🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
A comment written by Roberta on March 9th touched on an issue that we’ve addressed several times in recent years: People who live on and adjacent to multi-use paths.
This week’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by Treo Bike Tours of Eastern Oregon. Now is the time to grab your crew and plan your trip! Treo offers multi-day all-inclusive packages and they’ll even pick you up from Portland.
Welcome to Monday. Was that a great weekend or what? I hope you were able to enjoy the warm sunny weather. Now it’s time to put our thinking caps on once again.
On that note, here are the best stories we came across in the past seven days…
Grit girls: Much to love about this NY Times piece on the appeal of mountain bike racing to young girls and the organization that’s bringing the races to high schools nationwide.
Coal rollers guilty! A Utah judge ruled against “Diesel Bros” for EPA violations related to their sale of equipment that allows people to “roll coal”. (We wrote about this lawsuit back in 2016.)
Click and Clack: Legendary co-host of NPR’s Car Talk joined Doug, Sarah and Aaron on the latest War on Cars Podcast episode.
Too many cars: This must-read National Geographic piece (worth giving them your email for) delves into the challenges facing cities and comes to one major theme: To survive and thrive in the future we must undo our history of car-centric planning.
Mobility and climate: And a similar tone from CityLab about the urgency to address climate change and how urban transportation can and should play a major role.
Reactionary progress in SF: Mixed feelings when a city gets aggressive with bike safety fixes only after a high-profile death.
Flip ’em off: In a victory for frustrated road users everywhere, a federal court ruled that holding up your middle finger is a constitutional right.
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Helmet conversation evolves: The success of shared electric scooters in Spokane, Washington has that city seriously considering a change to helmet laws to make them optional for riders.
Think airplanes are dangerous? Excellent piece in Slate about how automakers’ rush to sell high-tech cars is making our roads significantly less safe as drivers lose ability to think for themselves and put too much trust into their cars.
Why people oppose bike lanes: This wonderful Streetfilms from the National Bike Summit features bike advocacy pros sharing the most ridiculous excuses they’ve heard for not building bike lanes.
Words matter: The Gothamist does a great job explaining how biased and apathetic police work and insensitive police statements re-traumatize victims of traffic crashes.
Tweet of the Week: (Ms. Sadik-Khan is the former NYC DOT Commish and a globally recognized urban planning consultant.)
Once king of sustainable transpo, Portland could become jester with a $500M interstate expansion. Not sure what’s more galling—the state thinking it can widen a road w/o increasing traffic, or thinking it can convince Portlanders it’s good for the planet https://t.co/8SaDWIlOPy
— Janette Sadik-Khan (@JSadikKhan) March 15, 2019
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Portland area bike businesses will have a strong presence at the annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) that opened today at the Sacramento Convention Center.
scene from Portland as kids protesting climate change march through the streets pic.twitter.com/hn90eQW8dL
— Michael (@michaelbivins44) March 15, 2019
Students from schools throughout Portland have massed downtown today for the #ClimateStrike event. Reports are that it’s a big success with crowds much larger than folks anticipated.
In a silent and powerful protest on Wednesday, parents, children, and activists came together to draw attention to unsafe streets. There was fake blood and chalk-outlined bodies. Adding to the symbolism was that it took place in the courtyard outside the front doors of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Region 1 headquarters in northwest Portland.
There are plenty of important bills down in Salem this session, but as you might have noticed in the list of bills we’re tracking — and despite a supermajority for Democrats — bicycling doesn’t seem like much a priority. (Not that bicycling is a partisan issue, but in general Democrats tend to be more receptive to it than Republicans.)
When arguably the biggest bike bill in the mix is one that merely clarifies an existing law that bike lanes don’t disappear in intersections, you know it’s another down year for cycling in Salem.
I can think of several reasons why the issue has lost urgency with lawmakers; but instead of lamenting the state of cycling in our politics, I want to share a few legal ideas I wish we were working on.
Two fresh job listings this week. Both from our partners at Western Bikeworks.
