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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on April 27, 2008 1:51 AM. The previous post in this blog was Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. The next post in this blog is What's the opposite of a Jail Blazer?. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble | Main | What's the opposite of a Jail Blazer? »

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Coming soon to Portland

A bike rental program. It comes with a catch: The local government will have to get into bed with some advertising weasels.

Posted at 1:51 AM | Permalink

Comments (13)

Because the advertising revenue model worked so well for Wi-Fi, it would be a shame if we didn't try it with bicycles.

Yellow Bike, anyone?

Posted by Mister Tee | April 27, 2008 4:38 AM

Why not locate the rental bike racks within the new bike boxes. That way motorists will be able to choose a "better" form of transportation. The $40 membership for the chance to be charged $200 when the bike is stolen is a little too risky for my tastes. You have to love the District of Columbia college senior who stated "I’d probably use it more in the summer than winter,” “But for $40? That’s cheaper than gas.”

Posted by dhughes609 | April 27, 2008 8:04 AM

My husband and I went to Paris last fall, and the Velib program is a rousing success there. I saw Parisians on the rented bikes all over the place, and the people we talked to just raved about the ease and convenience of the bikes. Paris for me is all about the walking, so we didn't rent bikes -- but it seems like a great idea, frankly, and I was wondering when US cities would be getting something like this.

Posted by SP | April 27, 2008 10:47 AM

This ain't Paris. Let's see how quickly the City Fathers can make some bad choices and make this not work.

Posted by Jack Bog | April 27, 2008 11:52 AM

The program will not provide helmets but does encourage their use.

Let the brain injuries (and civil suits) begin.

Posted by none | April 27, 2008 2:54 PM

In Washington, SmartBike subscribers who keep bicycles longer than the three-hour maximum will receive demerits and could eventually lose renting privileges.

Is it just me or does a 3-hour limit seem a little short?

Posted by none | April 27, 2008 2:57 PM

$40.00 bucks to ride in the wet...Brillient!

Posted by KISS | April 27, 2008 3:22 PM

Brillent Morans!

Posted by Mister Tee | April 27, 2008 3:30 PM

Is it just me or does a 3-hour limit seem a little short?

Not when you take into account that these are one-way rentals, not round trip. There's no point in hanging on to to the rental at your destination when you can be assured that the rack you dropped the bike off at, will still have bikes available when you need to return. And face it, three hours on a bike is more than enough time to reach anywhere there are racks in Paris.

And to assure there are indeed bikes available, they regularly shuttle them around as needed - I saw this with my own eyes.

But space racks too far apart, or don't maintain this balance, then yes, the system won't work.

Posted by john rettig | April 28, 2008 12:53 AM

Hmm. Government types should be able to mate successfully with advertising weasel types. I think they're the same species.

Posted by Dave | April 28, 2008 5:05 AM

The irrational exhuberance for bikes as an impacting mode of transportation has grown to the level of a religious cult.

In reality the bike is a bike and used by far too few people for the mode to mean anything of any significance in the transportation arena.

All the yammering about choice, alternatives and sustainabily won't change a thing. It will only serve to perpetuate the cult.

Posted by Hal | April 28, 2008 8:07 AM

Catering to the whims of a tiny, vocal minority is easier than actually doing the right thing for the busy, uninvolved majority. It's what passes for "leadership" around here, don't you know?

Posted by cc | April 28, 2008 8:54 AM

locally, i think the worst thing that happened to bicycling is its appropropriation as a hipsterism.

so it becomes faddish, rather than part of the social fabric; a genuinely meaningful, widely-used option.

and those locals who swoon over Amsterdam bicycling popularity forget this. there, it's a multi-generational, practical mode for a (mostly) flat city--*not* a faddish, cliche-ridden pop culture earnestness requiring riding naked, in costume, or welding three bikes together and donning a clown nose to appear "cool".

Posted by ecohuman.com | April 28, 2008 9:43 AM

In Vino Veritas

Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 54
At this date last year: 50
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269