Portlandize

Yesterday was just another school day. Get up before the kids and start getting myself ready. I even had a little time to myself while I ate breakfast. Get the kids up and start getting them ready. Not too much whining and cajoling to get them to eat their breakfast while I pack a lunch for my daughter. Load the bike with stuff, put the kids in the bike, and off we go to drop her at school.

We live a block off of a Neighborhood Greenway . This should be a pleasant 0.8-mile ride to school. It has traffic calming devices like speed bumps and traffic diverters (the little circles, usually with a tree in the middle, that make direct left turns impossible and have double-yellow lines on either side of them). I’m sure that the majority of the people driving on them are our neighbors who, should we see each other at the grocery store or a block party, wouldn’t wish us ill. However, every day we get passed unsafely. Sometimes they pass too closely and are going too fast. When I say “too close” and “too fast” this is the kind of thing I mean: my bike weighs 90 pounds without the kids in it (and they are about 50 pounds each) and I’ve been shoved to the right by the wind of cars going past us. If you can move 190 pounds plus what I weigh (which is none of your business, but it’s more than the 110 I weighed in junior high school) with just the shock wave of the air around your car then you just passed us unsafely.

Most of the time the problem isn’t speed and proximity, it’s that people are passing us illegally. By this I mean in an intersection (ORS 811.305) or they are crossing a double-yellow line (ORS 811.420, which means it was also a violation of ORS 811.065 since I’m on a bicycle). We all learned that double-yellow lines indicate a No Passing Zone, right? The case yesterday morning was that a driver that was behind us on the Neighborhood Greenway decided that, despite a car on the left and one on the right, he didn’t need to stop at the 4-way stop but could proceed through on my turn to my left in the oncoming traffic’s lane. He passed us in the intersection instead of letting those other cars take their turns. I don’t come off the line very fast (see the above-mentioned weight and consider physics). He revved like crazy and passed close enough that I could touch his car. I didn’t, but I could have.

I wish that I could believe that having a description of the driver (white male, dark hair), a description of the car (tan Mercedes sedan, older squarish model approx 1977 vintage,

no passengers, no car seats or boosters), and most of the license plate (877GD_ or GD_877) was enough to generate some kind of censure, but I doubt it. I’ve been encouraged to call the non-emergency police line, but too many others have told me that *if* an officer looks into it nothing actually comes of the situation. My priority at the time was to get us to the school safely so I didn’t stop and call 9-1-1 in the moment. I do think that this driver, even if this was “innocent” negligence and not malice, was a hazard to the other people that were in his way as he went to wherever he was going.

(And then there was the truck needed to pass us as we turned left onto an arterial. I was already signaling that I would be turning at the next right, but he could not stand to be behind us for 1/2 a block. That scare was what made me lose part of the Mercedes’ license plate number.)

I do think that if I had video evidence of what happened that I would be more willing to call and report the incident. So we are looking for a Go-Pro. A parent taking her kids to school — whether it be by car, bike, or foot — shouldn’t have to be recording video constantly because she’s endangered that often. Today was not an isolated incident. The last time I made an effort to count how many times we were passed illegally in the 1.6-mile round-trip to school it was 5; there were 2 more drivers that I witnessed passing other people on bikes illegally for a total of 7 that morning. It’s an epidemic.

We’ve already been pushed off the major arterials and onto the Neighborhood Greenways. Fine. It is a more pleasant ride, but makes it harder to get to the businesses on the arterials. I manage, but it’s annoying. Now we have aggressive drivers on the streets that are supposed to be giving other modes of travel priority over cars. I for one have had enough. I’m not going to be pushed over another block. I have a right to travel where I need to in safety, unmolested by others. I intend on annoying the people at PBOT Safety about every single aggressive driver. I plan on posting license plate numbers and descriptions of drivers and their illegal and unsafe behavior that I witness. And I plan on getting a camera to record what they are doing and posting that as well. My hope is that they are unaware of how dangerous they are and that when they see their behavior from my perspective they will slow down and pass us safely. Heck, they might even care that they are breaking laws. I’m more than happy to pull over in a safe place so that a driver can pass, and I do it every day. Thirty seconds of patience is not too much to ask.

Yesterday I read this so now I’ve written this.

*****

I didn’t want kids, didn’t think I’d ever get married, but love and hormones conspired to make me a mom. I thought riding a bike was something that kids did; once you hit high school it was walk, bus, or drive. I assumed I’d drive a car to my job and drink coffee and have a place of my own and, if I was lucky, a dog or two. I’d have time on the weekends to go for a bike ride if I wanted and to read books and to listen to my albums (on vinyl, dammit). Yet here I find myself, almost 50, no car, two kids, no dogs, still a renter, and pedaling those kids around. Oh, and no job that pays money; as I tell anyone who will listen I’m paid in bodily fluids whether I like it or not (that’s the polite version).