Learn more about each one via the links below…
–> Seasonal Part-Time Sales Associate – Western Bikeworks
When we learned the Portland Parks & Recreation bureau planned to install 10 new stop signs on a newly paved, half-mile section of the Springwater Corridor, several readers contacted us to express their frustration.
It feels like spring has finally arrived and we can sense the bicycling buzz out there.
This week’s guide kicks off with three events tomorrow, including a bonus wonky one during your lunch hour.
This story was written by Martin Stabler
Dog and bike collide. Aaron Edge doesn’t know if the dog is OK; he is definitely not OK. It was a bad bike crash.
Part-Time Service Writer
Western Bikeworks
JOB OVERVIEW: This position acts as a facilitator for the Western Bikeworks Retail Mission for all staff in the service department: “Empowering people to achieve their bike-related goals in whatever form they may take.” As a result, this role is responsible for taking on many of the day-to-day duties that allow other service staff to efficiently and effectively complete their duties. This position is also responsible for ensuring all staff understand and embody these principles when performing their job duties.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
● Assists Service Manager with day-to-day functions.
● Assists Service Staff with exceeding customer expectations.
● Manages daily workflow through the store’s service scheduling software.
● Places appropriate special orders and ensures that all policies are followed for ordering and receiving small parts.
● Helps process bike related warranties as needed.
● Requests appropriate product so that the store has repair parts necessary for fast service turn-around.
● Monitors daily service levels and ensures enough resources are available to complete scheduled services and that each specialty service is assigned to a mechanic capable of completing that service
● Works with Service Manager to handle all anomalies that arise from service operations.
● Is the face of the service department.
● Able to assess customer’s bikes for indicated problems and generate an accurate financial and time estimate for repairing the issue to the customer’s satisfaction
● Familiar with all aspects of bicycle technologies, including but not limited to
o Di2
o Campagnolo
o SRAM Red eTap
o Hydraulic Disk Brakes
o Front and rear suspension
● Able to troubleshoot appropriate solutions for systems that do not have readily available replacement parts
MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:
● 3 years professional shop experience
● A bicycle background is a must
● Must be computer literate
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES:
● Familiar with the repair and function of all commonly used drivetrain and suspension technologies.
● Aware of appropriate vendors for sourcing replacement parts and tools to ensure timely repair turn-around
● Excellent communication and organizational skills
● Solid knowledge of cycling products
● Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication
● Ability to be an advocate for cycling in the local community
● Ability to work independently or with others to manage multiple task with minimal supervision.
● Ability to spend time talking to people about bicycles.
Please click on the company link below:
Seasonal Part-Time Sales Associate
Western Bikeworks
The Seasonal part Time Sales Associate position handles and learns day-to-day processes in bicycle retail at Western Bikeworks – keying transactions, returns and exchanges, and handling escalated issues. This position is governed by the Western Bikeworks Retail Mission: “Empowering people to achieve their bike-related goals in whatever form they may take.” As a result, this role is responsible for treating both their coworkers and customers using the following standards: identifying their goals, finding solutions to help them achieve those goals, and owning their experience from first contact through the resolution of that goal.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
• Operate store Point of Sale equipment
• Assist customers with product selection by spending the time to learn about the customer’s needs and then suggesting appropriate product to satisfy those requirements. This will extend (but not be limited) to bicycle selection and sizing, nutrition selection, and accessory selection
• Provide higher than expected (by the customer) customer service including but not limited to assisting with removal of bicycles from their vehicle, searching all possible avenues for special order or out of stock product, expediting all service and transactions as much as possible, and hand writing thank you cards
• Prepare the retail store for normal operations at opening time (lights, signage, setup PCs, etc) and handle End of Day procedures
• Assist with the setup and teardown of marketing events at the store (movie premieres, vendor presentations, etc)
• Work on receiving, placing product on the floor, store cleanliness, etc. at the discretion of the store manager
• Answer incoming phone calls and respond to incoming customer email
• Has basic level mechanic capabilities (change a flat tire, operate quick release)
QUALIFICATIONS:
• No specific formal education is required
• A bicycle background is a must
• Must be computer literate
Please apply by clicking on the company link below: