Bikes for All, a community conversation about access to bicycles and transportation and health equity took place last night at the New Columbia community center in N Portland. It was our first open forum conversation like this. We planned as best we could, spread the word, hoped people would show up, prayed that people would participate in the conversation. How was it? In a word: magic.

Read the detailed notes for a detailed description.

About 50 people showed up, ranging from community members to activists to program providers to policy makers. We munched on tasty tamales from Hacienda’s MicroMercantes program as we put on our nametags.
Shelli Romero, the evening’s emcee and Oregon Department of Transportation employee, introduced the evening’s topics and the two other presenters – me and Joseph Santos-Lyons from OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon.

Joseph presented first, launching into an eloquent introduction about how equity is about fairness, not about sameness, and how transportation is a major cost in everyone’s lives. He also encouraged everyone to think differently about who we consider to be our allies and networks.

Shelli Romero then talked about how she learned about social justice and activism from her parents and the work that she is doing at ODOT to increase access to the I-205 path.

I talked about how I grew up in a community where we knew and helped out our neighbors and how that has informed all aspects of my life choices and my work here at the Community Cycling Center.

From there, the conversation opened up for anyone to ask questions, offer observations, or share ideas. The conversation was intimate, honest, and open. Everyone listened actively and shared their questions and knowledge. The conversation that resulted was really incredible, ranging from clarifying questions, “What’s equity?” to more specific questions like “Are there bicycling encouragement programs for senior citizens?”

A few highlights:

• Two New Columbia residents, Egbevado and Charles, told us about how they saw and jumped in on the Midnight Mystery ride. They didn’t know what it was at the time, but they found the lure of 300 riders at 1 am irresistible. Their tale of accidentally joining in on bike fun and ending up in a golf course, under sprinklers, with 300 strangers, had everyone chuckling.

• Charles then offered to show ODOT and PBOT the need for safer places to ride in N Portland. Greg Raisman, a city staffer, piped in and offered to take him up on the offer to ride together. The two are now organizing two rides - one where they see the neighborhood through a local’s eyes. The other is to show new routes the city is working on.

• More challenging questions and concerns emerged, too. Including: how do we reach the 60% of people who are “interested, but concerned”? and recognizing the need to create pathways for jobs and leadership for people of color within environmental, transportation, and social service organizations.

• We talked about the new, healthy convenience store soon to open at New Columbia and how putting in bike parking and ensuring people can walk and bike there safely will reinforce to the neighbors the healthy community vision they are working toward.

There were so many more amazing stories that are far too hard to describe in my exhausted and still adrenaline-fueled body. What I do know is that a lot of people want to work together to create a stronger, healthier, and more connected community.

Would you like to get involved? There are two upcoming opportunities for you to ride with folks and continue the conversation:

• Egbevado and Charles are organizing a group ride from McCoy Park to Kelly Point Park on Monday (8/23) at 10 am.

• Next Thursday is the Equity Ride. Organized by Shelli at ODOT and with help from many other organizations, this ride will explore the I 205 Multi-Use Path and will be punctuated by brief presentations from many different organizations working toward creating a more safe and equitable Portland.

After we’ve caught our breath, we’ll review feedback from last night’s conversation and write up the notes in a summary on our website.
Thanks to everyone who showed up last night. We are so excited to see where this road leads.

Written by Alison Graves, Executive Director

Photos by Ben Latterell

On Saturday, September 11th, a team of Community Cycling Center staff and volunteers will hit the road with Cycle Oregon. For the past ten years, we’ve helped Cycle O riders roll smoothly through breathtaking rural roads by detailing bikes and charging electronics to raise money for our community programs.

Despite spending most of our waking hours up to our elbows in Simple Green and chain lube, we always have an amazing time. Two years ago, we befriended two kids at Wallowa Lake, who ended up pitching in to detail our final bike. Last year, we spotted Sasquatch in Happy Camp and glimpsed a bear cub.

This year, we will offer bike detailing and electronics charging with an exciting twist. Thanks to champion volunteers John Beaston and Susan Hayden and engineer extraordinaire Tom Ullmann, our charging station will be fully powered by solar and wind energy!

Sign up for VIP Detailing and Charging before the ride even starts by emailing or calling Brian at 503.288.8864 or look for us in camp.

See you on the road!

Photo by Greg Lee

Kim is the heart and soul of our youth programs. You may have seen her around town leading Bike Clubs at University Park or James John or heading a line of Bike Campers on their way to some adventure. In addition to holding a master’s degree from the Leadership for Sustainability Education program at Portland State University, she’s an accomplished seamstress, crafter, and baker. An unabashed optimist, Kim’s sunny smile is practically the only light source our office needs during the long Portland winters.

What brought you to the Community Cycling Center?
My bike of course…how else would I get there? But really: in 2005 I had just completed a PSU capstone class called “Bicycle Barriers” taught by Scott Cohen (now of Smart Trips) that focused on why people don’t want to ride their bikes. We surveyed people in the SE Hawthorne/Cesar Chavez neighborhood and learned a lot about why people make the choice to drive rather than bike. I was inspired by the project and wanted to learn more about how I could continue to do similar work. I was researching different organizations in town and found the Community Cycling Center. They happened to be hiring for an administrative assistant at the time and I had just the strange compilation of skills that they were looking for.

Why do you work here?
I love the community programs that we offer and the energy of the bike shop. I never tire of working with the kids, the team and the curriculum. I continually feel challenged and inspired.

What is your job title? What do you do?
I am the Youth Program Coordinator. My work focuses on implementing programs that support healthy activities and increase access to bicycles and safety education for youth. In collaboration with the Program Manager, I plan and coordinate the Bike Club and Bike Camp programs. During the programs, I support our amazing instructor team.

How busy are you right now on a scale of 1-10?
11.2! Bike Camp is by far my busiest season. While I do feel super busy, it’s hard to feel overwhelmed when I see so many smiling faces and hear about the amazing rides that the campers and instructors are enjoying.

What aspect of our work do you find most exciting right now?
I’m really excited about the shift toward creating a more family focused curriculum. At the end of the Bike Club program at University Park this spring, I was so excited that every single parent and guardian showed up to applaud the efforts of the ten graduates. I like to see families enjoying bike adventures together.

What is your dream bike?
I would love to have a locally made bike. A Sweetpea with wheels built by Epic Wheel Works. It would be grey and it would be swift.

What do you do when you’re not here?
My primary interests outside of work right now are cooking and gardening. On the weekends I’ve been battling the invasive weeds in my backyard, which makes me think a lot about poor Sisyphus. Otherwise, I’ve been spending lots of time enjoying new recipes from the two cooking blogs that I love to read.

What would the title of your biopic be? Who would play you?
Wow, this is a really tough question. I think it would be called “Ping!” and instead of an actor, I would like to see myself rendered as a claymation banana slug or maybe a tide pool creature, a sea urchin or a sea cucumber.

Tell us a Bike Camp story from this summer.
A few Fridays ago I enjoyed an afternoon ride with the Coasters camp. They were such an awesome group. After a break at Mio Gelato, we tackled the 17th street hill, known affectionately as “Mt. Doom.” The group pulled over to the side of the road a block before and huddled to get prepped for the adventure ahead. After a quick cheer and refueling with lots of water, they were off. It was amazing to see the entire group daringly make their way up the hill. Some rode the entire way up, some rode part of the way and walked the rest, but each camper worked their way up the hill with their bikes without stopping and with smiles on their faces! Once we all made it up we celebrated our accomplishment with cheers, sprays of cool water, and some of us took a quick rest in the grass. These moments are the source of my inspiration to continue to do the work and to help people get on their bikes.