Event: Holiday bike ride (12/19/10)

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Event Name: Holiday bike ride
Event Start Date: 19 December 2010
Start Time: 5:00:00 PM
Event Description: It sure would be nice to see some Santa costumed and festively clad bikers handing out candy canes, right?

Meet at 67th and Division, by Warner Pacific College, for a mellow bike ride through the neighborhood then across to the waterfront.

5pm is when abouts it’ll be starting.

If you come with battery operated Christmas lights on your bike, you’ll get 10 points:)

bring your friends.

all ages.

bring wrapped candy canes if you wanna pass those out, or any other festive treat:)

503-481-9165

Julie

send your rsvp, questions, comments, suggestions, greetings, love to

julieiswriting(at)gmail(dot)com

Job: Website Copywriter (IndieBike.com) – FILLED

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Job Title
Website Copywriter
This position has been filled.

Company/Organization
Indie Bike

Job Description
The Website Copywriter will be responsible for writing copy for, but not limited to, cycling apparel products and content sections of our website. We are looking for someone that can take control of a situation and make it into their own. This person will help to establish a “voice” for our website and create a consistency for all published content. The candidate must have a writing background and be able to speak intelligently about cycling apparel; being a cyclist is a huge plus. It is expected that all submitted copy for the live website will be written without the need for further revision.

15-20 hours per week. This position has the possibility of becoming a full-time.

$12 per hour. Paid as an independent contractor for the first 6 months. Discounts on all products we sell.

This is a work-at-home position.

How to Apply
Send a resume, cover letter, and writing samples to roadie(at)indiebike(dot)com

Metro announces over $500,000 in ‘Travel Options’ grants

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Metro announced $533,000 in Regional Travel Options grants today. According to Metro, the federally-funded grants are given to projects that “reduce the number of people driving alone to improve air quality and address community health issues.”

Grant winners this cycle include a wide range of projects — from bike parking to “transportation mobility counseling.” One award that catches my eye is $53,000 for Sunday Parkways out in Wilsonville.

Check the full list of winners below.

Read more

‘Bicycle Accident Victim’s Fund’ launches

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Got this via press release today. Hadn’t seen it before. Looks interesting. Started in Boulder, CO, but it can be used by anyone in the U.S.:

BICYCLE ACCIDENT GROUP ANNOUNCES ESTABLISHMENT OF VICTIM FUNDS
BOULDER, CO USA (December 13, 2010) The Bicycle Accident Victim’s Fund announces the establishment of two Funds dedicated to providing financial assistance to bicyclists who are involved in bicycle-motorist accidents through no-fault of their own.

The Bicycle Accident Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is designed to help bicyclists defer legal expenses associated with their bicycle-motorist accidents. The Bicycle Accident Victim’s Assistance Fund (VAF) is designed to help bicyclists defer non-legal expenses associated with their bicycle-motorist accidents.

Read more

red Redline Flight 2005

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Year: 2005
Brand: Redline
Model: Flight
Color:red
Size:26″
Stolen in Portland, OR 97203
Stolen:2010-12-12
Stolen From: Taken from driveway in front of garage on corner of N Olin Ave and N Harvard St., near Univ. of Portland
Neighborhood: North Portland
Owner: Tom Etienne
OwnerEmail: tom.etienne@gmail.com
Reward: $100
Description: Redline 26″ monocog mountain bike, circa 2004-2005, standard brakes, no front/rear suspension, all red frame
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T10008492
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

The Monday Roundup

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Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:

Despite a long embargo on building more bike infrastructure, ridership in San Francisco is up 58% since 2006.

– New York City’s request for proposals for a bike sharing system has sparked considerable interest in the burgeoning bike share industry.

– A British doctor conducted a study, with himself as the subject, comparing the speed of commuting to work on a new, expensive carbon bike and a heavy, old steel bike, and found no significant difference. His recommendation for improved speed: “a reduction in the weight of the cyclist rather than that of the bicycle.”

Read more

Portland Bike Advisory Committee Agenda: December 2010

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The agenda for the monthly meeting of the City of Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee has just been made available. The meeting is Tuesday 12/14 from 6-8pm in the Lovejoy Room at City Hall (1221 SW 4th Ave)

Welcome to New Members
Committee Chair Matt Arnold and Vice-Chair Robert Pickett introduce and welcome new committee members

Brief Overview of Portland’s Bicycle Efforts
Presentations by City Staff to orient new committee members:
Roger Geller: history of bicycling efforts and current bikeway implementation strategy
Linda Ginenthal: city’s efforts in regard to encouraging bicycling and lessening Portlander’s reliance on the automobile
Gabriel Graff: city’s work on Safe Routes to School and other educational efforts

Discussion
New members will have an opportunity to formally introduce themselves. Following will be a discussion of why new members applied for the committee and what they hope to accomplish. Discussion in the context of the earlier presentations is encouraged.

Adjourn

Metro task force agrees to take “light rail model” in active transportation funding decisions

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max and bike (old shot from archives)

A Metro task force wants to emulate
success of light rail corridors in making
decisions about active transportation funding.
(Photo © J. Maus)

A Metro task force put together to decide how the agency’s Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) should spend $23 million in federal “flexible” funds, has agreed that the money set aside for active transportation projects — about three-fourths of it — should focus on just a few corridors at a time. The approach, similar to how TriMet has built out their light rail system, would be distinctly different than how our region has typically funded biking and walking projects.

Read more

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy will drop over 50,000 signatures on AAA’s doorstep Monday

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The op-ed in AAA World that started it all.

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has spent over three months gathering signatures on a petition to persuade the automobile advocacy group AAA to support the continued federal funding of bicycling and walking programs. On Monday, their campaign will culminate when they bike over 50,000 signatures right to the doorstep of AAA’s national headquarters in Heathrow, Florida.

RTC’s campaign began back in August when the leader of a regional chapter of the AAA, Don Gagnon, argued in AAA World magazine that federal Highway Trust Fund spending on non-motorized transportation was leading to an, “increasingly deteriorating highway system.” Highway money should only pay for highways, AAA said. (Download Gagnon’s original article here. (PDF))

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Vancouver (WA) installs four more on-demand bike lockers

A source that works for the City of Vancouver (WA) sent this info over the other day (photos of the new lockers below):

“Three weeks ago we installed 4 more Bikelink lockers in our downtown area, bringing the total number of lockers to 9. This project was part of our Destination Downtown project, and was funded through a grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation. The BikeLink lockers are “on-demand” facilities that users can rent by the hour with an electronic key card. At this time we are charging 5 cents an hour for the lockers.

New locations:
SE corner of Columbia Street and W Evergreen Boulevard
NW corner of Main Street and W 11th Street
NE corner of Broadway Street and W 7th Street (1st locker before the C-TRAN lockers)
NE corner of Main Street and E 20th Street

Existing locations:
1300 Franklin Street on south side of Clark County Public Service Center – 4 lockers
NE corner of Columbia and 6th Street – 1 locker”

Vancouver was the first city in the Northwest to install on-demand, debit card access bike lockers. We covered the first installation (across from Esther Short Park) back in June 2006.