(Photos by Matt Haughey/Flickr)
You’ve probably never tried to ride your bike through deep sand. Why would you? Sand and bikes (unless they’re fat) don’t go together.
That is, of course, unless you are a cyclocross racer.
The Monday Roundup: Slower trucks, MAMILs, bikeway band-aids, and more
Welcome to Monday. Here are the stories that caught our eyes last week…
Take notes: A diverse mix of experts — a consultant, a planner, an advocate, a politician — share how to make cycling safer in Montreal, and the insights can be applied to almost any serious cycling city.
Anti-bike bingo: Create your own anti-bike rant with this convenient form! All you need is a desire for inane clickbait.
The End of Road Riding: We’ve been discussing this on Twitter lately: The idea that some vehicle operators have become so irresponsible that many long-time road riders are so afraid they are giving up and finding other things to do — or other, off-highway places to ride.
Portland Police arrest woman after she bragged about road rage assault online
Chrissy Shoaff mugshot.
Roadway assaults between motor vehicle operators and people on bikes and foot happen all the time. They usually don’t end well. This one did. At least for the victim.
On August 27th, Portland resident Paul Jeffery and his friends were trying to cross SE Division near 48th when he was assaulted by a woman driving a car. Jeffery says that about mid-way across the street the woman, “swerved around me close enough that my hand come into contact with the passenger side mirror.”
After that close call he says the woman — who is employed by Uber — turned around and approached him. The two had a heated back-and-forth about what happened and then, Jeffery says, the woman accosted him. She walked up to him, yelled loudly, then tore the $400 prescription glasses off his face, crushed them to pieces, threw them into the street, got back in her car and drove away (despite Jeffery and his friends sitting on her hood to prevent her from leaving).
Featured Job Listings: Bike Gallery, WashCo BTC, Stages, Nutcase, Sellwood
Even as we head into fall and leave the “cycling season” behind, local bike shops and bike-related businesses are still hiring. If you’ve been looking for your spot in the Portland bike industry, or a change of scenery, check out the great opportunities that have come into our Job Listings in the past month:
Learn more about each position via the links below…
–> Bike Builder – Sellwood Cycle Repair
–> Website and Webstore Manager – Nutcase Helmets
–> Customer Service Representative/Technical Support – Stages Cycling
–> Bike Mechanic – WashCo BTC Community Bike Center
–> Service Department Manager – Bike Gallery (Downtown)
Job: Service Department Manager – Bike Gallery (Downtown)
Job Title *
Service Department Manager
Company/Organization *
Bike Gallery – DOWNTOWN
Job Description *
The Service Manager is responsible for supporting and enforcing the service department policies and procedures for the individual retail location. This includes time and quality standards for service repairs, evaluation, support and supervision of service staff, and the measurement of service department sales and production performance. The Service Manager is also expected to monitor and adjust to service department sales goals, manage the parts inventory for the store, and process warranty claims. In order to manage these resources, the Service Manager will work closely with the Store Manager, and Assistant Store Manager.
This Service Manager position is a permanent, full time position. Additional requirements are participation in our annual Warehouse Sale, Cycle Oregon, the Summer Sale, and any additional events as they are added.
A Bike Gallery Service Manager is expected to attend and participate in technical trainings, clinics, and service summits in order to be informed of all developments pertaining to service procedures, techniques, and salient features. Bike Gallery has certain behavioral expectations of all managers, these include; returning all phone and e-mail messages within 24 hours, conducting all inter-company communications in a professional and results oriented manner, conducting all business dealings with integrity and communicating variations in scheduling to all parties affected.
Bike Gallery Service Manager’s provide consistency, leadership, and vision for what the store service department is, as well as what it will become. The management of service inventory and procedures will have a direct bearing on the experiences of Bike Gallery customers, and therefore on our potential to further develop customer loyalty and market share.
The Downtown Bike Gallery service department is exceptionally busy. It will challenge you daily. Please keep that in mind before you apply.
