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Road rage erupts on Williams Avenue after woman gets called out for distracted driving

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Woman accused of road rage on North Williams last night.
(Photo: Jessica Roberts)

An interaction between road users on North Williams Avenue during rush-hour last night turned ugly when a woman driving a car physically threatened a woman who was cycling by swerving her car into the bike lane and then chasing her into a nearby restaurant.

It started around 5:15 pm when Piedmont neighborhood resident Jessica Roberts saw a woman in a white sedan using her cell phone. Roberts told us this morning she first saw the woman on her phone when her car passed her while she was biking in the bike lane near North Stanton (Dawson Park). As usual during the evening rush Williams was completely backed up with auto traffic. Upon passing by the woman’s vehicle a few seconds later (near Fargo Street) Roberts looked at her and yelled, “That’s illegal!” In response, the woman, “Looked up and just exploded with rage,” Roberts says.

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Electric Bike Expo coming to Portland in May

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Test riding bikes is the big attraction.
(Photo: Electric Bike Expo)

Despite big advances in battery technology and ever-increasing availability, electric bike sales still lag in the United States compared to other countries. Organizers of the Electric Bike Expo — which is coming to Portland for the first time ever in May — think the reason many Americans aren’t enthused about e-bikes is simply because they haven’t spent enough quality time with them.

The focus of the two-day show is an e-bike test track. Attendees will be able to try bikes from many different brands and talk to e-bike experts. “The best way for people to truly understand what an electric bike is all about is to provide them with the ride experience. That is why we are taking electric bikes to the people,” is how Ray Verhelst, President of the Electric Bike Expo, puts it.

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Tonight’s Trail Blazers ‘Green Game’ will highlight transportation

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Tonight’s Item of the Game features Portland’s
non-car transportation modes.

Tonight is Blazers Bike Night and it’s also part of a larger effort by the National Basketball Association and the Portland Trail Blazers organization to be more aware about of their impact on the environment.

All season long the Blazers have used special “Green Games” to highlight areas where they want to reduce their environmental footprint. So far they’ve focused on energy, waste, food, and water conservation. Tonight’s focus area is transportation and Bike Night is the centerpiece of the campaign.

According to the team about 6 percent of Blazer fans walk or bike to the Moda Center. Add the 5 percent who take the bus and 25 percent who take light rail and you’ve got 36 percent of the 19,980 Moda Center fans who get to the game without a car.

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Racers treated to perfect conditions at annual Gorge Roubaix weekend

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Racers string out as they make their way up the famous Rowena Loops en route to Mosier during Day 1 of the Gorge Roubaix.
(Photos: Leonard Johnson/Hot Foot Photo)

The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association calendar took racers to The Dalles this past weekend for the Gorge Roubaix. Event promoters offered two days of racing (and one non-competitive “gravel grinder” ride) along some of the most beautiful roads in the state.

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Are your legs are ready for the big De Ronde/La Doyenne weekend?

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The West Hills are full of freshly painted lions that mark the De Ronde route. This photo of SW Knights Blvd and Kinsgton Drive in Washington Park is where anonymous organizers have added one lion for each year of the ride’s existence.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

What better way to embrace this warm and sunny start to spring than to pedal your bike over 14,000 feet in elevation over 100 miles. Right? If the thought of that makes you smile not cringe than you should make plans to ride the De Ronde and La Doyenne rides coming up later this month.

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Wednesday Video Roundup: bridge pedaling, test bikes, and bamboo bikes

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Welcome to this week’s roundup! This past weekend was the Emerald City Bike Ride in Seattle. It’s the first year, and the highlights were riding across the new Hwy 520 floating bridge and then going down the I-5 express lanes. It had a similar surreal feeling as riding over the Fremont Bridge during our city’s Bridge Pedal event. Above is my short highlights video; another interesting view was from the rider who was first out and got to set the KOM across the bridge and then again on the express lanes.

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Job: Bike Camp Instructor – Community Cycling Center

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Job Title *
Bike Camp Instructor

Company/Organization *
Community Cycling Center

Job Description *
About the Community Cycling Center:
The Community Cycling Center, founded in 1994, is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that broadens access to bicycling and its benefits. We value organizational cultural competency and continuously strive for greater organizational effectiveness. We work to gain the skills and capabilities needed to collaborate more effectively across cultures, and as a result, have a greater capacity to address social inequity, multiple disparities, and effect long lasting change within our community. Visit www.CommunityCyclingCenter.org for more information about us. We are an equal opportunity employer. Individuals with diverse abilities and experiences are encouraged to apply.

About the Program:
The Bike Camp program, started in 2001, is a 5-day long day camp for kids age 6-14 years old to develop their cycling skills in a fun, safe, and supportive environment. Groups of 12 campers, led by two instructors, take bike rides around the city visiting parks and destinations of interest. Campers learn experientially about riding in traffic, navigating using maps, and how to do basic bicycle maintenance. In addition to these cycling related skills, campers develop self confidence, enthusiasm about bikes, and the social and communication skills to work well in a team environment. Some camps have added themes like craft-making, bike mechanics, food carts, or Spanish immersion.

A Day at Camp:
Instructors usually work from 8am-4pm with programming happening from 9am-3pm. Instructors have a lot of autonomy and discretion to plan their schedules in ways that they think will inspire and challenge their campers while also accommodating the varied needs of the group’s participants.

