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

The Monday Roundup: Biking to the Emmy Awards, removing lanes for safety & more

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Simpler times.
(Photo: Midtown Partnership)

Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:

When Hollywood and biking mix on the red carpet: It’s a great sign for cycling in America when venerable movie industry paper The Hollywood Reporter covers an Emmy nominee who biked to the closely watched awards event (in Rapha no less!).

Mistaken for Uber: “Basically anytime I’m pulled over on the side of the street, someone tries to hail me or just opens my car door,” says a New Yorker who just wants to drive his car in the age of Uber. One person told him: “Are you Uber? Well can you just be? Can we go?” “It’s kind of immoral to have a car in New York anyways, so I feel like this is my tax for doing that.”

When lanes are less safe: Removing center lines on London streets (something Portland has been doing for some neighborhood greenways) reduced average speeds by 5 to 9 mph.

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Comment of the Week: A good review for Director Treat

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Transportation Director Leah Treat at a city
press conference in April.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

Like her predecessor Tom Miller, Portland’s top transportation bureaucrat is part of a class of bike-friendly Generation Xers who, after working up the ladder for years, are moving into the top perches of government.

Hired last year, Director Leah Treat turned out to be the first of three such faces on the West Coast alone. Last month, Seleta Reynolds of San Francisco’s livable streets division was tapped to lead the vast Los Angeles transportation department and Scott Kubly, who like Treat was a top lieutenant to fellow Xer Gabe Klein in Washington and Chicago, was named to the same role in Seattle.

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Weekend Event Guide: Parkways, community building, a kermesse, and more

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You never know what you’ll see at Sunday Parkways Southeast.
(Photo J. Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.

Summer might be waning, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop riding bikes!

Whether you miss Pedalpalooza or you want to test out your fitness for the upcoming cyclocross season, there’s a great selection of activities this weekend, and even a few for tonight…

Friday, August 22nd

Rocky Butte Sunset Dance Party Picnic – 6:30 pm at Irving Park (NE 11th and Klickitat)

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Job: Consumer Service Rep – Yakima Products, Inc. – FILLED

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Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.

Job Title
Consumer Service Rep

Company/Organization
Yakima Products, Inc.

Job Description
General Description:

The position is responsible to respond to, and follow through on consumers’ requests for service and product information. In addition this position supports Yakima Products end users by providing technical product information, product / vehicle fit information, and warranty support and evaluation. Responsibilities include processing a high number of phone calls, emails and sales orders. Further, this position will execute and support projects with teammates to deliver against initiatives in Yakima’s strategic and annual plans.

Scope and Responsibilities:

•Provides troubleshooting and analysis to resolve consumer problems in a timely, efficient, cost effective, professional manner, and within established guidelines
•Processes sales orders, including follow-up and documentation, in an accurate and timely manner
•Provides timely technical product support to dealers by phone and email
•Increases sales through suggestive selling to consumers

Qualifications:

•AA degree from an accredited college, or equivalent experience preferred
•One (1) year customer service experience in outdoor retail sales, and experience selling Yakima racks preferred
•Intermediate level with Pac’s: Microsoft Office Suite; Outlook
•Ability to effectively develop work systems to manage workload, work independently and efficiently, have a keen ability to prioritize, and ability to identify and address needs in advance
•Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal/external customers and consumers
•Professional level communicator ~ both oral and written correspondence
•Data base experience preferred
•Mechanical aptitude
•Able to visualize and understand geometric and spatial relationships

Physical Requirements:

•Able to sit and work at a computer keyboard for extended periods of time
•Able to perform activities such as stooping, kneeling, bending at the waist and reaching on a daily basis
•Able to lift and carry objects up to 75 pounds occasionally
•Corrected 20/30 vision
•Must be able to safely operate a motor vehicle and sit for extended periods of time

The complete posting can be found at www.yakima.com

Compensation:

DOE
Comprehensive benefit package provided

How to Apply
To apply for this position please submit your resume and salary requirements to: CSRep@Yakima.com

City switches plan for Division detour: Signs will point to Powell, not Clinton

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Traffic on Clinton.
(Photo by Michael Andersen/BikePortland)

Six days after saying that it would detour eastbound traffic from Division Street onto the Clinton Street neighborhood greenway for two weeks, the City of Portland has changed course.

Starting Monday, electronic signs will instruct drivers heading east at 11th Avenue to turn south to Powell Boulevard rather than one block south to Clinton, the Portland bureaus of transportation and environmental services said Thursday.

It’s a measure of victory for people who called the detour an inappropriate use of an all-ages walking and biking facility that is already at or above the maximum national standard for auto traffic volume on a bicycle boulevard.

But the city also said Thursday that it still expects many people to detour onto Clinton anyway, because there are no plans other than signage to prompt them otherwise.

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‘Grand Prix of Portland’ race will come to downtown in 2015, organizer says

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Cirque du Cycling racers in 2009.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

The people behind an “international professional cycling event” in downtown Portland say they’ve gotten green lights from the international and national sport cycling organizations to host the “Grand Prix of Portland” here next summer.

