: Rider Appreciation Day! For PDW's RAD, a bunch of businesses along the street are inviting in commuters for "tokens of appreciation," which I will interpret as "presents!!" Stop by the street on your ride home tomorrow.

Woop woop! Today the city dedicated Portland's first pump track—a hilly dirt track that people can ride in a loop without pedaling. While Portland is known for being a bike city, we actually have pretty dismal mountain bike offerings. Only one-third of a mile of Forest Park's 70 miles of paths are the narrow "singletrack" paths mountain bikers seek out, so to get really decent mountain biking, most people drive far outside of the city. Other people illegally carve paths out of Portland's parks.

Well now mountain bikers can head out to Ventura Park at SE 115th and Stark, where volunteers built a pumptrack with the city's blessing as part of an initiative to improve parks East of I-205. Here's a video of some cute kids to prove the place exists, from a few months ago when it was still under construction:

It's somewhat impossible to accurately count the number of people who take to the streets as bare as they dare every year for the World Naked Bike Ride. And it's somewhat beside the point: Just accept that there are thousands and thousands of people biking naked, sit back, and have a good time without trying to figure out some foolproof nudey-counting algorithms.

But since the police have escorted the ride since 2009, there are some numbers we can keep track of to gauge the size and safety of the ride:

• The ride began at 10:10 pm and took 45 minutes—the tail end of the ride didn't arrive at the end of the 7.5 mile route until 11:45!
• 53 police officers and sergeants were on call to facilitate the ride
• Only two bike crashes were reported to police, though many more certainly went unreported
• Only one crash required a trip to the hospital: A lady crashed near the 12th and Hawthorne food carts and was briefly knocked out.

While it definitely strikes some people as hilarious to have uniformed officers waving along naked riders, the police are involved with any Portland event of this size, says spokesman Robert King, whether it's an Occupy Portland march or the Race for the Cure.

Whew. Tonight I rode the naked bike ride in style, hitching a ride on a pedicab. There's no way to capture all the insanity that passed me by, I'd snap a photo in one direction and miss the naked couple walking their dogs in the other. Or the zebra tandem bike cruising by. Or the ladies standing up naked in a pedicab, arms spread, shouting, "I feel like Leonardo DiCaprio!"

But here are some of my favorite shots from the night. Like the past two years, police and ride organizers cooperated to stop traffic for the ride, which took thousands of people in varying states of nudity around downtown and Southeast Portland.

UPDATE! I shared my pedicab with Jackson Loo of iPad newspaper The Daily. He put together this awesome video of the ride, which captures much of the event's energy in under three minutes (and remains relatively safe for work):

If you were in the ride, how'd it go? I heard of a couple crashes, but nothing major so far beyond what you'd expect with thousands of people. If you were watching: Any favorite moments of craziness?

T-minus 36 hours until the world's largest naked bike ride hits the streets of Portland. That's right! The annual naked ride is tomorrow night! Be prepared.

This is around the time when I start fielding sheepish questions from friends that start out, "So... if I were to go to the naked ride—totally hypothetically—should I, like, wear clothes on the way there or something?"

DON'T WORRY. For the bike issue a couple weeks ago, I asked for some tips from friendly cyclists with experience in urban re-nude-al. As a refresher course, here's what you need to know in case you're, you know, maybe totally hypothetically going to be one of the 10,000 people who strips down on the streets tomorrow.

• Consider your disrobing plan. Except for the hardcore Crocs-only nudists, most everyone shows up to the ride clothed and then strips down minutes before the start. At that point, "You will soon discover that you are more comfortable naked because you're going to be totally out of place if you keep your clothes on," says veteran ride organizer Stephen Upchurch, who recommends stashing your togs in a pannier or basket.

• Fanny packs are modesty flaps; says Bike Smut film festival organizer Reverend Phil Sano. Point taken. Also useful for staying discreet: a mask.

• Wear some damn clothes. Namely, shoes and a helmet. Cheek-to-seat action is not so bad, but tender-foot-to-pedal is no fun.

• Pack a tool. Like, a multi-tool, pump, and patch kit in case you break down, which is one of those things that is not hilarious at the time. The ride also has roving mechanics on hand, just in case.

• Don't be drunk. You're riding naked with thousands of people. Crashing will hurt. And, besides, Portland police politely escort the ride and will ticket you for biking while intoxicated, says Upchurch. "Many fine establishments will be happy to serve you a drink after the ride," he adds. "Some may serve you naked if you just haven't had enough."

