The CUB Cycling Crew: Half the Staff Shares Why They Love to Ride

As a non-profit organization that is also Oregon’s primary consumer advocate for investor-owned utility customers…we clearly attract employees that have a passion for the work we do. What has been surprising to us is that we have also attracted a number of hard-core commuter cyclists. In fact, of our eight employees, four ride their bikes to work regularly and two of those deliver a child to/from daycare along the way.

The Census Bureau estimates that about 7% of Portlanders rode their bikes to work in 2015. That is a little more than 17,000 cyclists; of these, 37% are women and 80% wear helmets. This puts CUB Cycling Crew way above the PDX average with our 50% commuter rate, 50% female participation AND 100% heads covered with helmets. (We knew they were smart when we hired them!)

Now it is generally known that Portland is – along with Minneapolis, San Francisco, Washington DC and Seattle – a great American city for biking. So, I thought I would check in with our cycling staff to see why they love to bike to work (and/or anywhere else for that matter)!

Liz Jones – Staff Attorney – is a commuting parent, and has ridden her bike extensively in both Portland and Minneapolis.

There is never a day that I regret commuting to work by bike. The benefits of exercise, free parking, and a quicker/less stressful commute are reason enough to bike, but I’ve found a real unexpected joy in taking my daughter to daycare by bike as well. When we bike, we are more engaged and have an interactive experience with our daily commute that doesn’t exist when I am behind the wheel of the car. That includes conversations with other bikers and pedestrians while waiting at a cross walk, discussing the ducks and ducklings we pass on the bike path, and the daily rendition of ‘row, row, row your boat’ when we reach the path along the Willamette. For these reasons, biking has become a daily highlight and much more than a form of transportation.

I am a native Minnesotan and for many years Minneapolitans have been engaged in an epic battle with Portland to claim the ‘Most Bike Friendly City’ status. Since moving to Portland, I’ve realized that most Portlanders have no idea that this battle is even taking place. Still, the similarities between Portland and Minneapolis’ biking culture far outnumber the differences. Both cities have bike-sharing programs, paths that follow the rivers that the cities were built around, and devoted bikers that will ride through all elements. In both places, you will find a local bike shop in every neighborhood, bike racks on buses and light-rail, and city planners eager to discuss where the next bike lane should go.

However, there is one very noticeable difference between the two cities that I have observed. Portland drivers seem completely indifferent to, or at least very tolerant of, bikers that flout the rules. In the past week alone, I’ve seen a group of bikers stop traffic as they rode the wrong direction on a one way street while also blowing through a red light; an elderly biking woman chastise a driver who had drifted into the bike lane; and more ‘jay-biking’ than I could even count. Not once did a driver honk their horn, shout at the bikers, or wave their middle finger. For as much as Minnesotans live up to their “nice” reputation, from my experience, Minnesota drivers are much keener to forcefully inform bikers if they are breaking the rules.

Mike Goetz – Staff Attorney – is a mountain biker as well as a commuter.

I love the exercise and getting my blood flowing in the morning, I love the ease of getting around town without worrying about traffic or parking, I love maintaining a carbon-free mode of transport around town, and I love the varied terrain that biking in Portland offers - from mountain biking in Forest Park to road riding along the riverfront.

Sarah Ryan-Knox – Paralegal and Office Manager – cycles as a way of life and loves the magic she finds along the way. 

Ernest Hemingway said, “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.”

There are lots of reasons I ride my bike. Being a cyclist is similar to being a vegetarian—people always ask why. They’ll wonder if I’m doing it for the exercise, or for the financial savings, or because I want to save the planet. I say that I ride for all of those reasons, but there are other reasons too. Biking meets my need to feel excited, lively and adventurous. A little risk and opportunities for a ‘thrill’ can be part of every ride. There are other reasons for riding too. Before I get to those, here’s some background.