Veteran Oregonian sportswriter Mike Tokito has the story:

The race would cover about 115 miles, with a one-day format that would be run like a stage of the Tour de France.

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TriMet track work gives bikers one less reason to avoid the Lloyd

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biking to train

Smooth cruising: looking west across 11th at Holladay.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

A key bike connection between Southeast and inner North/Northeast Portland keeps getting a bit better.

The latest improvement to Northeast 11th Avenue and Holladay comes courtesy of track work last week by TriMet at its Lloyd Center MAX turnaround. The transit agency prioritized repairs to the track there in part because the crumbling pavement around the tracks had been increasingly dangerous for biking.

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Rural road advisories: Paving in Washington County, big trucks on Lolo Pass Road

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Two issues to be aware of on some popular rural roads around the region: Construction up near Mt. Hood will mean major truck traffic on Lolo Pass Road and others in the Zig Zag area; and on the other side of region, Washington County will be paving some key biking roads. See the official notices below…

Mt. Hood Safety Project Brings Big Trucks to Small Roads

Moving a half-million cubic yards of debris for safety work puts large trucks on small roads

The U.S. 26 Mount Hood Safety Project will divert a lot of big trucks through Zig Zag on Lolo Pass Road and other small rural roads that aren’t used to seeing heavy truck traffic.

The project, which will take place on and off through 2015, will mean moving nearly a half-million cubic yards of dirt, rocks and trees to make U.S. 26 safer as it passes over Mount Hood and through Government Camp. And during this work, many large truck and trailer will be use onto roads that lead to rural communities and popular recreation areas on Mount Hood, including Lolo Pass Road and Trillium Lake Road…

The project will reduce fatal and severe crossover crashes and rockfalls on U.S. 26 by placing a center barrier along a 1.6 mile stretch from the runaway truck escape ramp to east of Mirror Lake and cut back the rock slopes. Work will end in 2016.

Here are some tips to help people using the rural roads operate safely around the heavy trucks.

BE VISIBLE: If you are walking, jogging, riding a bike or riding a horse be as visible as possible and wear reflective clothing·

LISTEN for oncoming trucks and do not use head phones that could block the sound of trucks approaching

BLIND SPOTS: When riding a bike, ride with traffic and in the middle of the travel lane so you do not end up in a truck’s blind spot

WALK FACING TRAFFIC: When walking, walk on the opposite side of the road to keep your eye on oncoming traffic and be more easily seen.

PULL OUT SAFELY: When pulling out of your driveway onto the haul roads, fully stop and look for trucks and other road users before proceeding. Consider parking so that you can pull out of your driveway rather than back out to increase your ability to see oncoming trucks.

ODOT will host a public meeting with the residents along Lolo Pass Road to have an open dialogue about the truck hauling activity on Lolo Pass Road. The meeting will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20 at the Resort at the Mountain, 68010 East Fairway Avenue, Welches, Oregon.

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Q&A: How bikes meet tech in Austin, Portland’s chillest sister city

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Nate McGuire of Austin bike-tech startup Spokefly.
(Photo by Michael Andersen/BikePortland)

Nate McGuire is part of two worlds that Austin, Texas, is still pretty new at: digital entrepreneurship and biking.

His startup, Spokefly, uses a mobile app and combination U-locks to turn people’s underused bicycles into income-generating shared bikes that float around the city until their owners need them. (At that point, the company will fetch it and deliver it home.) Though it’s not yet available in Portland, he’s preparing to launch in a handful of cities soon and was in town last week to scope our city out.

When he stopped by BikePortland’s office for a talk, we saw a perfect chance to hear more about biking and related issues in one of the U.S. cities that Portland most resembles in size, culture and reputation.

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Meeting could spark formation of a “more assertive advocacy group” in Portland

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The first step is showing up.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Many Portlanders who care about bicycling want to find a way to create more urgency for bike-friendly changes. As we’ve been reporting since May, Portland — once a biking beacon that other cities aspired to — has lost its mojo. With our largest bicycle advocacy organization, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA), choosing to take a more conservative role, some in the community want to start a new advocacy group.

When Alex Reed moved to Portland in 2007, he thought that “There was so much excitement around bike it felt like everything was destined to get better.” Now that he’s “not seeing much progress,” the 29-year-old southeast Portland resident (and father) has planned a meeting this weekend to discuss the possible formation of a new group. “Are you frustrated at the lack of progress on bike issues in Portland in the last five years?” reads the event description on the Shift calendar. “If so, come join us to try to make things better!”

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Spate of collisions across state, region highlight passing dangers

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The aftermath of a collision in eastern Oregon.
(Photo: OSP)

There have been four (officially recorded) rear-end collisions involving a bicycle rider in the past week. One of them resulted in a fatality and the other three resulted in serious injuries. The incidents have occurred throughout Oregon and nearby southwest Washington.

While the incidents are unrelated, the uncommon frequency (two happened on the same day) led to a response by the Oregon State Police earlier this week. In an official statement published on August 17th, they said: “OSP urges all drivers to be alert for bicyclists and other vulnerable highway users. When approaching from behind, make sure there is adequate room to safely pass on the left of the bicyclist(s).”

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