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One of the pleasures of living in Eugene is the accessibility of the outdoors and recreation within a relatively short distance. As an enthusiastic cyclist, I am always intrigued with the many possibilities for outdoor rides in our own backyard. Continue reading
We’re living in a golden age of cycling. And we might have a bunch of loud, traffic-stopping cycling activists with anarchistic tendencies — better known as Critical Mass — to thank for it. For the uninitiated, Critical Mass (CM) is a quasi-organized monthly bike ride that takes place on the last Friday of the month in cities across the globe. Founded in San Francisco in September 1992, the ride is part-rolling street party, part-pro-cycling demonstration, often chaotic and a heck of a good time — minus the occasional arrest — but, hey, even those can have side benefits. Continue reading
Attention all car commuters! Your excuses for pushing the gas pedal instead of the bike pedal — at least from a fashion perspective — won’t be worthy much longer. Yes, we all know it’s better for the environment and our health if we bike, but often it’s superficial justifications that keep us from trading four wheels for two. Here are some nifty tricks and cycle-centric designers who are making roadblocks like helmet head, or stuffing a change of clothes in your pack while pedaling to work like a spandex-encased sausage, obsolete. Continue reading
In its 26th year, the annual bike ride Cycle Oregon is as popular as ever and, come Sept. 7, riders will pedal their way through Eastern Oregon in the crisp fall air. Mountainous views and vast, lush valleys await 2,200 bikers on the 380- to 505-mile route that features John Day and Steens Mountain. Continue reading
Many Eugeneans have long felt relatively safe (around most drivers, that is), cycling for transit or pleasure, but others are so intimidated by the safety concerns of urban cycling — and not knowing what to do in a scary situation — that their fears prevent them from cycling to save the planet. Continue reading
• 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. Continue reading
The name might be “Winter Bicycles,” but that’s probably because “Clean, Beautiful Bikes Customized for Absolutely Anything” is too clunky and long. Eric Estlund has been building custom bikes in the Eugene-Springfield area for six years, and he’s created everything from a knife-sharpening bike to bikes for commuting in the Chicago winter to bikes designed for riders with physical disabilities. Continue reading
We found out about Bike In Shapes just a little too late for our bike-themed Earth Day issue, but this event looks geeky and fun in all the right ways. They're meeting at the new Bier Stein at 7:45 pm on Thursday, April 18 — and ending there, too. Be there or be not-a-fractal. Continue reading
Every year, Oregon’s April just hammers me. I’ll toddle briskly through winter’s months, savoring the rains, blissfully indulging an interior life, inside our house and inside my own skull. I revel in the rains, regard them as profound blessings, in their various forms, from the feathermist, so light it won’t dimple the meniscus on a pond but will leave a walker soaked, to the guttergusher that floods fields and leaps river banks. I fret when, as recently, we enter a dry spell. Continue reading