🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

The Monday Roundup

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

– The ballooning recall of Toyota models with sticky accellerators has cast light on the reluctance with which the auto industry responds to safety issues.

– While many of our Portland readers were at City Hall to rally and attend the new bicycle plan hearing, the federal HUD secretary was a few blocks away at PSU announcing the opening of a new federal department with strong potential links to transportation issues, the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.

– On Streetsblog, a discussion of the “invisible” side of bicycling—that many people who ride don’t do so out of choice and aren’t in a position to access knowledge about cycling or to advocate for themselves. (The discussion is continued here.)

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7th annual Mini Bike Winter starts Thursday

MiniBikeWinter-Chariot Wars-21.jpg

Carnage awaits at the Chariot Wars event.
(Photo © J. Maus)

This year’s Mini Bike Winter is shaping up to be one of the best ever.

The event — which tries to capture the fun and creative culture of Portland’s beloved Zoobomb community — features parties, competitions, and this year, even a panel discussion.

Mini Bike Winter kicks off on Thursday night (2/11) with a panel discussion titled, “Should Bikes Save the Planet?” Panelists include: Author of Efficiency Shifting, Conrad Schmidt; Bicycle Pornographer Reverend Phil Sano; President of Umbrella and Director of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, Stephanie Routh; owner of Portland Pedicabs Ryan Hashagen; and PSU Professor of Sociology, Erin Rose Michaels.

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Reality check: Bike plan includes no financial commitment

“The plan calls for spending approximately $600 million to…”
— From a story published today by the Portland Tribune

The myth that the City of Portland’s Bicycle Plan for 2030 comes with a $600 million price tag continues to spread among various media outlets, despite the fact that the plan commits the city to no spending of any kind.

The Oregonian’s misleading front page article last week, (which their Editorial Board reinforced the next day) got the ball rolling.

The Oregonian article saying the plan had a “hefty price tag” was put out on the Associated Press newswire and is now being picked up and republished by media outlets all over the country. Even though the 2030 bike plan has zero financial impact on the City of Portland, The Oregonian story is being republished with misleading headlines.

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Mt. Hood Cycling Classic returns to Portland in 2010

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Mt. Hood Classic at Mt. Tabor -44.jpg

The scene at Mt. Tabor during the
2008 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, a major, multi-stage road race that draws top professional athletes from all over the country, is set to return to Portland in 2010.

The six-stage race will begin with a prologue on June 1st at Portland International Raceway in north Portland. The following day, the race moves to Mt. Tabor Park in Southeast Portland for a “lung and leg busting” circuit race.

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Job: Bicycle Safety Education Instructor, Eugene (BTA) – FILLED

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Job Title
Bicycle Safety Education Instructor, Eugene

Company/Organization
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
This position has been filled.

Job Description
Job Title: Bike Safety Education Instructor
Reporting To: Program Manager
Pay Rate: $14.00 per hour
Status: Seasonal, part-time, non-exempt
Location: Primarily the Eugene area with occasional trainings in Portland
Job Timeline: March 7th through June 30th with opportunity to renew in the Fall
Hiring Timeline: The position is open currently and will close upon being filled

Vision Statement:
Bicycling transforms communities by reinventing transportation and offering solutions that help solve the universal challenges to health, livability and the environment.

Executive Summary:
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a non-profit 5,000-member organization with a mission to create healthy, sustainable communities by making bicycling safer, more convenient and more accessible in Oregon and SW Washington.

The Bike Safety Education Instructor is responsible for the delivery and support of the Bicycle Safety Education program conducted by the BTA and funded by ODOT.

Responsibilities:
• Deliver 10-hour Bike Safety Education Curriculum in elementary and middle schools. Locations will be determined in partnership with the Program Manager.
• Represent the BTA at assigned workshops, trainings, forums, activities, events and other educational program opportunities in the region.
• Identify and pursue potential fundraising and in-kind donations as well as local grant and partnership opportunities.

Accountabilities:
Organization and Planning
Plan and organize in order to effectively manage multiple essential tasks with minimal support including the management of program scheduling, supply logistics, volunteer management, and relationship building with community partners. Report program activity in a timely and accurate manner to the Portland-based Program Manager.