Only the biking is a choice that I felt was freely made, unencumbered by the needs of others and how I can help them best. There are times that I have to force my kids into the bike or cajole them with treats the same as the moms that drive except that temper tantrums are out in the open for all to see. Of course, us talking and laughing is also out in the open for all to see and that happens more often so I think we’re good.

The comparison of car-free mom vs car-free woman without kids is apples and oranges. What you really want to compare is if doing the mom job is easier or harder without a car. I think it’s the same; it’s hard.

I went to The Warehouse Cafe the other day (a great way to shop local and buy in bulk for cheaper than Costco) and took a look at the construction around the new Clinton MAX stop. While doing this I found two new-to-me ways to get from SE 12th and Clinton to Brooklyn and points south if you’re not in the mood to take the lane on SE Milwaukie in order to cross SE Powell. The trick to both is right in front of Southeast Grind on the corner of SE 13th and Powell.

I don’t usually trust the pedestrian crossings of Powell because on that road people get plowed down while crossing legally in those crosswalks all the time (all three of those links are referring to the same crosswalk at SE 31st & Powell). It’s really more of a highway than a city street; it is US 26, but you’d think the drivers were on an elevated interstate nowhere near a city. Usually using Milwaukie to cross Powell is only fun once, and to get across it and then back home means doing it twice. Having a different option for the times that I’ve had enough and want a different way home will be great. Once construction is done on the Orange Line there’s an even better way, but it will mean a bit of hill and has the potential to be full of pedestrians, so I’m sure that this route will still be a handy tool in the toolbox even then; despite the dangers involved in using these pedestrian crossings, I can imagine that someday it will be a route I’ll need to use.

I’ve been paying attention to information put out by TriMet and thought that the soon-to-be-reopened sidewalk under Powell was going to be all that was available as a “new” crossing. I’ve ridden out there on the north side to take a look (where SE 17th turns east and is a frontage road for Powell), and there’s a step before a very steep ramp down. Once again, someone thinks that all bikes are light-weight triangles. Even without the step the grade looked too steep for a heavy bike to safely go up or down; the step just means that wheelchairs and strollers would find this ramp a no-go as well. I really don’t understand the thinking there.

The good news is that you can easily go from SE Clinton at 12th to SE Gideon St by using the east sidewalk. From Gideon take a right at SE 13th Place, and then use the beg button that’s in front of Southeast Grind. Once you’re sure ALL the cars have stopped, cross Powell and take SE 13th to anywhere you want in Brooklyn. Unless you want to be up the hill on the west side of SE Milwaulkie – I haven’t had a reason to go there so I haven’t figured that one out.

Once the MAX construction is done it will be possible to bike on a MUP (or really wide sidewalk – potayto, potahto) along Gideon, up and over Powell, and down onto SE 17th. You can kind of do this now if, instead of using that beg button in front of Southeast Grind, you stay on the sidewalk on the north side of Powell. For now it connects to the over crossing, but if you do this you aren’t following the detour signs that are sending you to the tunnel and its impossible ramps. Don’t blame me if you get yelled at by an authority figure or if those 2 sidewalks stop connecting at some time during construction. I have done it successfully and the hill of the overpass wasn’t bad loaded down with both kids and our purchases. (The link in my first paragraph to the pdf on this MAX stop includes diagrams, especially the one on page 2. If you’d like to see photos of the progress TriMet has a Flickr account devoted to the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project.)

Once the construction is finished there will be bike lanes on Powell so that northbound from Brooklyn to Clinton you can use them. They aren’t calling it a cycle track so I don’t think they are expecting bikes to head south (technically east right there) in that bike lane. Since you have to use the MUP going southbound, I can’t see why I would throw myself — and my kids — into a bike lane next to that traffic on Powell when there is a MUP right there too. The more I think about it the more I think that the MUP will probably be my preferred route to The Warehouse. TriMet also says that the bike lanes on SE Milwaukie between Powell and Gideon will be improved, but that MUP is right there. I enjoy taking the lane, but that means the full lane. Bike lanes are rarely wide enough for drivers to be passing at the speeds they are going. Family biking means keeping the family safe and that means I tend to stay away from streets with bike lanes. It’s safer in the wider, full lane and when there’s no bike lane drivers can’t be annoyed that I’m not in it. Of course, they really can’t be annoyed when I’m riding on separated infrastructure. It’s a shame we can’t trust them to respect that we have a right to get home safely too, but that’s where we’re at.

