bridg.bikr: 06.2006

bridg.bikr

6.25.2006

SUV's are real bad

"the only thing i know that can cut through her isn't on this planet."

I found a link to an interesting article on the Shift listserve. It's a frontpage article from the London Independant about the mounting evidence against SUV proliferation.

Here are some highlights:

"Although passengers in a 4x4 are less likely to suffer harm in an accident than those in a smaller vehicle, their owners are increasing the risk of injury to themselves and others by their failure to observe common safety measures, according to research from Imperial College, London, which is published in the British Medical Journal.

"The pattern is an example of "risk compensation", where the safer a person feels the riskier the behaviour they indulge in.

"A record 187,000 4x4s were sold in Britain last year, double the number a decade ago. One in seven cars on the road is now a 4x4, according to the Department of Transport....

"Last October the BMJ published an American study showing that 4x4s were more dangerous to pedestrians than normal cars. Tests showed that people who were hit by the vehicles in accidents were four times more likely to die than those hit by other cars.

"Previous studies have shown that drivers using mobile phones have four times the risk of an accident. On that basis, 4x4 drivers are at 16 times the risk of having an accident, given that they are four times more likely to use a mobile compared with other drivers."

My car's a 4X4 Jeep; it's also a piece of crap. Its carbon emissions are matched only by the oil it constantly drips on the roadway. I at least partially excuse myself because it's driven less than once a week, but I will admit it's a hazard to all who come near and many far off. And it's ugly too.

What you drive says something about your lifestyle; automotive marketers have known that for a hundred years, and cars are an integral part of modern American idenity. But convinience is expensive; not just in money. Purchased personal "safety" when substituted for care and conciensousness at the expence of others' saftey, and disregard for effeciency or consequences is decadant. It says a lot about US.

posted by Bridger @ 10:02 PM 2 comments

6.24.2006

5 Portland Bridges

Laziness built up today, the last of my vacation. Patrick ditched me to hang out with Jen so I was on the laptop from the time Felecia left at 2:30 for work doing important business (masturbation). After two beers I finally pried myself off the couch for a bike ride. It was hard getting started but after cruising down Everett the cool rushing air seduced me into going faster and faster, and in that half retarted conversation I conduct with myself while riding we decided I should ride over all the downtown bridges.

The rest is all details that one could probably skip. Suffice to say it was fun and exhausting.

I first rode east over the Steel Bridge on the lower deck; down the Eastbank with a nice wind at my back, the best part of the trip; up the curl to the Hawthorne [picture from Portland Ground]; north through Tom 's park to Natio Parkway as fast as I could go. At this point I forgot there's no easy access to the Broadway from Natio so I took the crazy orange stairs; two ridiculous flytes.

I went south a block or two on Interstate Ave and down the ramp at the east side of the Burnside Bridge and back on the East Bank. Getting on the Morrison to head west tested my brain and I ended up riding on the road to get through a maze of ramps. One last time on the west-side park and back over the Steel. In an exhasted haze rode toward the Lloyd Center above 84 until NE 11th where I took a right and glided downhill past a very aromatic bakery, some cool graffiti, and stern, institutional Benson Polytecnic. Finnally found Burnside which I took to Old Town. I got off the bike in the North Park Blocks feeling weak and dehyrated. The only fountain is for dogs. I called Felecia to make plans for beers after work to keep the world turning and very slowly pedelled back up Glisan. Damn, that took a lot of caleries

posted by Bridger @ 10:38 PM 0 comments

NW Portland to St Johns bike loop

I made loop from my apartment over the St. Johns Bridge and back south through North Portland on Willamette Blvd. I think it was about 14 miles.

Here's a 100 year-old map from a webpage called Structural Materials in Parts of Oregon and Washington of Portland showing (roughly) my ride [click it for a better view].

Look at the lake and bottom lands that are now all residential and industrial. Portland was a giant wetland between two great rivers. Now we've removed the sedges and planted yuppies; holy shit!

I took NW Nikolai to Front Ave at the bottom is a coffee warehouse that might be the best smelling place in town. Front is squeezed between the railroad and the docks on the west side of the Willamette. The 2 miles or so I rode had plenty of room on the road for me and traffic, which there is very little of. I saw a late '70's Monte Carlo with flames and the Terminator painted on the hood. Sweet.

A left of Klickitak takes one over the tracks to Saint Helens Rd and views of industrial NW Portland in front of downtown building and Mt Hood. Saint Helens Rd. has a good bike lane if you don't mind endless semis passing a couple feet from you at highway speeds. Taking a left to the Germantown Road and access the Saint Johns Bridge was the scairiest part of the ride. I waited for the left turn light and the northbound traffic to pass before scrambling across 4 lanes. Up the hill to the bridge; I rode on the sidewalk and beat the trucks stuck in slow afternoon traffic.

Fucking great bridge with views of 3 volcanoes, the Fremont Bridge, and very distant-looking downtown Portland. The arch motif and the double spires on it's towers give the bridge a very sanctified demeanor; and the railing has detail no longer wasted on our hyper-industrialized public public infrastructure.

This bridge is stately and shows its builders' faith in the divine.

There's an nice park under the bridge on the St. Johns side from which one can take Willamette Ave. which follows the edge of a long bench over the riverbottom full of warehouses, train yards, and industrial lots.

Views look across the river to the Port of Portland and massive ocean freighters at Gunderson. This is why this town's called Portland.

Willamette Bvld. descends in a joyous hill to N Interstate Ave at the east side of the Fremont Bridge and cruises under a tangle of interstate ramps that are the pearly gates leading to Widmer Brewery where I sat by myself at the bar for a Belgian Wit and an Alt.

After attaining a sort of beer and sweat induced enlightenment I rode up Interstate as strong smells of boiling mash from Widmer wafted by on the breeze behind me. Actually THIS might be the best smelling spot in town.

I rode home over the Broadway Bridge that looks back on the other side of the Fremont; up Glisan to NW 21st and I'm back. Not bad.

posted by Bridger @ 3:58 PM 1 comments

The Euipment

I'm 5'11' and weight between 145 and 150. I'm a pretty skinny dude. I'm not a gear nut, or really a bike enthusiast at all, but I dig peddeling around, backpacking, scrambling and hiking; mostly with Felecia, to whom I'm married. I appreciate a tasty craft beer after enjoying some physical exertion. I don't go to the gym.

Here's my bike. It's a Peugeot 10 speed from the '70s, I think. I bought it for $85 from a guy on Belmont. It has a few quirks like a warped rim I should fix and some really crappy textured wheels. The seat squeaks, the handlebars constantly loosen, and the rider is dissuaded from shifting for various anomalous reasons. In general, though, not a bad bike; it's wicked fast and pretty fun.

posted by Bridger @ 3:39 PM 0 comments

biking, hiking, running off this sloppy beer gut through industrial deserts of inner Portland and water-gouged, ferned Cascade canyons.

this blog is not meant to be true, useful, spellchecked, relevant; just honest in it's summation, if not in it's details.

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