BikePortland Podcast

Brandon Mullen has spent 12 years working in city and regional government: Now he wants to enter the political ring. Mullen is running for Portland City Council District 3 (SE). His expansive platform reflects his urban planning and transportation experience, as well as stints managing projects for City of Portland and Metro.

Brandon rolled over to The Shed yesterday and we had an expansive conversation that touched on everything from basketball (we're both big fans) to budgets. If you live in D3 and want help figuring out how best to rank the 10 (so far) candidates, you need to listen to this episode.

Links:

• BikePortland Podcast archive https://bikeportland.org/cats/podcast
• Brandon Mullen campaign website
• Brandon Mullen campaign IG

*BikePortland - Community Journalism Since 2005*

• Latest news on our website (aka "blog"): https://bikeportland.org/
• Subscribe and support: https://bikeportland.org/support
• BikePortland on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bikeportland/
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• BikePortland Podcast: https://bikeportland.org/cats/podcast

A Simple Machine is more than just a film, it’s a deeply Portland project that brings our beautiful city and the humble bicycle to the big screen while presenting important and relevant themes that many of us can relate to.

I recently sat down in The Shed with Evan P. Schneider, who wrote the book, A Simple Machine, Like the Lever (Propeller Books) that inspired the film; and Mark Alan Hoffman, the film’s creator and director. We talked about the creative process, the film’s deeper meanings, how Evan’s story from 2011 still resonates in 2026, and much more. Evan even read a few passages from the book!

Pull up a chair or turn up the volume and join us for a chat in the Shed.

Links:

• A Simple Machine official website
• A Simple Machine: Like the Lever book (2011 Propeller Books)
• Oregon premiere screening at Panorama Film Festival 4/16

*BikePortland - Community Journalism Since 2005*

• Latest news on our website (aka "blog"): https://bikeportland.org/
• Subscribe and support: https://bikeportland.org/support
• BikePortland on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bikeportland/
• BikePortland on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bikeportland.bsky.social
• BikePortland Podcast: https://bikeportland.org/cats/podcast

In this episode I talked with Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) Executive Director Chuck

Kenlan. OBRA just wrapped up their annual meeting and the 2026 racing season kicked off last weekend. I asked Chuck about: the health of bike racing in Oregon, some of the big and exciting races, how OBRA remains an inclusive and welcoming organization, how their transgender participation policy has changed in recent years, and much more.

Links:

OBRA website

OBRA 2025 Annual Report

*BikePortland - Community Journalism Since 2005*

1. Latest news on our website (aka "blog"): https://bikeportland.org/
2. Subscribe and support: https://bikeportland.org/support
3. BikePortland on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bikeportland/
4. BikePortland on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bikeportland.bsky.social
5. BikePortland Podcast: https://bikeportland.org/cats/podcast

The Oregon Legislature passed a bill in the 2026 session, House Bill 4007, that changes several laws around e-bikes and things like e-scooters, e-skateboards, one-wheels, e-unicycles, and more. For the first time, Oregon law defines "powered micromobility device." HB 4007 also lowered the legal age for riding a Class 1 (no throttle, 20 mph max speed) e-bike from 16 to 14 and the bill makes it illegal for retailers to sell e-motorcycles as "e-bikes."

I interviewed Oregon Micromobility Network (OMN) leader and Street Trust Board Member Cameron Bennett to learn more about the bill. OMN is a project of The Street Trust and Bennett is a self-described, "champion of things with small wheels."

Links:

1. HB 4007 Bill Overview
2. Coverage on BikePortland
3. Announcement from OMN about bill's passage

Tom is running for one of the three District 3 seats on Portland City Council. He's a community organizer who founded Asian American Town, a platform that supported Asian American makers, entrepreneurs and small business owners. In this interview with BikePortland Editor & Publisher Jonathan Maus, Tom shares his views on transportation-related topics like: bike lanes on Sandy Blvd., where to park cars, Vision Zero, the 82nd Avenue Transit Project, the city's public outreach problems, and more. He also explains his general platform which is heavy on building economic resilience for Portland by starting with small businesses and the people who own and work at them.

