Tamar Monhait: Photos from the intersection and remembrances from those who knew her

Tamar Monhait.
(Image by DANAVA)

As we wait to learn more about what happened in Monday morning’s fatal collision, I’ve tried to learn more about Tamar Monhait, the 41-year-old artist whose life was cut tragically short.

I went to Southeast Water and Taylor this morning to get a better sense of the intersection and have reached out to those who knew her.

The collision happened just a few feet from a bike corral, a Biketown station, and the street seats of Water Avenue Coffee Company. During the day this intersection is bustling with a mix of industrial truck traffic, walkers and bikers headed to and from the Eastbank Esplanade, patrons of the many popular cafes and bars in the area, and professionals headed to any one of the newly sprouted office buildings that are transforming the central eastside.

Little is known about precisely what happened, but from initial statements by the Portland Police Bureau, we know that Monhait was riding northbound on Water Avenue prior to the collision. She was probably in the freshly-painted bike lane as she approached the intersection with Taylor. It’s a standard, 5-foot wide, unprotected bike lane with no buffer and the striping ends before the intersection. There’s an auto parking lane to the right of the bike lane and a vehicle lane to the left. This is a major city bike route as evidenced by the bikeway signage telling riders to turn east on Taylor to reach northeast and southeast Portland.

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The Ride: One century to rule them all

There’s more than one way to get to Vernonia – if you don’t mind getting dirty.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

This post is sponsored by River City Bicycles.

You know I have a soft-spot for Columbia County. A ride I did this weekend made it even softer: A 100-mile loop that pulls together adventurous riding that’s relatively close to Portland and offers everything from expertly crafted singletrack and primitive logging roads to carfree paths and smooth country roads.

I call it the Scappoose Vernonia Singletrack Century.

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Let’s Share our Bike-to-the-Eclipse Experiences

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

My partner and I woke up at 4:00am and loaded up our touring bikes with coffee, burritos, sandwiches, and moon pies that we’d made the night before. Our route took us to the Trolley Trail to Oregon City to Highway 213 until Wagonwheel Park, south of Mulino. At the time, we didn’t know that this was one of the BikeToTheEclipse.com suggested routes. Nor did we know that it was pronounced “Mul-EYE-no.”

The trip there was blissfully quiet until Highway 213, where eclipse traffic was in full effect. We often outpaced the stop-and-go car traffic, despite riding slowly because we were wary of right hooks. The single most harrowing moment of the trip happened just south of Oregon City, when the driver of a semi truck veered entirely into the bike lane just in front of us, forcing us off of the road. Thankfully, because traffic was moving slowly, we had enough time to react.

We were some of the first people to arrive at Wagonwheel Park. As we waited for the eclipse, we were happily surprised to see group after group of people on bikes arrive! I stopped counting at thirty bikes. Most of the people that we talked to mentioned that they had followed the BikeToTheEclipse website to get there.

After the eclipse, the ride back to Portland was a completely different experience. Northbound 213’s shoulder was narrow to nonexistent, and the traffic was moving much faster. Despite this, the number of bicycles on the road together created a relieving sense of safety in numbers. From Wagonwheel Park all the way back to Portland, we were always between other groups of bike riders. The groups would regularly change as people peeled off to take breaks in the shade, but at no point were we the lone bike riders on the road. Because of this, the return trip was much more fun and enjoyable than the trip there.

How was your eclipse trip?

Bicycle rider dies after collision with garbage truck driver in central eastside – Updated

Looking north on Water Avenue at Taylor. The woman on the bike was going this direction prior to the collision.

UPDATE, 4:25 pm: Police have identified the bicycle rider as Tamar Monhait, a resident of Portland. They have also just added this to their original statement: “The Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Division wishes to remind all bicyclists to wear an approved bicycle helmet. Additionally, bicyclists should operate with a front-facing white light and a rear-facing red light while operating a bicycle in low-light or dark conditions.”
—

A 41-year-old woman died early this morning while riding her bike in the central eastside.

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Oregon Governor signs anti-profiling bill aimed at racially motivated traffic stops

Crosswalk enforcement action NE Killingsworth-6

Starting next year, the Portland Police Bureau will be required to report traffic stop data to the State.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

One of the many ways race intersects with transportation is with enforcement of traffic laws. National and local statistics show that black people are stopped and cited for road-use related violations at a higher rate than whites.

In their Unequal Justice series, Investigate West reported, “For everything from jaywalking to driving without a license, it pays to be white in Oregon if you run afoul of the law. What you really don’t want to be is black.”

Now there’s an Oregon law on the books that will give advocates and law enforcement officials new tools to analyze traffic stops and ultimately tackle racial profiling — or as Oregon law enforcement officials refer to it, “bias policing.”