• Say cheese! If you wish to avoid the adoring crowds that cheer, snap photos, and occasionally spank riders, stick to the middle of the pack and ride in the middle of the road. "Folks are often worried about the perverts," says Sano. "Well, they exist. If you are gonna be in public space with a few thousand other naked bikers you might suffer some awkward moments." Sano also offers this concise tip on how to tell if you are one of the unwanted pervs in question: "You are alone and you are not riding a bike."

UPDATE: Portland Police just sent out a short press release alerting the city to the ride. They include this detail: "The Portland Police Bureau will have extra officers on hand to ensure everyone is safe and to provide assistance at intersections.

The Portland Police Bureau recommends that all riders at least wear a helmet and shoes to avoid any potential injuries. Bike lights are also recommended."

Really glad we live in a city where the police offer naked bike riding tips.

The ride meets on SE Water Avenue near OMSI at 9pm tomorrow and departs promptly at 10pm. See you there, totally hypothetically!

Two excellent bike-related posts hit Craigslist this week that I think you all would appreciate. In the first, BikePortland and Blogtownie Reid Parham pointed out this Portland Craigslist personals gem this morning: A man was doored, and it was love.

6/9/12 - M4W - 29 (SW 5th and Main)

You were in a black 4 door sedan getting out of the rear right passenger door(stopped in traffic in the right lane). Me, riding my bike to work with my beard on, in the bike lane/gutter/parking lot/perfect place to get out of your car. When you swung your door open I knew I had nowhere to go because I was trapped between you and parked cars. I yelled something at you and startled you, sorry about that...

I was on edge because of the rose parade crap going on all around me. I didn't get a good look at you(blonde?) but as my left hand exploded open on the edge of your door, I think I fell in love. I see no other explanation for how I felt no pain but only a yerning to know you. I guess you thought I was ugly and ran away. This rejection was too much for me so I fainted. Thanks to the guy walking his bike who helped me lock my bike up for me because I was in shock, and thanks to the lady who gave me tissues to clean the blood from my hand(I hadn't even noticed, oh look! Bone!). The parade was lovely as I walked to Broadway and oak bleeding and pale to get a ride to the hospital(thanks co-worker). After closing up the gash in my hand that would make the flaming lips proud I got an x-ray which showed that I had broken my hand or you had...we had broken together? I told the doc about you and that I didn't feel any pain, he said I was still in shock, I said no, try again. He then x-rayed my heart and guess what? Broken. The worst park is that I can't do anything to distract me from you like riding my bike or working. I hope that in surgery I'll find the distraction I've been looking for. Hit me up for a drink! I can only have one though because of the Vicodin.

A couple people have sent me the second post, which is about a "failed hipster" in California selling off his fixie.

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Except for the hassle of battleships everywhere, yesterday was a beautiful day for a bike ride. Hundreds of people met up in downtown Portland to start off the ridiculous three-week long bike festival Pedalpalooza, wending their way through town to the Pedalpalooza kickoff party we hosted at Velo Cult in Hollywood.

It's nice to be back once again to the month where you never know what kind of crazy bike ride you're going to cross paths with. I'm looking forward to stumbling across gangs of people biking along dressed as David Bowie or unicorns or Star Wars characters when I least expect it.

I want to give a shout out to the Suicide Notes, who played the party last night and whose impressive punky surf rock is matched only by the impressiveness of their matching pants.

• Portland's Pretty

Also thanks to beer sponsor Lompoc, food cart Four and Twenty Blackbirds for dishing up these delicious things, Velo Cult for letting us invade their space, and the 200 or so people who came to the party and didn't break things.

Now get out there and get on your bike!

There are bike lanes running east, west, and south through downtown Portland. But, right now, there is no northbound bike lane through downtown traffic. And it looks like there won't be—at least for a good while longer.

This spring, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) started pitching the idea of a northbound bike lane on 12th Avenue. But now the idea is on hold after powerful businesses expressed concern about the bikeway's impact on traffic and parking.

At the heart of this issue is how businesses view bikes in the central city. A bike lane is one thing, but in 2013, the city is hoping to roll out dozens of bike sharing stations with hundreds of bikes in Portland's core. Building a safe network to support all those new bikes downtown is going to require the political and financial support of Portland's business community.

The city was eyeing 12th Avenue for a bike lane because it is a relatively low-traffic street with no streetcar or light rail tracks (which often snag cyclists' wheels). "Downtown Portland has the highest percentage of bike to work commuters in the country and there's no northbound route to get through the city," notes PBOT spokesman Dan Anderson.

In April, the Portland Business Alliance (PBA) and a group of businesses including McMenamin's and Gerding Edlen, wrote two separate letters criticizing the plan for a 12th Avenue bike lane. While 12th Avenue has relatively little traffic right now, say the businesses, none of the street's three car travel lanes or two parking lanes should be given over to bikes because future development could lead to more car traffic. On top of that, the businesses want the city to research the impact of and need for the bike lanes on SW Stark, SW Oak, and SW Broadway that have been "demonstration projects" for three years now. "We would like to see a follow-up process that includes an evaluation and sunset-review date," the PBA wrote in its April 26th letter.

