August 2013 Archives

Job: PT Sales – Chrome Industries

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title
P.T. Sales

Company/Organization
Chrome Industries

Job Description
Chrome is looking for a kick ass person to become the newest member of the Chrome Familia PDX. This new member will be responsible for delivering a best-in-class brand and customer experience, hitting sales goals, and creating an easy-to-shop environment. Key responsibilities will include servicing customers on the sales floor, merchandising the space and keeping it clean, supporting inventory management, and an excellent understanding of a detailed POS system.
In addition, Chrome PDX shop familia are involved in community outreach, local guerilla marketing, pre-release product testing and development, and throwing legendary parties at Chrome PDX.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities
•Deliver a best-in-class brand and buying experience
•Help to keep the shop merchandised, well-organized, and clean
•Proficiently opening and closing the store
•Self-motivated and able to motivate other team members
•Support inventory management, including counting, back-stock organization, and reporting
•Help organize and run parties, local community events, and marketing efforts
•Provide input on key company initiatives, including product development and testing
•Proficient computer & communication skills
•Reaching and exceeding daily sales goals
Requirements
•1.5+ years retail key holder experience
•Entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to find innovative ways to drive the business
•Knowledge of cycling industry and culture
•Knowledge of retail processes and procedures
•Strong understanding of the Chrome brand
•Stoked to become part of the Chrome Familia

How to Apply
Bring us your resume that includes your cycling experience and or background to:

Chrome Industries
425 SW 10th Ave
Portland, Or 97205
503 719 4693

Vancouverites energized after successful ride for Lower River Rd project

A big crowd showed up to learn more about the project.
(Photos: Jacob Brostoff)

A Washington state legislator, the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator for the Washington State Dept. of Transportation, the mayor of Vancouver and several city council members and council candidates and representatives of the Port of Vancouver and the US Congress were among the more than 70 people who turned out Friday afternoon for a ride supporting a new cycle path along NW Lower River Road in Vancouver. Speakers touted the benefits of a new path, and urged community residents and leaders to push for additional funding to speed up its completion.

This could be yours for $20.
(Photos: NW Trail Alliance)

One very special mountain bike could be worth $15,000 to a local non-profit.

The Northwest Trail Alliance (NWTA) is raffling off a custom bike in order to raise money for their trail work projects and ongoing advocacy to improve off-road bicycling access and conditions throughout the region. The bike (size 17″) is a carbon fiber, Veloforma Rival Two9R model with a custom paint job and it comes with a hand-picked component package that includes: a Cannondale “Lefty” carbon XLR 100mm fork; Thompson seatpost and stem; Stan’s No Tubes ZTR Crest wheelset; and a SRAM XO build kit. It’s got an estimated retail value of $8,500 and it was donated by Portland-based Showers Pass (whose owner, Kyle Ranson, sits on the board of NWTA).

If only there were a strip of underused pavement nearby.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Here in Portland, it’s been a summer of detours. And some of them are much better than others.

Let’s help the city make more of them good.

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance, fortunately, has noticed this problem. This Thursday, BTA intern Ruben Montes is hoping to meet with the City of Portland’s Mark Lear and Craig Goodroad to start looking for ways the city can better design construction zones to work for active transportation.

We’d love to give them some material to talk about. So for the next few days, any time you see a detour in Portland that doesn’t seem to prioritize human beings, or one that you think does so well, snap a photo and email it, with a few words about its location, to michael@bikeportland.org or text it to me at 503-333-7824.

Mad scientist Scott Mizée outside
his bike parking laboratory.
(photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Indoor bike parking rooms are becoming standard in Portland’s offices and apartment buildings. But when square footage is scarce, sometimes plastic-coated hooks just won’t do.

That’s where hanging horizontal racks come in. These two-level metal models cost hundreds of dollars per bike space — but they also make a bike parking area 50 to 100 percent more efficient per square foot.

Their systems of shocks and hinges also make it easy for someone with a smaller frame or less muscular arms to hoist a bike into place. To get a better look at the state of the industry in bike parking, I visited local expert Scott Mizée of Alta Planning and Design. Alta’s employee bike parking room — a.k.a. “Bike SPA” — on Portland’s inner eastside doubles as Mizée’s test lab for the industry’s best bike parking products.

I asked Mizée to give a brief introduction to each of the main horizontal rack products he’s testing.

Mychal Tetteh with what he described as
“my favorite bike … the Schwinn
‘Tuskegee Tornado’ Sting Ray.”
(photo courtesy Tetteh)

When the Community Cycling Center announced last week that it had selected its former shop director Mychal Tetteh as its new CEO, quite a few people who know him applauded the choice.

But plenty of Portlanders haven’t yet met Tetteh, 31. And he’s got plenty to say — and, we suspect, plenty to do. Here’s what the Benson Polytechnic High School ’00 grad told us about his early days dirt-biking across Portland and the reasons race matters to local biking.

When did you start biking for fun? What about for transportation?
Fun on a bike started when I found out that I could stand a cinderblock on end to get on my brother’s BMX bike. It has been awesome skid-outs and weak bunny hops ever since. Getting myself across town to school at MLC was my first foray in cycling as a bicycle commuter. Before that, it was the way I got to Devil’s Ditch in Laurelhurst Park.