Links:

1. Tom's campaign website
2. Tom's IG
3. Asian American Town
4. City of Portland 2026 Election website

Portland-based economist, co-founder of No More Freeways, and publisher of City Observatory Joe Cortright talks about the massive new cost estimate for the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program in this interview with BikePortland's Jonathan Maus.

Links

1. Joe's blog post with all the details
2. Video of this interview on YouTube
3. Willamette Week story
4. Joint Interim Committee on Transportation Oversight 1/14/26 meeting on "cost overruns"

Very excited to share this episode with the two leading generals in the War on Cars, Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon. They joined us at Bike Happy Hour last night during their visit to Portland to promote their new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.

Sarah is a writer and former editor at Streetsblog and Doug is a bike advocate extraordinaire who joined with Sarah and (Streetsblog founding editor) Aaron Naparstek to create The War on Cars podcast in 2018. That pod is now a huge success and this book is an extension of their efforts to mainstream a low-car world.

We had a wonderful conversation, made even more special in front of the energy of the live audience. Thanks for listening and please support and subscribe to BikePortland if you value my unique brand of community-building journalism. I rely on individuals like you to support this work! Subscribe today here.

Link: Life After Cars book website with links to purchase!

*BikePortland - Community Journalism Since 2005*

• Latest news on our website (aka "blog"): https://bikeportland.org/
• Subscribe and support: https://bikeportland.org/support
• BikePortland on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bikeportland/
• BikePortland on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bikeportland.bsky.social 
• BikePortland Podcast: https://bikeportland.org/cats/podcast

Abdulrahman "Abe" Alkhamees is the man behind The Paperclip, which I've followed for years on Instagram for his excellent photography and profiles of riders and framebuilders. Abe's latest project is a square-bound magazine. He stopped by the Shed with a copy to tell me about his inspiration, what stories made the cut, and more. We also talked about his inspiration and background.

Pre-orders for the $25 magazine are open until November 14th. Half the proceeds from sales will be donated to the Gaza Sunbirds paralympic cycling team, who are one of the stories featured in the issue.

Links:

• BikePortland writeup with short video highlights from this interview.
• The Paperclip website where you can pre-order.
• The Paperclip on IG

Two years ago this week I was in Manhattan covering the Vision Zero Cities conference hosted by the great nonprofit Transportation Alternatives. At a panel discussion titled, Supersized SUVs, Mega Trucks, and Regulatory Failure, one of the speakers made me sit up and take notice: He railed against feckless leadership that wouldn't improve bus service, critiqued the "war on cars," called for higher taxes on large vehicles that are more prone to kill people, and spoke about traffic victims and transportation policy with the candor, clarity and conviction you'd expect from an activist.

But this wasn't an activist. It was an elected official. He was a member of the state assembly named Zohran Mamdani. Yes, the same Mamdani who might very well be New York City's next mayor in a few weeks.

This audio from that 2023 conference is a detailed view inside Mamdani's mind and it reveals how he approaches what are still some the most important road safety and transportation topics of the day.

Links:

• BikePortland recap of this panel discussion
• Mamdani campaign website
• Please support this work! Subscribe today!

1000 Friends of Oregon Transportation Policy Manager Cassie Wilson has worked for over a year as a leader with the Move Oregon Forward coalition in hopes of passing a transportation bill that goes beyond freeway expansion megaprojects and continues the march toward better transit, bicycling, and walking conditions statewide.

As someone who's been in the trenches on this effort for more than a year now, I wanted to check in to see what's on her mind and how she's feeling as the bill has been whittled down to almost nothing and might be headed to referral.

Links:

• BikePortland coverage of the bill.
• 1000 Friends of Oregon
• HB 3991 Bill Overview