Mark & Mike's Grand Adventure - West End Bikes

Ok, this is right up front - a plug for Mark and Mike's new store here in Portland - West End Bikes.

West End is opening their doors at 1111 SW Stark Street Portland, OR 97205 - (503) 208-2933

I've known Mark Ontiveros a long time and this baby is close to his heart. All the love of cycling he exuded for years comes to fruition in this new Specialized Concept store - once inside and you look around the feeling is immediately, 'this is what a bike shop should feel like.' There are old stores that are cool, and I have been in many across the US and Europe, but creating a new shop from scratch that has this kinda vibe is not easy - Mark and Mike France, is business partner, with the support of Specialized bikes, have pulled it off.

Jonathan Maus, on bikeportland.org said, "West End Bikes is likely to become one of the top shops in town the moment it opens for business. And in Portland, that's saying something."

See photos and Jonathan's other thoughts on A sneak peek inside West End Bikes - take a look, it's a shop worth getting excited about.

John (Hatfield, alias 'stokerboy') and I are proud to be wearing West End kits when we race the Calfee tandem this season. The new WEB kits can be seen a few photos down in Jonathan's article.

Three feet closer to the most bike friendly city in America

Yesterday the City of Portland took not one step, but three, getting three feet closer to making cyclists of every ilk safer in the nation's most bike friendly city. And in reality we get five feet and a few tons of metal (parked cars) as an additional barricade to the rush of motorists.

Thanks to Mayor Adams, staff and the folks at Portland Bureau of Transportation, you will undoubtedly receive your share of "fan mail" from city motorists on this one, but stick to it, call on us for support and know that thousands of us now and many tens of thousands in the future applaud you for the effort and foresight.

I won't repeat all the details as Jonathan Maus and staff at BikePortland.org did a wonderful job covering in over on their site:

First look at Portland’s inaugural cycle track

In addition, we are going to need your support to keep the momentum (and courage of city officials) - please write them an email and offer your encouragement!

UPDATE - apparently we need your positive reaction more than we thought: City reacts to the new cycle track
Please let the mayor's office know bike lanes are a positive: emailing the Mayor's office