"We're not out there pounding the pavement, talking about removal, we just want a better understanding of usage and impact," says PBA spokeswoman Megan Doern.

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OH, WHAT A JOLLY HOLIDAY IT IS when Pedalpalooza comes whipping around the bend each June. I love this three-week fest so much, I would same-sex marry it. And now, you can join in on the fun, too—because tomorrow June 7 is the official Mercury/Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride and Party!

We're all gonna meet up at 6 pm at the South Park Blocks at PSU (SW Park & Montgomery) and take a leisurely five-mile ride to bike shop Velo Cult (1969 NE 42nd), where the fun is really gonna start poppin'! We'll have beer, food, bouncy sex-time music from the awesome The Suicide Notes, and laughs! TONS OF LAUGHS!

So be sure to join us because this year's Pedalpalooza is gonna be the BEST... EVER... YET!

Hey! Our annual bike issue hits the streets tomorrow and I was annoying everyone by chortling while looking over the final edits. How could I not, when it's packed with photos (like this one) by Robbie Augspurger?

• Robbie Augspurger

We had a good discussion going on Friday regarding my ranty post about bike helmets, as well as Sarah's more "rational" post which somehow ended up more irrational than mine. But it didn't really answer my original question: Are more bicyclists going without helmets these days, or am I crazy? (To save time, let's rephrase that as "more crazier than usual.") Speak for yourself in the poll below, and go ahead and be honest. I won't judge you! (However, I will feel terrible for your mother, who because you were too concerned about your hair to wear a helmet, now has to spoon feed you mush, spend her life savings on nurses, medical bills, and rehabilitation, and cry herself to sleep at night, and—DAMN IT!! STOP IT, STEVE!!!)

I've spent much of my life trying to avoid talking about the bike helmet debate, but now some old person has blogged about it so—ugh—I have to respond.

Here's my entire thinking on bike helmets: You should probably wear one. But you don't have to. Don't let not having a helmet—or fear of a crotchety old man yelling at you for not having a helmet—keep you from riding your bike. There are plenty of good reasons to wear a helmet (brains!), but also some solid rational arguments against them.

Biking with a helmet is definitely safer than biking without a helmet, but I bet driving with a helmet is safer than driving without a helmet, too. So is crossing 82nd Avenue wearing a helmet, riding the bus wearing a helmet, and playing basketball wearing a helmet. It's a question of: Where do you draw the line between being safe and being paranoid?

For me, I'd say I wear a helmet 80 percent of the time when I bike (hey, I'm average!). Usually when I'm not wearing a helmet, it's because I can't manage to get out the door with keys, lights, lock, helmet, and pants but often it's just because I'm only biking a short distance on quiet neighborhood streets and would rather not worry about it. It's no big deal; nothing worth shouting about. The end.

According to this 2011 report from the Portland Bureau of Transportation, "80 percent of people on bikes were counted wearing helmets citywide, 3 percent more than in 2010." To PBOT I would respond, TIME FOR A RECOUNT! And this time, be sure to count the IDIOTS.

For the past few days I've been counting bicyclists to see if they're wearing helmets or not. Day before yesterday, I counted 20 cyclists within 15 minutes—11 wearing helmets, while nine weren't. THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE 80 PERCENT TO ME.

Today in my brief lunchtime walk to the food carts and back, I spotted 25 cyclists downtown. Guess how many of these people weren't wearing helmets?

15 of 'em.

Again, not quite "80 percent!"

Now, I'm not faulting PBOT (love that name, btw) on their calculations—and I'm not saying my quick counts are all "scientifical"—but the difference that I've personally noticed between this year and last summer so far is pretty astounding. And I would like to note that in most cases, the helmetless riders I spotted seemed to be young and had the means to afford a helmet.

BUT! Before I leap into my final thoughts, I'll head off the first five commenters responding to this post by showing you a picture of me:

That being noted, WHAT THE FUCK IS UP?? Am I completely nuts, or are there a lot more people riding without helmets this year? And if you agree, why do you think that is? And if you don't wear a helmet, how come? (I'll restrain from further calling you an idiot, because we hold this truth to be self-evident.) Again... WHAT THE FUCK IS UP??

Infographic time! You know the drill. Here's a new one depicting the thousands of miles of bike lanes spanning the United States, just in time for a long summer ride—brought to you by GOOD and ...Clif Bar? Whatever. It's great. Here's a zoomed-in version.

• Good and Clif Bar