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

Year: 2015

Why Sunday Parkways organizers are reaching out to female volunteers

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A volunteer “Superhero” in action.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

Sunday Parkways, the series of summertime open-streets festivals that starts next month, runs in large part thanks to volunteers. Today we noticed an interesting angle in a recruitment pitch for those volunteers.

The recruiter, Phil Barber of Axiom Events, called his appeal “a long-overdue first step toward trying to connect with wider circles of women interested in supporting Sunday Parkways.”

Here’s what Barber wrote in an email today to the Shift bike-fun email listserv, with emphasis added:

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Ride Along with Ben and Kate Cogdill: Downtown streets and secret paths

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Ben and Kate Cogdill outside her preschool in northwest Portland.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

— This post was made possible by Portland Design Works, a local company that designs beautiful and functional parts and accessories for everyday cycling. Ben Cogdill is one of three winners of our Ride Along Contest that will be featured in the coming months.

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In many ways Ben, Jenica and Kate Cogdill are a typical Portland family. But when it comes to getting around, they’re a rare breed. The Cogdills live and work downtown and bicycles suffice as their family vehicle. While Portland’s inner neighborhoods have some of highest rates of family biking anywhere, it’s uncommon to see kid-toting parents amid the hustle and bustle of the central city.

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A ride where women outnumber men? That’s the fact at Cycle Oregon Weekend

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Fun in numbers.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

In the bike world there are a number of accepted truths. One of them is that there are far fewer women than men on bikes in America. You see this phenomenon play out on the streets when commuting or running errands around town. Beyond anecdotal evidence, the statistics also bear it out.

Female participation at large, organized event rides usually fares a bit better. But a ride where women outnumber men? That was the surprising fact I came across when doing some research on Cycle Oregon’s Weekend Ride (which is coming up in July by the way).

The Weekend Ride turns 10 years old this year and, according to Cycle Oregon’s demographic data, for the past two years women have accounted for 52 percent of the participants. When the event — essentially a three-day mini-version of the group’s more well-known Week Ride — first started in 2005, attendance by women was only at about 38 to 40 percent. Then, as word spread, it jumped to nearly half before tipping the scales in 2013 and 2014.

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Oregon Senate votes (yet again) to let cabbies use hand-held phones while driving

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Should they be allowed to use phones while driving?
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

For the second legislative session in a row, the Oregon Senate has voted in favor of a bill that would allow taxicab operators to use hand-held cell phones while driving.

Oregon’s existing cell phone law (ORS 811.507) permits the use of hands-free mobile devices while driving, but taxi operators want to be added to the list of exceptions for hand-held phone use that already includes police officers, public safety workers, farm equipment operators, transit workers, public utility workers, tow truck operators, HAM radio operators, and others.

Senate Bill 167 passed by a vote of 18-12 last month (all 12 “no” votes were from Democrats). A similar bill passed the Senate in 2013, but failed to get a vote in the House.

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Portland’s ‘Unipiper’ gets his own beer

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You know that guy who rides around Portland on a unicycle in a Darth Vader mask and a kilt whilst playing bagpipes? Yes, I’m talking about the Unipiper. Like Voodoo Doughnuts and Portlandia, he’s become something of an icon of our fair city.

And now he’s got his own beer, aptly named UnipIPA (get it?).

Check the details on a debut party in the press release and flyer below…

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WHAT: The UnipIPA Beer Release
WHERE: PDX Green Dragon
928 SE 9th Ave
Portland, Oregon
WHEN: May 5th, 2015 5pm- 8pm

The PDX Green Dragon is proud to announce the release of a very special, one-off beer that was brewed alongside an iconic Portland figure.

Brian Kidd, better known by the people of Portland as The Unipiper, has joined forces with Buckman Botanical Brewery’s Danny Connors to produce a beer almost as unique as The Unipiper himself:

The UnipIPA

Brewed using bagpipe-roasted Habanero Peppers, this fiery IPA is the brain child of the Darth Vader mask toting, kilt wearing, unicycling, flame throwing, bagpipe playing Unipiper we all know and love.

Enjoy a pint with the Unipiper himself on May 5th right here at the PDX Green Dragon when we unveil this limited brew.

Check teaser videos here and here.

Job: Bike Tour Guide – Cycle Portland

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Job Title
Bike Tour Guide

Company/Organization
Cycle Portland

Job Description
Cycle Portland is a Bike Tour and Rental company located in Old Town Portland. We provide guided rides around the city and rental bikes for those who want to explore on their own. These tours focus on different themes, including Portland History, Local Microbreweries, Food Carts, and Bike Culture. We have a full service and repair shop where we rent the bikes out and lead the tours from on NW 2nd Ave. This will be our 8th season leading Tours of Portland.

This position includes greeting customers, preparing bikes for them to ride, leading them around the city on prepared routes while stopping occasionally to share information about Portland. This position also includes renting bikes to visitors from all over the world to explore on their own and outfitting them with maps, bike route advice, and a sweet whip to cruise the city with.

Some bike mechanical know how is required because you have to be able to adjust bikes to fit people and fix a flat if you were to get one while out on the ride.
Other requirements include Customer Service skills, retail experience, a genuine desire to work with the public, and a strong personality.

Do you like to host visiting friends by taking them around the city? Are you passionate about cycling in Portland? Are you knowledgeable about Portland enough to give directions and willing to learn more about the city? Do you have Guiding experience or a knack for storytelling/ improv? If you think you would be a good fit, let us know. Guides start at $12 per hour with the ability to move up after a 30 day review.

How to Apply
This position is seasonal with a possibility of staying on year round. If interested please send a resume to portlandbicycle@gmail.com with a paragraph about why you would be good for the position. Thank you.

Embacher bicycle collection to be sold at auction

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Starting bid: $170.

If you dreamed about owning one of the amazing bicycles from the Cyclepedia exhibition when it was at the Portland Art Museum in 2013, now is your chance.

Michael Embacher, the man behind the much-heralded Embacher Collection, has decided to part with his entire collection of 203 rare bicycles at an auction to be held in Vienna next month.

Embacher’s office emailed us with the news this morning along with a personal note from Embacher about why he decided to part ways with the bikes. It seems partly a matter of circumstance (he has lost the attic space the collection has be housed in) and partly philosophical. Here’s a snip from his note:

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Column: Fellow bike lovers, we need to talk about car shaming

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Taz Loomans.

Bike elitism can show up in lots of ways. One way is car-shaming.

Do you own a car? If you don’t own a car, do you use car sharing more than once a month? Do you accept rides from people? Do you use a car to travel around the state? Do you use a vehicle when you move to a new home?

If the answer to more than two of these questions is yes, then according to some people, you don’t qualify for the exclusive car-free bike-only club.

Of course, this isn’t a formal club. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t routinely excluded from it.

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The Monday Roundup: Wide-street safety, Trek’s huge recall and more

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Wisdom from StrongTowns.org.

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

What wide streets are for: Strong Towns finally answers the question.

Trek recall: A problem involving front disc brakes affects 1 million bikes in the U.S. and Canada made between 2000 and 2015.

Tampa profiling: The Florida city’s mayor has asked the federal government to review his police department’s policy of trying to fight crime by targeting thousands of black residents for minor bike-related infractions.

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From the Archives

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