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6/20: Hello readers and friends. I am having my second (of two) total knee replacement surgeries today so I'll be out of commission for a bit while I recover. Please be patient while I get back to full health. I hope to be back to posting as soon as I can. I look forward to getting back out there. 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor

Here’s how I’ve carried my kids by bike for the past 10 years

The boys and I at the Fiets of Parenthood event in 2012.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Our Family Biking column is sponsored by Clever Cycles.

➤ Read past entries here.

The first step to biking with kids often starts with a question: How do you carry them?

I’ve had several family bikes over the years, with some overlap because redundancy is awesome if you have room to store it. I’ve since learned about bikes that work for babies through big kids, but I liken my multi-bike journey to the car seat progression many families follow: infant car seat to convertible car seat to booster seat. Even though some of those seats aren’t used for a long time, everything feels like an eternity when it’s baby-related and seems well worth it.

By sharing what has worked for my family, I hope it’ll help make carrying kids easier for you. Below is the progression of our bike set-up journey over the past 10 years…

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Job: General Accounting Specialist – Stages Cycling/ Foundation Fitness

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Job Title *
General Accounting Specialist

Company/Organization *
Stages Cycling/ Foundation Fitness

Job Description *
Who Are We?

Foundation Fitness is Portland-based company that was founded in 2009 with 10 employees and has grown to five companies with over 120 employees in Portland, Boulder, CO, and working remotely across the US. Foundation Fitness is a fitness equipment distributor that represents a variety of commercial fitness equipment vendors. Daughter company Stages Indoor Cycling is the manufacturer of commercial indoor cycling bikes which we distribute globally to customers including Soul Cycle, Life Time Fitness, and Club Sport. Another daughter company, Stages Cycling, manufactures cycling products which are used by athletes to maximize training in various cycling events. We are a dynamic and growing company looking for passionate employees to join our team. There is always something new on the horizon here at Foundation Fitness and every role is crucial!

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

This position is responsible for providing accounting support to Accounting Controller and other managers. This position is responsible for facilitating the bi-weekly payroll through ADP, sales tax reporting and reconciliation, corporate credit card reconciliation and other expense systems.

• Process bi-weekly payroll through ADP and submit payroll journal entries.
• Ensure commissions, bonuses, and other irregular payments are processed and documented appropriately
• Report sales taxes using Avalara, reconcile sales taxes payable and registrations is applicable states.
• Reconciles corporate credit card usage.
• Reconcile employee expense reports Expensify, verifying general ledger accounts and auditing for receipts in accordance with the corporate travel and expense reimbursement policy.
• Maintains historical records and files according to standard IRS guidelines for records retention.
• Assists with monthly closing activities as related to above tasks.
• Assists with related special projects and provides ad hoc reports as required by management.
• Monthly bank reconciliations for all company accounts and submission of journal entries related to such bank accounts.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

• Skilled at analyzing information and problem solving
• Data entry skills with strong attention to detail and thoroughness
• Strong ethics and ability to maintain confidentiality
• General math skills
• Reporting skills
• Able to independently use financial systems such as NetSuite, ADP, Avalara and Expensify
• Sophisticated time management
• Multi-tasking and organizational skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

PREFERRED SKILLS

Understanding of Accounting Principles, Working Knowledge of General Ledger.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

This position does not have any supervisory responsibility.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Foundation Fitness will make reasonable accommodations requested.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to sit or stand; use hands to finger or handle objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear; read and see near objects. The employee must occasionally lift or move office products and supplies, up to 20 pounds.

POSITION TYPE/EXPECTED HOURS OF WORK

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This position may require overtime.

TRAVEL

Travel is not required for this role.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

This position is a full-time, in-office attendance position.

We encourage all interested applicants to apply and welcome applicants of any race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or genetics. We are committed to evaluating candidates based on job qualifications. We will make reasonable accommodations as requested.

How to Apply *
Please email your resume and cover letter to jobs@foundationfitness.net to apply.

Job: Service Manager & Sales – E-Bikes – Cynergy E-Bikes

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Job Title *
Service Manager & Sales – E-Bikes

Company/Organization *
Cynergy E-Bikes

Job Description *
We are looking for an experienced bike mechanic to lead our service area and to take a leadership role in the growth of a well-established e-bike specialty shop. This is a great opportunity to expand your experience in the rapidly-growing electric bicycle industry. Along with leading our service team, expect extensive customer contact, especially on the sales floor.

The ideal candidate will get “charged up” for delivering a great customer experience and getting more people out of their cars and onto bikes.

We provide an environment that encourages innovation and the chance to put your ideas to work.

Full time – 5 days per week. Year round is preferred.

Responsibilities:
* Lead the service department, organize service area, review and prioritize work orders, supervise service staff.
* Interact with service customers to write service orders and gather information from them to diagnose electrical problems
* Perform tune-ups and repairs of both electric and non-electric bikes, install accessories and build bikes as part of the service team.
* Install conversion kits.
* Field phone calls.
* Work the sales floor as needed. Become strongly familiar with the unique aspects of each e-bike model and of competitive alternatives. Assist customers in selecting the bike that is right for them. Expect about 25% of your time to be on the sale floor.
* Ring up orders.

A well-qualified applicant will have:
* Minimum 3 years professional bicycle mechanic.
* Experience with electric bikes including electrical troubleshooting.
* Familiarity with e-bike diagnostics software, especially Bosch.
* Point-of-Sale (POS) software experience, especially inventory management. Knowledge of Lightspeed/Merchant OS a plus.
* Bicycle sales experience, especially for commuter and general recreational cycling. Comfort selling to casual, non-performance riders is essential.
* Engaging interpersonal skills.
* Attention to detail.
* Valid driver’s license with good driving record.

Some extras that are desirable include:
* An interest in making operational improvements.
* Knowledge of other diagnostics systems, such as from Yamaha, Brose, TranzX or others.
* Strong MTB parts knowledge, especially front suspensions.
* A little knowledge of retail merchandising.
* A fondness for pizza.

We offer a competitive wage, plus a bonus based on storewide performance. We work as a team. Paid vacation. Health benefits available.

Location: Southeast Portland

How to Apply *
To tell us a little about yourself, forward a resume or an explanation of your qualifications or both to info@cynergyebikes.com.

The Monday Roundup: LA’s freeway follies, Vision Zero’s policing problem, a rail vision, and more

Welcome to the week.

Here are the most important stories we came across in the past seven days…

Vision Zero’s dilemma: Police statistics in Chicago show that 56 percent of all bike-related traffic tickets were issued in neighborhood with a majority of black residents — compared with 18 percent in white neighborhoods. (via @schmangee)

‘Bike Hunters’ strike gold: Bike company Vanmoof literally went the extra mile to catch the thief of a customer’s bike and uncovered a multinational bike theft ring in the process.

Toddlers-eye view of cities: A new film series follows toddlers while they discover urban streetscapes on foot. (via @awalkerinLA)

Read more

Partying on the Worst Day of the Year Ride

Worst Day of the Year Ride 2018
Worst Day of the Year Ride 2018
Our group had a birthday party theme. Can you tell?
(Photos: Madi Carlson)

Our Family Biking column is sponsored by Clever Cycles.

➤ Read past entries here.

We had a blast on our first Worst Day of the Year Ride.

New this year was a half-price four-mile family-friendly route which was perfect for us. Friends came down from Seattle because their almost-eight-year old wanted to celebrate his birthday with a bikey Portland weekend which made choosing our group costume easy: biking birthday party. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a ride with so many creative costumes and seeing the group finery was reason enough to attend.

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Community Cycling Center bringing back ‘Velotines’ delivery service

Community Cycling Center staffers Lindy Walsh (L), Athena and Yashar Vasef model Velotines cards.
(Photos: Community Cycling Center)

When is the last time you sent someone a hand-written note? Maybe doing that more often was one of your new year’s resolutions that needs a nudge?

For the second year in a row the Community Cycling Center will set up a letter courier system in their retail bike shop on Northeast Alberta to commemorate St. Velotine’s Day — which they call, “an emerging tradition celebrating all-analog affection.” For one day the CCC will buck the growing digitization of our lives and encourage people to send hand-written notes to one another in a bid to boost positive community spirit.