This is the current route from the Clinton Street Theater (red pin) to The Warehouse Cafe and Market (blue pin) using the sidewalk on Powell. The orange line is where we’ll be able to bike once the construction on the Orange MAX line is completed. There is a crosswalk with a button to press to make a warning light flash on SE 17th at Pershing, but drivers are not being given a red light to stop, just flashing lights around the “crosswalk ahead” sign. I don’t think this is very safe when you are crossing from east to west as the drivers coming off of Powell onto 17th tend to go too fast and you don’t have a very good line of sight due to the angle of the rise of the overpass. Crossing from west to east the line of sight worked fine. This means that when going from Clinton to Brooklyn I’ll probably go down to the signaled crossing at SE Rhine St as the map shows.

(I forgot to publish this on  July 12th. Oops. If you were under the impression I was a polished professional… well, at least you’re no longer confused.)

Recovery from my kidney stone removal took longer than I thought. Wednesday was the first that I felt like I had a “regular” day on the bike: a trip to the grocery store, a trip to a friend’s house, and a trip out to dinner with the family. I’ve just mapped it all out and added up the miles. 17.1! No wonder I’m sore! This was the first I’ve done more than just a grocery store run in a day, and the biggest ride included both kids in the bakfiets. Heavy little buggers.

The grocery store run in the morning was a simple 1.2 miles (all these are round trip) and I felt fine afterwards. The run out to my friend’s house was 4.1 miles and I didn’t notice any soreness at all. The trip out to dinner was 11.8 miles; it would’ve been shorter if we hadn’t stopped at New Seasons, but being on the tail end of a heat wave ice cream was deemed an essential item.

The wonderful part, that makes a heavy bakfiets worth it, is that the kids don’t mind. Any ride over 5 minutes and our 7-year-old complains that it’s “taking too long.” I always tell her I could go faster if she was riding her own bike. I think she doesn’t see why she should have to since her 9-year-old brother doesn’t have to; she’s still learning what it means for him to be living life with Down syndrome. Still, on long rides like the one to dinner, she would’ve needed some help to make it all the way there. We are contemplating different options. I have a feeling we are going to end up with a trail-a-bike. The Follow-Me Tandem (the official site is in German and I can’t get their “en” link to actually change the page to English) only allows up to a 20″ wheel and I’m more interested in a solution that will allow me to tow adult-sized bikes too. Until I figure out how to do that I think that a used trail-a-bike will be the best solution for us. Still comtemplating though. If you have ideas, I’d love to hear them.

Even with the regular comment I think our daughter likes napping in the bike the same way that I used to snooze in the car when I was bored, so I’m not really worried about it. What I’m worried about is that I’m getting older while they are getting bigger and I want both of them to be actively transporting themselves, not just sitting.

I’ll tell you where, into my kidney. I have a kidney stone and am apparently of the age when my health issues are a big topic of discussion. The stone is big enough that it’s impossible that it will pass, so it’s getting blasted with a laser like it’s the Death Star in a few weeks. It’s been hard to focus on anything else besides the daily grind and how to manage my pain.

However! Interesting things are happening!

There’s a new website that a mom in Philly is running which is doing something that I had thought could be a part of my mission here: Give Mom a Bike Lane is another project of Dena of BikeMAMAdelphia. She loves Philly’s Kidical Mass as much as I love PDX’s. Her project goes hand in hand with my feeling that traffic needs to slow the hell down. There was a handful of us that met here in Portland last summer to try to get a People for 20 movement going. It’s time to look into that again. I believe that the key to getting speed limits lowered where cars are in close contact with humans on foot and on bikes is to stop pretending that everyone on a bike is a scofflaw hipster or a guy in latex training for a Tour de Something. We need to take a page from the MADD playbook and change the image that pops into the general public’s mind when they think “cyclist” to a mom with kids on her bike or along side who are going to and from school, getting errands done, and going on outings. I love that Dena has gotten the ball rolling in this very direct way. (No offense intended to the Pedal Papas. I love you all too. I just think that the way into the general public’s mind is through their heart and that will be easier to do with Pedal Mamas. I base this on the way my husband is treated when he is riding our bakfiets around with the kids versus the way I am.)

Bike Portland posted an amazing piece on the way that biking has changed in Portland, and I was fortunate to attend the Portland premier of Joe Biel’s “Aftermass.” I have enough to say that those will be a separate post. I will say that for me all of these tie directly into Family Biking: what it’s been, what it is, and what it could be. There’s a lot to talk about!