Scene of right hook NE Couch and Grand-1

It might never happen to you,
but just in case…
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

What should you do if you are in a collision with a motor vehicle? First, be prepared. While the odds may be pretty good that you will never be involved in a collision there are several tips you can follow which will make any collision less of a disruption in your life. An understanding of the fundamentals of insurance, medical services, and the legal system will help you after your collision.

This article is a very basic primer on these areas.

If you are in a collision

If you do get in a collision with an automobile while riding your bicycle, make sure that you obtain complete and accurate information about the driver. It is an unfortunate fact of modern life that some people with driving and insurance problems carry false identification. Make sure that the driver shows you an official document such as a driver license or other photo ID as well as a certificate of current insurance coverage before they leave the scene of the collision. If they will not do so, then call the police.

Shoulder on Oregon Coast Route north of
Gold Beach after an ODOT repaving job.
(Photo: Sent in by reader)

As we reported on Friday, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has repaved many miles of state highways in a way that shows complete disregard for bicycling and creates unsafe conditions on some of Oregon’s premier bicycle touring routes. The situation occurs when a new layer of pavement is applied over an existing road. Instead of laying it down across the entire width of the road and shoulder, ODOT (and/or their contractors) are only going about 1-2 feet from the fog line. This is leaving a gravel mess in some cases, as well as what one commenter called a “death ledge” between the old and the new pavement that is placed smack dab in the middle of where people ride. This ledge could force people to ride even closer to the fog line, which puts them even closer to fast-moving cars and trucks on roads that already lack adequate bicycle safety treatments.

ODOT is currently looking into the issue and we expect a formal statement sometime this week.

However, since our story was published, we have heard that the paving problems are much more widespread that just on one section of the Oregon Coast Bicycle Route. In addition, by not applying the new pavement layer across the entire shoulder ODOT (and/or their contractors) may have skirted their own pavement design guidelines.

Reddit user “SpanishMoles” shows off the damage.

A man who was bicycling down Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in northeast Portland on Sunday was allegedly the victim of an assault. After he posted a photo of his injuries to user-powered news site Reddit, a community of strangers has started donating money to help rehabilitate his injuries.

Yesterday morning, Reddit user “SpanishMoles” posted: “Some kids threw a traffic cone at me while I was riding my bike down MLK. Any other shitty areas I should avoid?” He called the police, whom he says were “helpful”, but they had no luck finding the three young kids who he saw throw the cone at him.

As you might expect, comments poured in and the online discussion touched on many different issues including: SpanishMoles’ route selection (most people avoid riding on MLK, which is a state highway); whether or not the assault happened because he was on a bike, or simply because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time; and so on.

The new Garmin Virb.
(Image: Garmin.)

Here’s the bike news that caught our eyes this week:

Garmin camera: The GPS maker is competing with GoPro with a new $400 action camera that connects wirelessly to a mobile app on your phone and the company’s other hardware. There’s a $300 version with fewer bells and whistles.

Helmet lawsuit: Easton-Bell Sports won a lawsuit brought by a man who suffered brain injuries while completing a long ride. The California company said he’d been wearing it improperly.

For months now, the Oregon Department of Transportation has been reluctant to embrace the idea of re-allocating space on SW Barbur Blvd in order to improve traffic safety for all users. ODOT sees the road as a major arterial highway that must move as many people in cars as possible at all times (even though Interstate 5 is just a stone’s-throw away).

Back in December, when asked about the possibility of doing a “road diet” on SW Barbur, former ODOT staffer Jilayne Jordan told The Oregonian, “Barbur is the alternate route to Interstate-5, and we don’t like to reduce capacity on those routes.”

It’s going to be a gorgeous weekend here in Portland. In order to point you in the direction of some good bikey fun, here are three big events you won’t want to miss.

Portland Design Works Turns Five
Hooray for this great local company. Portland Design Works founders Dan Powell and Erik Olson set up shop in Portland five years ago. Since then, they’ve built an impressively robust line of bike accessories and have created a solid niche for themselves in the industry. Their products have a great mix of form and function, and they are also great guys who make our community a better place.

Job: PT Sales – Chrome Industries

Vancouverites energized after successful ride for Lower River Rd project

NW Trail Alliance is raffling off an $8,500 mountain bike

Photo contest: Portland’s worst (and best) detours

Meet 4 of the best indoor bike racks on the market (videos)

From BMXer to advocacy pro: 6 questions for Mychal Tetteh

Get Legal with Ray Thomas: What to do if you’re in a collision

ODOT’s dangerous paving work is widespread, goes against state guidelines

‘Redditors’ set up donation fund for man assaulted while biking on MLK

The Monday Roundup: No more ‘Share the Road’, helmet lawsuit & more

ODOT: Closing one lane on SW Barbur would be no big deal

Weekend Event Picks: PDW party, a farm crit, and Sunday Parkways

Latest Headlines

First look at new bike lane — and one less car lane! — on NE Broadway (Video)

I biked to work with Mayor Wilson this morning (video)

Springwater Corridor path will close for a week September 8th (Updated)

City boosts bike buses with new markings, signage

From the Archives

Ray Thomas on the unintended consequences of “ambiguous intersections”