Here’s more from the CCC:

Instead of jotting a quick email thanking a friend or coworker, imagine having that note manually typed on a mid-century Olympia typewriter, then couriered by bike within Portland city limits to surprise and delight its recipient on February 14th. That is precisely what Cycling Center staff and volunteers intend to do for hundreds of messages.

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From now through February 14th (which is traditionally Valentine’s Day, if you haven’t realized yet), anyone can stop into the CCC Bike Shop (1700 NE Alberta) and order a velotine for a $10 suggested donation. Once typed up and sealed with a kiss, it will be queued for bike delivery on Valentine’s Day.

This would be a great way to tell your friends and special someones that you appreciate them!

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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Grab a ’20 is Plenty’ yard sign and help PBOT change traffic culture

Hopefully it’s a sign of change.
(Photo: PBOT)

Changing America’s dysfunctional traffic culture begins on the street in front of where you live.

It will take a lot more than signs and paint to win the battle against traffic violence — but both of those things are part of the fight. The Portland Bureau of Transportation has a new way you can aid their “Vision Zero” efforts: They now offer free ’20 is Plenty’ yard signs. Their goal is to help educate us about speed and give everyone a bit of a fair warning before the new 20 mph citywide residential speed limit goes into effect on April 1st (no foolin’).

Here are the times and places you can pick up a free sign:

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February Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee agenda

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Every second Tuesday of the month at 6:00 to 8:00 pm in City Hall Lovejoy Room (1221 SW 4th Ave)

Introductions/Announcements

Committee orientation
Chair Rithy Khut and Vice-Chair Elliot Scott will provide a brief welcome and orientation to new members.

Greetings to new members
Leah Treat, Director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, will provide remarks to this newly formed iteration of the Bicycle Advisory Committee.

Portland’s bicycling efforts: an orientation for new BAC members
Roger Geller, Portland’s bicycle coordinator, will present an overview of Portland’s efforts to “create conditions that make bicycling more attractive than driving…” (Comprehensive Plan Policy 9.20).

New bicycle-pedestrian bridges
Dan Layden and Nicole Pierce with PBOT will present current design considerations and timelines for the Sullivan’s Gulch and Flanders Street bridges. They are seeking committee input on cross-section design.

Support for Build Portland
Emily Tritsch, with PBOT, will seek committee support for dedicated Build Portland funding for a range of transportation projects.

Committee Business

Adjourn

Beaverton City Council needs to hear about how auto parking decisions impact cycling

Lloyd northbound toward Millikan, where cars could soon line both sides of the street.
(Photos by Naomi Fast for BikePortland)

This story is from our Washington County correspondent, Naomi Fast.

We need to talk about on-street auto parking in Beaverton.

A big picture glance at Beaverton Traffic Commission meeting agendas shows that over the past couple years, on-street car parking is a consuming and intersectional problem. Residents have been asking the city to lower speed limits rather than rely on parked cars for traffic calming, as well as further restrict on-street car parking. But the parking restriction requests are coming in for two different reasons: some are concerned about safety while traveling on car-cluttered roads, while others are concerned about people sleeping overnight in vehicles on the street.

Biking as transportation is — thankfully — being acknowledged somewhat in the search for solutions. However, some advocates are concerned certain proposed bike lanes (on a section of 5th, specifically, which the Bicycle Advisory Committee endorsed) were being used by the city to justify a new ordinance that would, in effect, evict houseless people from staying overnight in vehicles on the street. Washington County just enacted their own ordinance prohibiting camping on-street in RVs. Like Portland, Beaverton is struggling to house all its residents. The city has even decided to apply for an Urban Growth Boundary expansion.

But today, I’d like to outline a seemingly small detail of the bigger parking problem. It’s an example of the kind of mundane traffic decision that should be considered from a carfree person’s perspective, as part of the equity consideration.

And I think it’s worth a call-to-action for people whose preferred or primary mode of travel in Beaverton is a bicycle.

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