PEDAL POWER
VanderTuin isn’t the only bike builder drawn to Eugene’s
bike community who then decided to stay and add to the cul-
ture.
Matthew Corson-Finnerty, who also came to Eugene and
ended up working for Bike Friday, has tapped his passion for
cycling to start a new venture focused on a different kind of
human-powered machine — machines that harness power
from motion generated by people, often in the form of modi-
fied bicycles, for any imaginable purpose.
Called Bicimakina (pronounced Bee-See-Ma-Kee-Na, a
take on the Spanish word for bike-machine, bicimaquina),
Corson-Finnerty’s goal is to draw attention to the builders of
these machines in the hopes of increasing awareness of alter-
native technologies based on what he calls “freely available
human power.”
The inspiration for the project came to him, he said, when he
visited southern Central America to take part in an NGO commu-
nity project in San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala, called Maya Pedal.
That project, which is still in existence today, provides locals
with bikes and human-powered machines that perform everyday
tasks like de-graining corn, preparing coffee beans and pumping
water, among other tasks.
In an area where access to electricity and fuel can be scarce
and expensive, it is not an exaggeration to say the project has
been a lifesaver.
Incidentally, the experience proved to be a life-changer for
Corson-Finnerty, who says he had never built bikes, let alone
bike machines, before volunteering for Maya Pedal.
Now he wants to take his experience on the road in the
form of a web-series that will follow him as he travels the
country, by bike of course, interviewing builders along the
way. He plans to start the trip with a sendoff in Eugene in
September.
“My vision with this project is to create the go-to resource
for all things human powered, and to foster a community of
makers that’ll have a multiplier effect,” Corson-Finnerty said.
“Because singularly, we’re doing some interesting things, and
together it’ll just up the ante.”
THOMAS POWERS OF PEDALERS EXPRESS
While Bicimakina’s main goal isn’t necessarily to promote
biking as alternative transportation, the fact that it came into
being in Eugene speaks volumes about the bike culture here,
and how invested the members of the bike community are in
promoting and growing that culture.
AND THEY WILL BIKE
However, an active cycling community is just one piece
of the long and complex process comprising the growth and
maintenance of a vibrant, sustainable bike culture in Eugene.
There is likely very little that would dissuade the most
diehard cyclists, but in order to bring more people into the
fold and get more people to choose to bike instead of drive,
it is incumbent on city government to provide adequate in-
frastructure.
The convenience of driving, especially when gas prices
are low, is enough to keep the majority of commuters in their
cars. That is a fact unlikely to change any time in the near
future.
But that isn’t the only reason more people aren’t biking.
After convenience, the most often cited reason for not com-
muting by bicycle is the perception that biking isn’t safe, and
a lack of awareness of existing options (see also Brad Fos-
ter’s piece in this issue).
While it is true that Eugene has more biking infrastructure
than most cities its size, much of that infrastructure is out-
dated and doesn’t meet current safety standards.
Of the streets that do feature bike lanes or are shared-use,
many also have adjacent parking, creating a hazard known as
“dooring,” where a motorist will open their door in front of
an oncoming cyclist before they can react.
Additionally, many bike lanes are uncomfortably narrow.
For the novice cyclist, these two factors alone can be enough
to discourage them from biking more often.
Fortunately for cyclists, city officials are aware of these
problems and are working to address them. Somewhat less
fortunate is the fact that the necessary improvements can be
costly, and with increasingly scarce resources, those projects
can be difficult to fund.
But at least two major improvements are likely to be fin-
ished in the next two years.
Reed Dunbar, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian planner,
said two major priorities for Eugene are an expansion of the
Amazon bike corridor and installing a protected bikeway on
13th Avenue between downtown and the University of Or-
egon campus.
Dunbar said those projects should be completed in time for
the 2021 IAAF World Championships, a much-anticipated,
world-class track and field event to be held at Hayward Field
that summer.
So, while there are challenges for Eugene in terms of
growing its cycling culture, it also has a firm foundation on
which to build — a foundation that has benefited from a pas-
sionate and dedicated cycling community and a city govern-
ment that has been willing to support that growth, even when
resources aren’t abundant.
Dunbar said the ultimate goal is to reach a platinum-level
status in the near-term, and even shoot for being the first city
to be rated as a diamond-level biking city.
Those are ambitious goals, to be sure. But if there’s a
city that can do it, Eugene may very well be it.▪
eugeneweekly.com • A pril 19, 2018
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