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Get to know east Portland better at Sunday Parkways

Brand new route.

If you care about bicycling in Portland and want to see its benefits spread across the social, racial and economic divisions that exist in this city, you should consider taking part in Sunday Parkways this weekend.

That’s because the Portland Bureau of Transportation has put together a brand new route that will highlight neighborhoods, commercial districts and parks east of I-205 and just south of I-84. This is a place about eight miles northeast of city hall that looks and feels much different than the central city. The streets are wider and people drive faster (and more people get hurt and killed on them as a result), there isn’t a bike shop on every corner, and you won’t find nearly as much bike-specific infrastructure.

Yet.

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You could be the manager of ODOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program

You could have a hand in creating ODOT’s bike safety PSAs!
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The hiring binge at the Oregon Department of Transportation continues and they just announced a new opening that has the transportation reform crowd buzzing.

ODOT’s current Safe Routes to School and Bike/Ped Safety Coordinator Julie Yip is retiring and the agency is looking for someone to replace her. In the job description, ODOT says the new hire will oversee the existing safety programs for bicycling and walking and will also, “develop and implement transportation safety programs and projects.”

This is one of those “guru” positions that — with the right person — could have a significant impact on biking and walking locally and statewide. While the scope of this job is crucially important (especially with an alarming rise in traffic deaths in recent years) and relatively broad, unfortunately the pay isn’t quite what we’d hope for. Just $41,000 to $60,000 a year probably isn’t enough to snag someone with a lot of experience and swagger to make big things happen. Also note that under “special qualifications” ODOT says, “Driving is an essential function of this position. A valid driver license and an acceptable driving record are required for this position.”

Here’s the list of “duties and responsibilities”:

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Weekend Event Guide: Charlottesville solidarity, eclipse rides, Sunday Parkways & more

East Portland Sunday Parkways-16

Escape the madness and enjoy the smile-filled carfree streets of outer northeast at Sunday Parkways.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The big Eclipse Weekend is here. Events related to this celestial phenomenon are already causing backups and the big show doesn’t start until Monday.

The Weekend Event Guide is sponsored by Abus Bike Locks. Thanks Abus!

Regardless of what’s happening in the sky — and in some cases because of it — people want to ride bikes on weekends. That’s why we do this guide.

Our featured event this week is the Chrome Warehouse Sale. This major apparel brand originally from San Francisco recently completed a move to Portland and they want to say “hello” by offering a bunch of great clothing, bags and other accessories at killer prices. They were also smart and nice enough to purchase an ad campaign here on BP to promote it. Thank you Chrome! Show them you appreciate their support of our community by dropping by the big sale Friday through Sunday at the old Shleifer Bldg in the central eastside.

Here are the rest of the best events this weekend…

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Portland-based Chris King ceases production of Cielo frames

Chris King Cielo Cycles factory -48

An employee puts finishing touches on a Cielo frame at the factory in 2013.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

If you were waiting to order a Cielo, it’s too late.

Portland-based Chris King Precision Components (CKPC) announced yesterday that they’ve ceased production of all Cielo frames, forks and stems effective immediately.

In a statement, the company said, “After reevaluating marketing and sales goals for the coming years, Cielo unfortunately did not fit into our plans. We are quite proud of the product that the brand has produced over the years, but will be focusing our attention and resources on our core product families (headsets, bottom brackets, and hubs).”

Cielo was started by Chris King in Santa Barbara California 1978. By the mid 1980s King’s headsets had become so popular that he stopped making bikes to keep up with the demands of his fast-growing company. As his headset (and later hubset and bottom bracket) business grew he added staff and moved his business from Santa Barbara to Redding (CA) and then ultimately to Portland in 2003. Once settled into a large manufacturing facility in the northwest industrial district and with a healthy business (the company now employs over 130 people), King rekindled the Cielo brand in 2008.

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How can our community support the fight against white supremacy?

PDX Bike Swarm - ALEC F29 protests-8

A sign from a protest in February 2012.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Like many of you, I’m struggling to focus on anything but the sorry state of our nation.

The events in Charlottesville and their aftermath have made it clear that the white supremacy movement is alive and growing in America. And now that Donald Trump has cleared a space for hate to flourish, we’ve reached a new and dangerous place in the fight against it.

Why am I bringing this up on a bike blog?

BikePortland plays an important role in our community. As an independent media outlet, our relatively large audience is one of the smartest, most engaged, and most civically active groups of people in Portland. Because of that — and because of the privileges and safety I personally enjoy as a comfortable, independent, middle-class, business-owning white male — I have a responsibility to listen to the community and do what I can to help fight this cancer of hate and prevent it from metastizing.

I have some sense about what to do as an individual. What I need your help with is what to do as publisher and owner of this platform we’ve all created together here at BikePortland.

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