[QUOTE=Leisesturm;14950215]
>>I found Hillsboro.<<
Riding in Hillsboro itself seems pretty idyllic. But it seems hard to get from Hillsboro to downtown? Generally I think the West Hills and points west is a tough commute? My kids used to go to school in Forest Heights and I'd ride there from downtown for meetings, the 3 inch wide bike lane on Cornell (or whatever you call the sliver of pavement between the fog line and the broken pavement edge), the 50 mph vehicle speed, and the hills always made that no fun. Fun when you're out on a Sunday ride with the light bike, not fun in evening rush-hour with work clothes and 20 lb of stuff in your bags.
>>How long have you been a Portland Cyclist? Actually, I wish they would just turn and get on with life. I'm not going to get to the intersection for at least 8 seconds, even at 16 mph.<<
About 6 years. Definitely Portland drivers are more bike savvy than anywhere else I've lived, even when I first came here. I've noticed more awareness of right-hooking in the last couple of years. There are green "bike boxes" and special "yield to bikes" signs popping up everywhere, plus ghost bikes and the well publicized truck-crushing deaths of some photogenic young women that got a lot of press. There is still this awkward part, as you said, when the driver waits a long time as you're huffing slowly along and you wonder if his patience is going to crack just as you get there. But sometimes you're whistling along at 20+ mph and you worry that the driver may not realize some bikes are moving faster than others.
>>Why amber? That would only confuse cagers.<<
They would be, in effect, running lights.
>>Everything you buy these days has reflective material applied to it<<
My stuff is pretty old - 7 y/o Burley jacket, 20 y/o Timbuktu messenger bag, not a lot of reflective stuff on it. On the tires, at least one brand I've seen (Rubena) used retro-reflective sidewalls which reflect from any angle - you don't have to be square-on to the bike, even approaching at three-quarters, the sidewalls shine brightly. The downside is they seem rather heavy. I don't have reflective tires currently, maybe when the current ones wear out.