I was up early early again with delayed text messages coming through too early. After failing to get to sleep for another hour or so I headed down for a dip in the pool, cos i ain't no sleeping in fool. Muster point was breakfast at 8. More of the team were assembling, we were now Peter, David, Grant, Heinz, Bob and myself. After packing in preparation for room relocation whilst watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Bob and I headed off to the Portland Aerial Tram terminal to meet with John Landolfe to talk about bike infrastructure there, starting with the bike valet service.
We were also treated to a full tour of how the tram itself works by Gary. A great, enthusiastic tour. But one of the things I couldn't get out of my mind was that there's no way that you could have a tour like this in the UK without a full risk assessment and safety goggles!
John was very generous with his time, and as well as sharing information about the measures introduced at Oregon Health & Science University (OSHU). Including the bike valet there was secure parking, free transit on the aerial tram and other stuff, which ashamedly this late in the day i forget slightly
After our chat about wider issues with cycling in Portland I took the tram back up as advised by a passer by to cruise back down town.
In the evening we were guests at a drinks reception for the Oregon Active Transportation Summit.
On Friday we had a tour of Chris king first thing in the morning. It's good to see manufacturing blah.... Peter and I had to slip out early and hot foot it over town to see Mia Birk at Alta design. We were able to conduct an interview and garner her take on the bicycle advocacy scene in Portland and america and what is needed to improve the situation and she also gave her response to the idea that Portland is falling behind other cities... obviously many of them have a way to catch up. A few of the points I found particularly interesting included that when asked what other cities these are that are catching up included Minneapolis Chicago , and of course, New York. So we're on the right track for our trip.
We then had a tour of Oregon State University Architecture and product design department
The back to Rapha HQ for some press calls. Met Jonathan Mause, who's bikeportland.org is a big resource not just for Portland, but also a good resource for anyone interested in the biking scene... you can read more about his history here.. it was interesting to have an exchange of ideas around biking and the scene in Portland...
I very much wanted to spend some more time on the south side of town cruising around, but with dinner plans and a need for some last minute kit led to a wistful wander round and beer in the sun before heading out for dinner and a reasonably early night.
This post has become slightly perfunctory now as the days have been so busy, so I will need to come back to it, and add more details over the coming weeks. It was a very packed time in Portland and the hospitality was outstanding... Thanks you all so much.
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