The Role of Instructors:
Instructors work in pairs to lead groups of up to 12 students and are responsible for planning each day’s routes and lessons, leading games and activities, and supporting the group along the way. Instructor pairs have the flexibility to plan rides and activities according to their instructional style and the needs of their group. The role involves communicating with parents, planning with a co-leader, team-building and conflict resolution with campers, managing safety on the road, and collaborating with support staff.
The successful applicant will have enthusiasm and experience working with youth, a familiarity with experiential education, an interest in riding bicycles, and a bicycle of their own. This is a full-time, seasonal position that will run from June 6 through August 29. This is a prime opportunity to gain valuable, hands-on teaching experience in a collaborative, fun environment.

Duties:
• Maintain a physically and emotionally safe environment for all participants.
• Safely lead group bike rides
• Plan routes and lessons: itineraries for the day, games, activities, routes, destinations, and timing that adapts to the needs of the group
• Teach bike skills: instruct campers on bike handling, traffic safety, and bike maintenance
• Professional fun-haver: lead fun games
• Camper support: build rapport with group and individuals, assist campers in goal-setting, help individuals communicate their needs, engage in productive conflict management, monitor the welfare of individuals and accommodate needs of campers, interrupt behaviors that are oppressive, and redirect inappropriate behavior
• Group facilitation: Facilitate conversations which allow all participants to engage in group guideline creation, decision-making, nonviolent communication, and reflection
• Communicate with families to find out tips on their kids and provide updates for families on campers progress
• Communicate with camp managers about difficulties or incidents in camp groups
• Support one youth volunteer to assist with camp
• Attend and Contribute to staff meetings
• Complete a 30-hour paid training course for all summer Bike Camp instructors June 6 – 10.
• Complete administrative duties: maintain confidentiality of camper info, track attendance on roster, verify identity of guardians at pick-up, Community Cycling Center and partner agency property.
• Care for tools and equipment / organize materials / set up and breakdown camp space each day, complete daily chores
• With a co-instructor and using an established curriculum, implement up to 11 successive week-long Bike Camps for up to 12 youth per camp (ages 6-14).

Key Skills Used In Camp:
• Risk assessment
• Goal setting with youth
• Time management
• Collaboration with co-instructor
• Spatial awareness of self and others while leading rides and games
• Planning, prepping, leading, and debriefing
• Group facilitation
• Effective communication with campers, families, and colleagues
• Customer service
• Basic bike maintenance (taught during training)

General Qualifications:
• One-two years experience in education, experiential ed, youth work, or childcare
• Experience working with diverse individuals
• Ability to ride a bicycle 10 miles per day
• Ability to work and interact positively with co-instructors, volunteers, staff and local organizations
• Ability to lift up to 25 pounds
• Criminal background check required
• Valid CPR/First Aid certification required prior to the first day of training
• Spanish language is a plus

Pay scale: $11.50 an hour starting, opportunity for raises for returning staff
Status: Seasonal, Non-exempt
Hours: 32-40 hours per week between June 6 – August 29
• Please note that instructors are required to work the week of July 5 – 8
• Instructors are typically expected to take one week off during the summer
Reports to: Camp Manager and Assistant Camp Manager

How to Apply *
To apply check out the application process here:
www.communitycyclingcenter.org/about/jobs/bike-camp-instructor/

Application will be open until April 30th

Seven Portlanders share their views from last night’s mayoral forum on transportation

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Voters: Kristin Sweeney, Charlie Tso, Laura Krull.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Six Portland mayoral candidates sounded off on transportation issues Monday night in the first (and possibly the only) event of the 2016 election season to focus exclusively on transportation.

Hosted by the Portland chapter of Young Professionals in Transportation, the event drew candidates Deborah Harris, Jules Bailey, Jessie Sponberg, Sean Davis, David Schor and Bim Ditson.

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Bike share stations on transit mall and city parks land? TriMet says yes, Parks Bureau says no

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Possible station locations downtown. No sites are proposed for Waterfront Park (the green strip on the left of the river).
(Image from the city’s feedback website)

Though other cities have seen some memorable freakouts about the prospect of bike sharing stations, Portland hasn’t yet heard many loud complaints that Biketown stations would begrime beloved public spaces.

TriMet, for example, said last week that although it doesn’t allow blue bike “staple” racks on its downtown transit mall (more on that below), it won’t have a problem with orange bikes being parked there.

But so far, there’s one major city department that’s been keeping its distance from bike sharing: Portland Parks and Recreation.

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TriMet work on 1st Ave will mean smoother pavement and crowded trains

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Damaged track switches on 1st Avenue.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)

“The trains will be so crowded that cyclists will be waiting to get into a train.”
— TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt on MAX overcrowding during the project

Here’s the good news: the badly worn pavement on NW 1st Avenue, an important but unpleasant biking connection to the Steel Bridge and Waterfront Park, is about to be fixed.

Here’s the bad news: the repair project will snarl TriMet’s entire light rail system for two weeks next month, cutting the frequency of every MAX line and leading to extremely crowded trains that will probably be unable to fit bikes.

That’s why TriMet is urging people to avoid taking bikes on MAX during the repair work, May 8-21.

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