🚨 Please note that BikePortland slows down during this time of year as I have family in town and just need a break! Please don't expect typical volume of news stories and content. I'll be back in regular form after the new year. Thanks. - Jonathan 🙏

Weekend Event Guide: Bikepacking clinics, Filmed by Bike launch, and more

If photos like this make your heart beat a bit faster, you should check out one of the upcoming adventure riding events. (This photo is the Coquille River in Parkersburg just east of Bandon.)
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

One of the best things about our community is how people share what they know.

Over the next three days there are three events on our calendar that will get you inspired and educated about adventure riding – from regional touring to epic bikepacking trips. It starts with a Bikepacking 101 clinic tonight (Thursday, 2/28) at the Beaverton Bike Gallery.

Yes it’s cold and a challenging time to ride for some people, but our bike scene never stops! Check out our weekly event picks below…

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Family Biking Column: My recap of the Worst Day of the Year Ride

Cargo trailers make for easy decorating, and easy carrying of three kids and three bikes (one had a flat tire, two were tired).
(Photo: Jen Regan)

After having such a great time last year celebrating a friend’s 8th birthday on the Worst Day of the Year Ride, we had to do it again! In fact, it was so fun that our friend rescheduled his birthday by two weeks to work around the rescheduling of the event — that’s dedication!

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Rock Creek Cyclery is a new hub for bike lovers in Hillsboro

Martín Acosta inside the new space.
(Photos: Naomi Fast)

Naomi Fast is our Washington County correspondent.

Not everyone believes in the oft-quoted movie mantra, “If you build it, they will come.” But out in Hillsboro, the adage holds true — and not just for Hillsboro Hops baseball.

Less than two years after I wrote about a new separated bikeway that parallels Cornelius Pass Road between Cornell and Highway 26, a new bike shop has moved in less than a mile away: Rock Creek Cyclery.

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Want safer cycling on Skyline and Sauvie? Let the County know

Roads like NW Skyline Blvd and Cornell are on the list for wider paved shoulders and other measures aimed at making cycling safer.
(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

It just so happens that many of the roads managed by Multnomah County are vital links in the cycling network: Sauvie Island Road, Larch Mountain Road, Skyline Road, Cornell, Marine Drive, Historic Columbia River Highway, and so on.

We don’t talk about them as much as urban infrastructure and commuting routes, but that makes them no less important. And now, as part of an update to their 20-Year Road Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the County needs to hear from you how to prioritize future projects and funding. An online open house is now available and comments can be made through March 4th.

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PBOT will form 18-member ‘working group’ for Central City in Motion plan

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is forming an official advisory body to oversee implementation of the Central City in Motion plan. That plan includes 18 “transformative” projects aimed at improving the efficiency and safety of key central city corridors. Among the changes will be transit lanes, protected bike lanes, updated crossings, and more. Taken together, the projects represent the most ambitious re-thinking of roadway space in decades.

Suffice it to say, there’s a lot riding on this effort. Perhaps that’s why PBOT has taken this step of convening a formal Working Group. According to the announcement released today by the Office of Community & Civic Life, the group will be an official city advisory body and will, “offer strategic advice to help the project team successfully implement projects.

Specifically, members of the group will:

Provide input on priorities for project design and construction
Connect the project team with key stakeholders and community representatives and identify opportunities for public engagement on project design
Identify opportunities for the private sector to leverage public investments
Monitor project delivery
Evaluate project performance

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Carfree travel with kids: Taking the family around L.A. by transit

Taking light rail to the beach was a blast.
(Photos: Madi Carlson)

It’s easy to survive winter in the Pacific Northwest. Just escape to somewhere warm and sunny for one week in November and one week in February — or so I was instructed by a wise friend upon moving here.

It sounds like a lovely method, but until this winter I was never able to put it off.