The Bike Gallery offers a full range of benefits: Medical/Dental/Vision/401k (w/match)/Aflac/Medical Flex Spending
Pay will depend upon experience
How to Apply *
If you are interested please submit resume and a letter to Rogerwotton@bikegallery.com telling us a little about yourself, why you are interested in the role, and what you see as keys to this service department’s success.
‘Cross is here: Get the lowdown on local races, clinics, and more
Hope you’re ready. Even if you’re not; go ahead and drop in, you’ll be OK.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
In case you missed the memo yesterday, cyclocross season is upon us. As the sun recedes and the leaves fall, it’s time to turn your pedals and jump into the local ‘cross scene.
Portland is lucky to have one of the most vibrant and accessible ‘cross cultures anywhere. Whether you want to race, dip your toes in the mud to try it out, or spectate — these next few months have a lot to offer.
Portland area teenagers to learn safe driving skills at Ford-sponsored event
Nearly 3,000 teenagers die every year in motor vehicle crashes in our country — it’s the leading cause of death in the 12-19 year age group and represents nearly half of all teenage fatalities.
As a bicycle rider (and father of a teenager), it’s quite unpleasant to think about sharing the road with these inexperienced and often distracted young people. That’s why I’m happy to share that this weekend Ford is sponsoring a series of free “Driving Skills for Life” clinics that will teach teens from around the region how to drive safely.
The event is part of a national tour that Ford Motor Company has been organizing for 12 years and it’s being promoted by the Oregon Department of Transportation as an element of their Vision Zero plans.
Beer, bikes and Oregon’s bounty come together on ‘Fresh Hop Century’
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Collision Chronicles: Roadway assault on North Skidmore near MLK (8/29/16)
This story is part of our Collision Chronicles, an ongoing series to shine a light on the steady stream of scary street interactions we hear about but that you probably won’t see covered in the news.
I never thought I’d be emailing anyone about something like this, but it finally happened to me.
I was assaulted by a driver on my short morning commute, Monday 8/29, around 7:20 am. I was following a driver from the MLK/Skidmore light west down Skidmore and he was driving erratically, slowing as if he was going to turn right several times. I thought he might be a uber/lyft driver, after the 2nd time I tried to go around him and he sped up, obviously taunting me and yelling, “Why the F are you riding my bumper?!”.
Job: Bike Mechanic – WashCo BTC Community Bike Center — FILLED
Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.
Cross season is here! Get stoked with photos from the first week of racing
Racers wind through a curvy section of the Portland Trophy Cup race that happened last night out at PIR.
(Photos by Daniel Steinle/Yung Pine Photography)
(Photos by Daniel Steinle/Yung Pine Photography)
[Publisher’s note: We plan on having lots of cyclocross coverage this year (in part because I’ll be out there racing!) and we’re kicking things off with selected images from the talented eye of Daniel Steinle of Yung Pine Photography. Stay tuned for more great ‘cross photos, info, and stories. — Jonathan]
Portland’s cyclocross scene is envied the world over. And for good reason. We have a full calendar of races (many just a short distance from town), a very strong organizing body in the Oregon Bicycle Racing Assocation, and a supportive and fun community that surrounds it. Whether you’re a fan, a beginner or a seasoned pro, Portland cyclocross is where it’s at.
Portland now using pedal-powered trikes to help rebalance bike share stations
Motivate employee Troy Leighton on the inaugural ride of the new cargo trikes being used to rebalance Biketown bikes.
Biketown is now using bikes to refill bikes at bike share stations. Makes perfect sense right?
Yesterday we scored a sneak peek at a new program that the City of Portland and Motivate (the city’s bike share operator) is working on: A small fleet of pedal-powered trikes that will help make sure Biketown stations have enough bikes available to potential users. In the bike share world this task is called rebalancing.
As bikes get used and left around town, some popular stations tend to run out of bikes. It’s a tricky issue for all bike share systems, and a costly one. Rebalancing is the single largest operational expense for bike share systems. Operators of Washington D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare spend about 55 percent of their operating costs on rebalancing efforts which includes the wages of 20 van drivers and four dispatchers (we rode along with one in 2013).