🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Seeing business upsides, Old Town retailers propose protected bike lanes on 2nd, 3rd

Old Town Chinatown-2

Inspired by the changes on NE Multnomah in the Lloyd District, a new proposal would transform SW 2nd and 3rd avenues.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

A coalition of 30 Old Town bars, restaurants and entertainment venues is proposing adding a quarter-mile of planter-protected bike lanes and street cafe seating to 2nd and/or 3rd avenues.

Inspired by nearby projects on SW Ankeny and NE Multnomah, the six-month-old Old Town Hospitality Group sees their experimental road diet concept, which could narrow the streets’ car-oriented area from three travel lanes to one or two and might remove some on-street auto parking, as a way to make the neighborhood safer, more comfortable and better to do business in.

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City mulls wider bike lanes on N. Willamette Blvd

N Willamette Blvd bike lanes-5

The biking conditions on N Willamette Blvd leave a lot to be desired.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Could this finally be our chance to get a bit of an improvement to the biking environment on a key north Portland corridor? It might be, if the Portland Bureau of Transportation moves forward on a plan to widen the bike lanes on N. Willamette Blvd.

The move comes as city road crews embark on a major re-paving project that will rebuild 2.36 lane miles between N Portsmouth (near University of Portland) and N Woolsey (near Columbia Park). The project was announced last week and began on Monday.

Upon hearing about the paving project we asked if any lane re-striping was being considered. PBOT has a history of widening and re-striping bike lanes when roads are re-paved. Since striping has to be re-done anyways, these projects are a good opportunity to assess capacity needs and make needed changes.

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Portland business lets you turn your bike into a rolling billboard

bike billboard

(Screen capture from BikeCommuterAds.com)

Here’s an idea: a local business is setting out to sell ads attached to each side of local bike commuters’ front wheels.

“It’s a first-of-its-kind-in-the-nation business, because it’s basically for the bike commuters, the year-round riders,” BikeCommuterAds.com founder Gary Courter said in an interview Tuesday. “They’ve been riding green all this time for nothing — years! — and we’re trying to change that.”

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3 places to watch the Tour de France in Portland

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Catch the Tour at Portland Bicycle Studio’s new location (NW 14th and Raleigh) every morning at 7:00 am.
(Photo courtesy Portland Bicycle Studio)

The Tour de France is already well into its first week and the action is heating up. For many fans “Le Tour” is a must-see race, but unlike the World Cup it’s not always easy to find a reliable (and cheap) television feed. That’s where bike shops and cafes step in to fill the void with viewing parties and big screens.

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‘Stumptown Crit’ and a family bike ride to be part of MLS All-Star Game festivities

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Big time bike racing is headed back to the North Park Blocks!
(Photo J. Maus/BikePortland)

“Soccer City, USA meets Bike Town, USA.”

Corporate marketing professionals know a good tie-in when they see one. Perhaps that explains why Volkswagen will sponsor two bike events during the festivities leading up to the 2014 Major League Soccer All-Star Game that’s coming to Portland next month.

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‘Rolling coal’, deemed illegal by the EPA, enjoys 15 minutes of fame

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

If that’s how someone feels about
a Prius owner, I can only imagine what
they think of bicycle riders.
(Photo from Rollin Coal & Raisin Hell
Facebook page)

Prepare to be depressed about the current state of civic relations here in America…

Remember our two recent reports about “rolling coal”? That’s when someone who owns a truck drives it close to another road user and then purposely spews a huge cloud of black exhaust fumes at them. We first reported about it after a man claimed he was a victim of it while riding near Mt. Tabor back in February. Rolling coal made our front page again last month when a truck driver did the same thing to a group of people riding bikes in Beaverton. In that case, one of the people on bikes turned out to be an off-duty Washington County Sheriff deputy who then pulled the driver over. (Note, we initially reported that it was a member of the Beaverton Bicycle Patrol Unit and have since learned that was incorrect.)

Fast-forward a few weeks and it seems “rolling coal” has broken through beyond YouTube videos and truck enthusiast forums and onto the major online news media. Stories this week on Talking Points Memo, Slate, Huffington Post, and other outlets have brought the behavior out of the shadows.

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Leading the march: 10 questions for Noel Mickelberry of Oregon Walks

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Oregon Walks Executive Director Noel Mickelberry.
(Photo courtesy Oregon Walks)

Few local nonprofits have changed more in the last few years than Oregon’s main walking advocacy group.

Since 2010, Oregon Walks has renamed itself, relocated its tiny office, passed most of its board seats to new volunteers and shifted its strategy away from direct oversight of local government and toward grant-funded partnerships with other community organizations.

When Executive Director Noel Mickelberry took the reins Monday morning, the group’s transition was complete. We caught up with Mickelberry, 26, as she prepared to start the 24-hour-a-week job to talk about the differences between walking and biking advocacy and the new vision she’s been hired to execute.

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Job: Full Time Bike Mechanic – Santiam Bicycle – FILLED

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.

Job Title
Full Time Bike Mechanic in Tigard, OR

Company/Organization
Santiam Bicycle

Job Description
Santiam Bicycle is hiring for our Tigard location a full time bike mechanic for the summer season (July-September) with potential to come back as permanent next spring or maybe sooner if your are that good.

We are a rider/trail builder owned shop, that sells and works on every type of bike with focus on mountain bikes because it’s what most of us love.

Qualifications:
• Ideal candidates should have 2-3 years experience as a bicycle mechanic or current certification, hydraulic brakes and suspensions knowledge a must, experience working on high end mountain bikes.
• Strong customer service skills.
• Basic computer literacy a must.
• Detailed component knowledge is required.

Duties will include but are not limited to:
Assisting customers by addressing and influencing their wants and needs.
Operating register and point of sale system.
Assisting with bike sales if need it.
Creating service repair special orders.
General cleaning.
Living the dream of working of bikes!

How to Apply
Please send resume and cover letter to:

Raul Atencio
raul@santiambicycle.com

Or bring a hard copy by the store: 9900 SW Hall Blvd, Tigard. OR

(Their will be NO walking in interviews, will call you if we like your resume)

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