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Job: Bike Mechanic – Bike Clark County

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Bike Mechanic

Company / Organization

Bike Clark County

Job Description

Bike Clark County is a non-profit organization that creates opportunities for empowerment, education, and social change through bicycles and bicycle repair. As a nonprofit, we repair bicycles donated from the community, and redistribute them through our charitable programs and affordable bike sales. As a cooperative, we teach the community how to repair their own bicycles in our shared use shop space. Our charitable programs seek to make bicycles, and bicycle repair/safety education available to the entire community regardless of income.
BCC many charitable bike safety education programs are made possible by its community oriented shop operations. BCC’s technicians work on a variety of bikes from the early 1930’s to modern full carbon race bikes.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:
Contribute to a fun, friendly, and welcoming environment for customers and coworkers.
Maintain a clean work environment for customers as well as other mechanics
Intake, assess, repair, and check over new bicycles.
Refurbish used bikes in a timely manner so that they can then be purchased
Educate customers on how to properly maintain their bikes
Examine parts donated to ensure quality products will be on the floor for sale
Organize parts room
Help customers pick out the right bike for what they intend to use the bike for

Qualifications needed to do the job successfully:
Excellent mechanical skills (preferable two years hands-on, professional shop experience working with a variety of bicycles)
The ability to problem solve with bikes and find solutions
The ability to work with a wide variety of clientele
Excellent people skills that will enable you to work with a wide variety of clientele including those new to bicycling.
Ability to interact in a friendly manner with all customers regardless of their bicycle knowledge.
Outstanding communication skills
The ability to think creatively and keen problem-solving skills
Good organizational skills & Multitasking in an extremely fast-paced environment

Part time & full time positions $12-17/hour DOE.

How to Apply

Email resume and cover letter to: info@bikeclarkcounty.org

Job: Customer Service and Sales Manager – Breadwinner Cycles

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Customer Service and Sales Manager

Company / Organization

Breadwinner Cycles

Job Description

Job Type: Sales, customer service, production scheduling

Candidates must be:
-Engaging, positive and personable
-Able to communicate effectively via email
-Curious to learn about new technologies and components
-Sales oriented
-Organized and Detail oriented
-Able to manage time effectively
-Be able to modify and create internal systems
-Excited to work as part of a team
-Reliable and accurate
-Able to handle customer concerns in a timely manner
-Cultivate positive relationships with vendors
-Passionate about bikes!

Our ideal candidate will have worked in bicycle sales and have an above average familiarity with bicycles and bike parts including wheels. Excellence with customers and coworkers in a teamwork environment are a high priority.

Full time, year-round employment, competitive wages available to the right candidate. The ideal candidate will have sales experience, product knowledge, and some mechanic experience and is looking to grow with our company. Training and ongoing support are offered to the right person with the wealth of knowledge we have gained over the last 10+ years. We are an equitable employment shop and we encourage anyone who is qualified to apply.

Desired sales knowledge to be successful:
-Familiar with current bike and wheel technology including Di2
-Experience with Lightspeed POS system

Experience:
Bicycle and bicycle accessory knowledge: 3+ years
Mechanical experience: 1 year (Preferred)

How to Apply

How to Apply: Please submit your resume and cover letter to info@Breadwinnercyles.com by March 10, 2019. We will do our best to acknowledge each applicant.

From Portland to the summit of Mt. Hood and back, by bike (and boot and ski)

JT Lehman in good spirits en route to Timberline Lodge.
(Photos: Andy Edick)

Have you ever been on a bike ride in Portland on a clear day, then looked east to see the magnificent snowy peak of Mt. Hood? Now imagine riding to the mountain, hiking to the summit, skiing back down, then riding home — all under 24 hours.

That was the audacious plan hatched by friends Andy Edick and JT Lehman on a spring day in May of last year. Now in their 30s, the pair ran cross-country together at University of Portland and they’re no strangers to cycling, skiing and mountaineering. Those skills would all come in handy on their 24-hour Mt. Hood-by-bike-and-ski adventure.

“We’d always kind of joked about doing it,” Edick shared on the phone with me this morning. “And when the window opened up, we finally decided if we’re ever going to do it, this is it.”

The “it” is a biking, hiking, and skiing adventure that would take them from the Willamette River to the summit of Mt. Hood — and back — before the earth made one rotation.

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North Fessenden and 82nd claimed more victims last night

Another person was seriously injured on N Fessenden last night.

At first I thought the Portland Police Bureau sent out a duplicate statement by mistake. Then upon closer inspection of the emails, I realized there really were two traffic collisions that caused serious injury to someone walking within just a few hours on Sunday night.

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City releases final plans for Tillamook Neighborhood Greenway project

Design for Tillamook and 21st has changed to make the bike route more direct.

The City of Portland plans to get started on $150,000 worth of changes to NE Tillamook Street this spring. If all goes according to plan, this major east-west bike route will be much less inviting for car users and much more inviting for bicycle users between Flint and 28th.

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