If this was done on purpose, I hope they catch whoever did this...
Jeremy Dunn, a Portland cyclist, found something strange on his path while he as riding westbound on the bike lane on NE Marine Drive. A piece of tar paper with thumb-tacks pushed through it so they are perpendicular to the ground, just about the width of the bike lane. He took the photos shown above and below and contacted BikePortland to report the incident.
While it's impossible to be 100% sure that this was done on purpose - it could be a piece of construction debris of just the right size that just happened to be set there - it appears very unlikely, especially since it's not the first time that this happens around that area. One commenter going by the name of "Lunchrider" wrote: "I got hit last week. At exactly that spot I didn't even notice the tar paper. Let me tell you double flats are no fun. I didn't even think of a hostile attack just put it up to bad luck, and had a friend from work pick me up, it was after all my luchrider. I ride this area 5 days a week and have NEVER had any problem's with any driver." So if people pick up the strips when they notice it, chances are that the one found this week wasn't the same one as last week, which means that someone is adding new ones...
Fortunately, Dunn and his riding mate didn't flat. "We had our heads up and avoided it because it looked like refuse," he said, "but we came across another rider about a mile down the road who had mysteriously double flatted." Marine Drive is a very popular bike route and it's also a high-speed arterial road with only one standard vehicle lane in each direction. It's not hard to imagine that some people simply don't like the presence of bikes out there. It's worth noting that this incident comes just about one month after well over 20 people flatted on tacks thrown on bike lanes in North Portland.If you are in Portland and have seen anything like this, please let me know in the comment below. And if you've seen who did this, even better, let the local authorities know.
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It's absurd, sometimes, what people think is a good idea. There are a lot of posts that advocate for better infrastructure, but here, the infrastructure seems to be in place. What is wrong with people?
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