Bike Shorts

Brief bike news items

• Some Eugene-area bike racks take parking a step further than simple functionality. The woodland creatures in front of the Kiva come to mind, and so do the intrauterine device (IUD) bike racks outside the new Planned Parenthood on Franklin in Glenwood. The more cool bike parking opportunities the better.

• Sundays at Falling Sky are extra friendly for bicycle commuters. Ride a bike and save a buck.

• Eugene Bicycle Works, a nonprofit community bike shop, is teaming up with other Eugene bike shops to collect used bike parts. Collected parts will be used to provide bikes for youth and people with limited resources as part of Bucket O’ Parts at the Center for Appropriate Transport. Go to catoregon.org for more info.

• Possibly the meanest bike theft of 2012 was a fleet of bikes, a trailer and other equipment worth more than $30,000 stolen from Safe Routes to School. Pieces of two bikes were found locally, and a couple of bikes were discovered on Craigslist Seattle, though they weren’t recovered. Coordinator Shane MacRhodes says that the fleet will be rebuilt before the end of April thanks to the help of volunteers, including the folks from Bike Friday and the UO Bike Program. He says that Safe Routes will teach at a record-setting eight middle schools this semester and could potentially expand to Springfield schools soon.

• Want to show a little Eugene biking pride? Check out Bikebuttons.com to see locally made (and some Eugene-specific) pieces of flair with slogans like “I like bike!” and “Occupy bike seat.”

• Got any biking, activist or local business tips? Send them to editor@eugeneweekly.com for Biz Beat and Activist Alert.