A lot of Oregons' road infrastructure went to hell under Kitzhaubers governership, who you guys just re-elected. In one instance, I escorted a heavy load that was supposed to go from Portland to the Canyonville area. The bridges on I-5 were so bad, the load had to go over Mt. Hood (Hwy 26) to 97 and the down to Klamath Falls and then down to I-5. And by the way, Oregon charges heavy (actually all trucks over 55,000 pounds gross weight) by the mile. The heavier the load, the more they are charged, which is fair. It's just that there were several hundred miles added on because of the poor bridge maintenance.
I'm just a casual bike commuter and I didn't find this surprising. I've never personally talked with a bike commuter who hasn't been injured. I'm overly cautious and ride a hybrid which I think handles potholes and the like better than something with a lighter frame and thinner tires. So far no injury. I feel vindicated, though, in always wearing my helmet, even though I regularly get told how much I look like an idiot. (At least, I think it's because of the helmet....)
btw, Sarah, your punctuation is atrocious. You've got comma splices galore. Normally I don't like to pick grammatical nits, but they're in nearly every paragraph above. Sometimes there are several per paragraph.
good luck waiting on our city government to perform maintenance of any kind. Didn't city council just take out a $3 million loan just to do minor park maintenance?
I don't bike around Portland because it is too risky. You literally put your life in the hands of every yahoo on the street. When I drive around, I see how easy it would be for me to miscalculate, be distracted, not see, and have a collision with a bike. Also, I have this sense that there is a small section of drivers who are hostile to bicyclists. Furthermore, I would think that casual riding in the neighborhood would be safer than commuting where people ride on heavily used streets during the commute hour.
Also, I originally misunderstood the math on this and wrote that 25% of cyclists experience an injury. It's actually 22 percent.
btw, Sarah, your punctuation is atrocious. You've got comma splices galore. Normally I don't like to pick grammatical nits, but they're in nearly every paragraph above. Sometimes there are several per paragraph.