Bike Train PDX

Congrats on the Gomez family for being the first bike rental family! They get two bikes and a child carrier for a month to try out biking their school (Beach). See you on the road!

sorry for the poor picture – I forget that I was charging the battery for my fancy camera and had to use my phone

first bike rental family!

Last Wednesday Sabin had a little bike to school day. The principal agreed to paint his hair if more than 75 people rode to school. It was an overcast day with the threat of rain looming and the sixth and kindergardeners where out on field trips but 120 people still managed to ride to school. What was amazing for me was how little effort it took to rally all those people, just the promise of a principal dying his hair, hot chocolate, and a few emails. A year ago getting 120 people to bike to Sabin would have been unimaginable but over this past year biking to school has become “accepted” and something Sabin “does”. There is a real pride in that and events like this help to solidify biking into the cultural history of Sabin. Here are some pictures from the event!

the meet up spot at 20th and going

the principal picked two students that biked to dye his hair

We had three special guests(from left to right): Greg the city of portland bike safety coordinator, Ronald a bike planner from the netherlands, and Ben an Umbrella board member

Yesterday I was at Beach School doing a bike to school day, talking with parents, raffling off stuff, where I took these pictures before school and after school starts.

On Friday I did a “bike to school day” at Abernethy and I was very impressed by the system they have in place for promoting walking and biking to school. I really like how it creates a little community place in the morning and also serves to acknowledge kids and parents that walk and bike. There are four parent volunteers and every Friday two of them get to school a bit early and bring out a giant laminated map and a sign in sheet that has the names of everyone in the school with check boxes next to them. Anyone that walked or biked to school can put a check next to their name and a sticker on the map showing where they came from. You could even put the bike train route on the map so people could see how close they are to the train.

Once every month or so the principal pulls out some names of kids that signed in during lunch time in front of the entire school and gives those kids some prizes. The bike trains at Abernethy only run once a month. They found that a lot of people already bike to school and it was more difficult to get those families to be interested in waiting at the stops. There route and stops are the same routes and stops as the school bus. So instead of hoping on the bus you can just bring your bike and hop on the bike train.

The other big event at Abernethy is the “Tour De Ladd” where they close off some streets in Ladd’s Addition and kids bike around it to raise money for the school. Last year they raised $14,000 and this year it looks like they will have raised even more. Here is a news video clip from the event last year. Channel 8 Tour De Ladd

Lots of great ideas! I’m going to be sharing more as I visit more school. Here are some pictures, sorry for the low camera phone quality.

in the hallway of the school is this big board with info about walk and bike

putting stars next to their houses on the left

kids signing in

this is a little shelter out front of Abernethy that they use

Last weekend I hit the road and talked to people at the Sunday Parkway and the 350 climate convergence that Laura, a bike train parent, helped organize. It was great to see how many people already knew what a bike train was and how many people had seen one roll by. A lot of time we just focus on how bike trains can help a school community get more connected to bicycling but I also think it was a positive impact on getting other people in the community to enjoy biking. My favorite moment was at the Sunday Parkway when a guy was excitingly telling his girlfriend all about what a bike train was. I didn’t even have to say a thing!

at the 350 event next to the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition

camped out in Alberta Park during sunday parkways

hiding under the tent during the 10 minute freak rain storm

Who will be the first family to take advantage of this great program? Start spreading the word!

Bikeportland.org did a great summary of the get together. Check it out here.

Thanks everyone for coming it was an amazing experience to see so many families there. It was the largest meeting of families talking about biking to school perhaps in the history of the city. It was also on of my greatest highlights in my year+ of organizing biking to school things.

Come learn about the bike rental program, meet other families, and talk about ways to make biking to school a great thing Bring your family. We will have food, legos, and buckets to make/decorate!
Please RSVP biketrainpdx@gmail.com

Schools currently represented (as of 9/19)
1. Sabin
2. Beach
2. Buckman
4. Emerson
5. Creative Science
6. Beverly Cleary
7. Trillium
8. Dexter McCarty Middle School

At the Bike Train party Bill Griesar was named the bike train conductor of the year. This award goes to a parent who has helped to transform their school into a more bicycle friendly place.

This past year Bill lead the Sabin bike train, which held on to the Golden Bike for the most months of any school. He was helped organized a “bike rodeo day” at Sabin only to be stopped a week before the event was about to happen by the school administration, he also volunteered at the after school bike club, going on weekly bike rides with Sabin kids. Lastly, he donated money and organized the building of a very cool metal covered bike rack at Sabin. Way to go Bill and congratulations!

Bill with another Sabin parent and Meeky Blizzard, one of Congressman Earl Blumenhauers aids

making bike buckets

the Sabin bike shelter

at the grand opening for the bike shelter with metal welder Matt Cartwright

helping to lead the bike train group in the mississippi bike circus parade

Last week we had our beginning of the school year bike train party. It was inspiring to see so many people come out to show support for bike trains. The event was hosted by Crank bike shop in SE Portland. Coalition Brewery donated a keg of beer, and the Laurelhurst Whole Foods provided some snacks. We also had a bucket building station as well as a flag making station. The event had several goals, to spread the word about bike trains, allow bike train parents to network, celebrate bike train parents, and raise money for the bike rental program. During the event we raised over $500, enough to double what we currently have for the bike rental program. Check out some of the pictures below and hope to see everyone again next year!