Bike Safety Education Expertise
Posses skilled bicycle riding and maintenance skills needed to instruct and support students of varied ability and maintain dozens of bicycles in good order.

Presentation Skills
Organize and deliver lessons that effectively inform and engage young people using current presentation technologies as well as being able to make effective spontaneous presentations to children in classroom and outside settings.

Emphasize inclusiveness, work to minimize the impact of the differences in student’s ability and self-confidence to produce memorable and rewarding experiences for the students in our programs. Requisite Experience:
• Studies in child development, education, physical education, outdoor recreation and public health preferred
• Experience in bicycle safety instruction, education, physical education, outdoor recreational, public health or volunteer management preferred
• Exhibits a passion for bicycle transportation and/or an interest in creating livable, healthy, and sustainable communities.

Non-Discrimination:
The BTA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, physical or mental disability or legal source of income.

How to Apply
Please send cover letter, resume, completed BTA application form in PDF format via email to humanresources(at)bta4bikes(dot)org. No calls, please.

Covered bike parking and free bike bells at Blazer’s game tonight

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Bike to Blazers

Covered bike parking? Free
bike bells? Thumbs waaay up!
(Photo © BikePortland/2006)

The Portland Trail Blazers will pass out 6,500 custom-branded Blazer bike bells at tonight’s home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Bike-riding fans will also enjoy a new roof over their head at the arena’s main bike parking area.

Charlie Burr, from the Blazers PR firm, told me yesterday (with tongue firmly in cheek) that, “We believe the sound of alternative transportation will serve to disorient our Los Angeles brethren, giving us a critical advantage.”

Noisemakers in the crowd are common at Rose Garden Arena, but the team usually hands out cowbells.

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B&W Cannondale Capo 2009

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Year: 2009
Brand: Cannondale
Model: Capo
Color:B&W
Size:54 – 700
Serial: T032717
Photo: http://img124.yfrog.com/img124/8222/jvgn.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97239
Stolen:2010-02-5
Stolen From: SW 11th ave & sw taylor
Neighborhood: Downtown
Owner: Adam Kuert
OwnerEmail: adamkuert@gmail.com
Description: small chunk missing from the right side of the seat.

red rear light, front white light, bike lock clip on main frame
Police record with: 10010481
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Mayor Adams, bikes, and the State of the City address

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“We’re Portland, we lead the nation in bicycling because that’s how we roll!”
— Mayor Sam Adams in his State of the City address today

Portland Mayor Sam Adams delivered his State of the City speech to the City Club of Portland today. In it, he addressed many of the issues facing Portland. His largest focus was the economy and jobs, but he also touched on transportation.

A slide of a new streetcar line envisioned for the Lents neighborhood featured a big, green bike lane. Other mentions of bicycling came later, after he introduced a new, city-managed curbside composting program.

Here is the text from his speech where he mentioned bicycling:

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N/NE Portland bikeway dream will soon come true (or be deferred)

Dar k blue = cycle tracks.
(Graphic: Metro)

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced that funding decisions for their stimulus minded Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program will be made no later than February 17th.

To refresh your memory, last fall Metro submitted a TIGER grant request for $98 million in active transportation projects throughout the Portland region. One of those projects is a $38 million proposal to build a dense and complete neighborhood bikeway system in 13 square miles of North and Northeast Portland.

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New ‘Sierra Cascades’ bike route rolls through Gorge, Hood River

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Detail of new route. Start planning now!

Adventure Cycling, a 44,000 member non profit that promotes bike touring, has announced their latest route and it goes right through some of Oregon’s best riding areas. The 2,392 mile Sierra Cascades Bicycle Route runs from Sumas, Washington to Tecate, California.

According to the just-published information on their website, AC says the new route “runs roughly parallel to the Pacific Crest Trail along the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.” Here’s a bit more detail on the Oregon portion:

Section 2 begins at Mt. Rainier National Park and runs south to the wind surfing country of the Columbia Gorge and Hood River, Oregon. From there it skirts the Three Sisters Mountains through Bend, Oregon ending in Crater Lake National Park. This section intersects the Lewis & Clark Bicycle Route in Hood River and the TransAmerica Trail in Sisters, Oregon… After leaving the spectacular scenery of Wizard Island and Crater Lake, the route continues south to Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

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