I grew up in car-centric Ohio suburbia, and I never considered that I could get around by bike. My house was only 2.5 miles from my school, and yet when I missed the bus, or my mom was late to pick me up from school, the only solution was to wait for a ride. I wish I’d known then that pure freedom could have been mine, with a bicycle!

Freedom is a big reason why I love cycling. It’s about being outside, the wind in my face, and the sights and sounds of life in the city. Cycling also allows time to see so much more than other forms of transport. There is something just right about the speed of a bike. I can cover more ground than walking, and I can see much more than from a car. Cycling is the way I learn the lay of the land.

On the sad occasions when I’ve lost a bike to theft, I’ve felt a terrible loss, a physical loss almost, as if a limb is missing. That said, I’ve come a long way from my high school years and am an official bike nut, owning three bikes! Biking in heavy rain is unpleasant, but improvements in breathable waterproof clothing make that much more bearable, so the rain doesn’t stop my daily commute.

Cycling seems to be an activity you can keep improving at well past the conventional sporting peak of your late 20s. I honestly wonder why anyone would want to have a cycle exercise machine or go to a spinning class? Just get on a bike and go somewhere!

Now here are some of the little perks that come from bike riding:

The fun: rolling along a city street on which car traffic is stopped; purposely riding through the radius of an arched bike sprinkler at City Bikes on SE Ankeny during a Portland heat wave; the socks – socks with dancing flamenco dancers, and socks with red, white and blue, proclaiming VOTE; the guilt-free ride after a cocktail or glass of wine; riding next to another cyclist who’s playing jazz on a speaker in his backpack; the rainbow-colored, illuminated, glow in the dark, art bikes.

Making connections: few other activities seem to inspire such camaraderie among strangers; long, rangy conversations with strangers and friends, when you talk about things you wouldn’t seem to be able to off the bike; coming out of a shop to find someone you don’t know admiring your bike; a free wheel replacement from Cory, the owner of Seven Corners Bikes, when I walked in crying, because of a punctured tire, and I was 7 months pregnant!

Going against the grain: figuring out how to carry all the groceries home; people in cars, AC on full blast during a heat wave, staring out at as if I’m crazy; the snot rocket: necessary antidote to both maturity and the sometimes overwhelming demands of civilization; not having to worry about parking!

The amazing sensations: the rubber-and-oil smell of a bike shop; full-finger gloves on an autumn day; the inexplicable ability to feel the rider behind you ... and to somehow know when s/he’s no longer there; hills - like anything else, they get so much easier with practice; arriving at a destination and peeling off soaking wet rain gear and feeling like a superhero after changing into dry, presentable; the buzz of a fast descent.

Samuel Pastrick – Consumer Advocate and Membership Manager – has ridden a bike, almost daily, since college and to/from work since he arrived in Portland seven years ago.

I ride my bike most every day for a handful of reasons. I can’t begin to rank them because I feel differently about their relative importance depending on the week, season, or even day.

In general, though, I bike every day because it’s really convenient. I can get to work, or anywhere else in Portland, quickly and on my own terms, irrespective of traffic or anything else going on – even weather outside of, perhaps, lots of snow.

I bike because it meets my “I’ll do my small part” ethos. I’m careful not to carry much of an impact. I do my best to eat organic, low meat, recycle, wait as long as I can to turn on the furnace in the fall, and turn it off as quickly as possible in the spring. I’ve weatherized our apartment to be as efficient as possible, and, to the great dismay of my fiancé, keep our thermostat firmly at 64 in the winter. On top of all this, I simply try not to use our car outside of weekend trips. Biking is a huge part of that.

In truth, I bike because I require the daily exercise to remain anywhere close to balanced. Biking clears my head in the morning before work and offers a needed breather at the end of each day.

Finally, I bike because I can. I’m able bodied and live close enough to work to get there on a bike. It’s just the best option for me.

To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

• Share this post on Facebook.
• Share this post on LinkedIn.
• Share this post with email.

« Back