How do you "cater" to two-wheels?

Are all those people unwelcome everywhere else? I don't understand.

I was surprised, honestly, at the uproar that welled up on a local listserve about Christian Ettinger (former Laurelwood brewmaster)'s new someday-to-open brewpub which will cater to bicyclists, scooterists and motorcyclists.

When something caters to bikes and motorcycles, is it excluding cars? It could be, but it's more likely that it will have facilities that make it easier for bicyclists and scooterists. And if you don't ride, you just might not know how important these things can be.

Like motorists, two-wheeled travelers see their vehicle as both transportation and a matter of pride. It might have cost a lot of money or show many hours of hard work. And we're unhappy when we come out and find parts missing, stuff messed with, or our beloved vehicle gone entirely.

And Portlanders overwhelmingly are two-wheel crazy. We bicycle, we scoot, we ride motorcycles—and we rejoice in these things. They're fun!

So what do two-wheels need? Secure and sheltered parking that will allow them (us!) to lock up and feel reasonably confident that our transportation will still be there when we come out.

For bicycles, an example of a business that does this well is the original Lucky Lab on Hawthorne. There is lots of bike parking, you can easily lock up, and if you are the sort who can't let their bike out of their sight, you can sit on the back porch and enjoy the sight of it while you drink and nosh.

Even better is the new Lucky Lab beer hall, with indoor bike parking, and the Moon & Sixpence, who let you bring your bike either inside, or to the back patio.

When you consider that one "parking place" can hold 10 bicycles, you can make a big impact in just a little bit of space. And while scooters and motorcycles are bigger, certainly, than bicycles, they also can take up less space than a car—it's no big t'ing to have four or five scooters in a parking place.