If you’ve watched or read any local news lately you’ve probably noticed some stories about the Portland Bike Plan. Yesterday it was passed by city council! Hurrah! The only thing is that it is just a “plan” and plans once approved are not automatically funded. Fortunately things look good for this one as there is a lot of momentum for the plan and Mayor Sam Adams has pledged to come up with a substantial fund to get the ball rolling….
Actually over here in the Foster Road area we know a lot about approved plans that don’t get funded. The Foster Streetscape Plan has been around for quite a while but without any dollars to implement it. About a year or two ago Foster was added into the Lents Urban Renewal Area. This made our area eligable for, and many have made use of, the Business Loan and the Store Front programs. It also meant possible funding for various improvements as well as for the Streetscape plan. No funding had actually been put aside for it until recently. On Wednesday night the Lents URA Transportation Task Force voted to fund several projects one which is the Foster Streescape! There isn’t enough money to do the whole plan right now but it raises my hopes that there is at least some actual money actually committed to infrastructure improvements on Foster!!
For more info on the Bicycle Master Plan check the site
Of course bikeportland.org has good coverage and commentary on this and other bike related stuff
If your interested in the Lents URA check here
To see the Foster Streescape Plan go here and download the pdf from the top list.
Great times at the tweed ride! If you missed out you check it out next year. To see some pics hop on Flickr here
If you live in the deep south east and don’t want to ride to skidmore fountain all by your lonesome, come meet up with meticon and friends to ride to the tweed ride meet up spot.
- We will be departing meticon bikes no later than 10:15. Join us!
- (There’s a coffee shop next door if you need a pre-pre-ride pick me up.)
- whats with the tweed ride, you ask… http://www.tweedpdx.com
Finally some new info about the Tweed ride. They have a web site up with a brief description. Just in time I’m finishing up a ‘52 Raliegh Sports with fully enclosed drive train, 3 speed, front Dynohub (with LED’s in place of the original dim bulbs), and front/rear racks. All I need is a pic-inic basket! Time to grow a mustache and bust out the ol’ wool knickers…
While I can’t find any further information than this bikeportland story I’m excited about this tweed ride. It’s supposed to include tea and lunch and and you are encouraged to dress in a “dapper” fashion and to ride old vintage cruisers and utilitarian bikes similar to the Philips bicycle I mentioned in an earlier post. If anyone knows anything new email me please!
After a nice little vacation we are back!
Veer, the movie about Portland bike culture, is out on DVD. It’s an excellent documentary focusing on four people from the local bicycle community. Of course myself and the shop are in it for a moment or two so I can’t claim to be unbiased! Check it out for yourself here.
We will be closed Dec.24th through Jan. 5th for a little holiday vacation!
As you might expect we will be closed on Thanksgiving for a bit of feasting. We’ll be open Friday and Saturday as usual.
Added a couple new pages including a how to section and a gallery. Just three articles for now in the how to area. We’ll be adding to that and the gallery in the near future!
If you’ve tried to email the shop recently you may have noticed that the email has not been working. Sorry about that! We recently changed hosting providers and are still working out some kinks. It should be fixed soon.
UPDATE
All fixed! Email away!
Over the busy busy summer the bikes sold so fast they never made it on the website. No longer! Lot’s of bikes are posted from affordable to super custom! Take a look!
Recently aquired a beautiful 1930’s Philips bicycle. Not a museum quality piece in pristine shape, this bike has been used frequently and hard, but it still rides sooo smooth. It’s from a time and place where people who depended on their bikes to get around demanded them to be simple and tough (and didn’t mind if it was a little heavy!) .
The rains have started and the cold is coming as well. Time to take a deep breath after the busy summer. Maybe get around to all those personal projects that are sitting around the shop.
It also means that turn around time for most services like Tune-Ups can be completed as quick as the same day!
Give us a call for more info.
Pump up your tires! Pump up your tires! Pump up your tires!
Many people do not realize that tires and tubes are not completely airtight. They lose pressure over time. In fact the skinnier the tire the faster the pressure will fall. For maximum efficiency and to reduce the possibility of flats you should check road bike tires once a week. With mountain bike size tires you can go a little longer maybe at least every other week. A good floor pump with a gauge is recommended!
Bikes and beer what’s not to love?! Hopworks is a nice place and I’ve got some friends over there, gonna try to take a little time away from the shop on Saturday to check this out.
http://www.hopworksbeer.com/
Fun on Foster update:
Looks like one of Meticon’s neighbors are doing the paperwork for a full on block party here on 60th by the shop for the 26th. If he gets all the signatures he needs we might be getting rowdy in the street…
Update 9/1009 : Everything is still a go! Many different artists, musicians, and other performers (fire dancers!) have shown interest in participating!
September 26th 10am to 5pm. Every year Fun on Foster gets a little more intersting! As usual the Trolley will be running up and down Foster ferrying people to all the highlights along Foster. This year there will be events, artists, venders and others up and down the street. A little mural walk, bouncy castles for the kids, music, all sorts of stuff.
Here at Meticon we’ll be out on the sidewalk doing a free bike clinic and other bike themed stuff, details to come….
Two proposed bike routes are in the planning stages. One up 52nd and the other coming down Center. Apparently one proposed connection point between the two may be the crosswalk in front of Slingshot and the Gunroom. Nice to see more improvements coming to our neighborhood!
We’re going to be open for just a couple hours. 12pm – 2pm. Got BBQ’s to attend!
