🚨 Please note that BikePortland slows down during this time of year as I have family in town and just need a break! Please don't expect typical volume of news stories and content. I'll be back in regular form after the new year. Thanks. - Jonathan 🙏

Portland Police now put stolen, unclaimed bikes up for auction at GovDeals.com

Do I hear $15?

Are you looking for a good deal on a used bike? Did you you get your bike stolen but gave up on finding it or had no way to prove it was yours? You might want to check the listings at GovDeals.com. That’s the online marketplace that has just inked a deal with the Portland Police Bureau to sell unclaimed property.

There are currently 59 items listed for sale and 11 of them are bicycles. Auctions last about a month and bids start at just $10.00.

Among such items as jewelry, art, computers, and tools, there are some pretty high-end bikes available. These bikes were recovered by the PPB but if their rightful owners could not be tracked down, they are now offered up to highest bidder.

Here are a few more of the bikes currently listed…

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Portland, model city: Six skeptical questions for author Julie Campoli

Writer Julie Campoli.
(Photos courtesy Campoli)

Julie Campoli’s mission is to convince the world that Portland is, more or less, right.

In her books, Campoli makes the case that density is desirable, mixed-use neighborhoods are the best ones, and designing streets for walking and biking is good for everyone — even if it reduces auto travel speed and volume, because it’ll foster proximity which is key to healthy behaviors. Free auto parking, on the other hand, hurts the economy by making proximity expensive.

For Portlanders (not to mention BikePortlanders) things were reaching dangerously high levels of self-reinforcement. So in advance of her free talk tomorrow in inner Northwest Portland, The Real Estate Beat decided to ask Campoli about six reasons her arguments might be wrong.

Here’s what she said.

Your new book Made for Walking opens with the story of the Hurst family who live north of Vancouver, Wash, and drive 627 miles a week among them to get to work and school. Do you know why they choose to live in Venersborg despite the drive? Does their choice have any lessons for us?

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Blue Fuji Supreme 82

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Year: 82
Brand: Fuji
Model: Supreme
Color:Blue
Size:26
Stolen in Tigard, OR 97223
Stolen:2014-01-28
Stolen From: 9068 sw 91st ave apt 1′
Tigard, or 97223
Neighborhood: Ole son woods apartments
Owner: Rick Smith
OwnerEmail: Smithtronics(at sign)hotmail.com
Reward: Please help me
Description: The bike has a rack on the back, and the right brake has no tape on it, but the left brake has spread apart tape on part of it. The bike also at the time of the theft, had a grocery bag on the back with a green sweatshirt inside and the lock was on the back rack as well.
Police record with: Sheriffs office
Police reference#: 14-501497
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

white&red diamondback podium 6 2011

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Year: 2011
Brand: diamondback
Model: podium 6
Color:white&red
Size:54cm
Serial: U12C17992
Stolen in Vancouver, WA 98664
Stolen:2014-01-27
Stolen From: JACK IN THE BOX 221 NE 104THAV VANCOUVER
Neighborhood: MILLPLAIN & 205 freeway
Owner: James Walton
OwnerEmail: jwwalton88(A T)yahoo.com
Reward: YES
Description: full carbon – white with red on top tube &forks – black bar tape & saddle-incredible chrome bell-cateye computer-1 bottle cage-velcro holding small led flashlite-blade type spokes
Police record with: VANCOUVER
Police reference#: v14-1431
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Travel Oregon launches USA’s first statewide bike-friendly business program

One of the customizable signs available to
participating businesses from Travel
Oregon. The program is free; signs cost
$26 to $56.

After a two-month pilot effort in Estacada and Cottage Grove, Oregon’s public tourism agency is going statewide with a program that publicly recognizes businesses for bike-friendly practices.

The idea is to create a well-recognized brand that can identify the state’s bike-friendly businesses by a sign in the window — which will, in turn, help bike tourists thank the businesses with their dollars.

In the long run, organizers hope, it’ll foster a culture of welcoming bikers at the state’s roadside diners, small-town hotels and big-city bars, similar to the 500 hotels now affiliated with Quebec’s “Welcome Cyclists” program. And that’ll help Oregon further improve its niche in the growing bike tourism industry.

“Enhancing the biking experience for visitors and Oregonians is one of our top initiatives at Travel Oregon,” Scott West, Travel Oregon’s chief strategy officer, wrote in a news release Tuesday.

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Job: Bicycle Technician and Customer Service – Islabikes – FILLED

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Sorry. This job has been filled. View more jobs here.

Job Title
Bicycle Technician and Customer Service

Company/Organization
Islabikes

Job Description

Essential Skills

• Mechanical aptitude
• Able to speak clearly and confidently on the phone
• IT literate
• Administrative diligence
• Genuinely interested in being part of a company dedicated to giving children the best start in cycling

Job description

• You will perform a thorough pre-delivery workshop inspection in assembling each and every Islabike consistently and efficiently ready for collection or shipping.
• Our customers will be seeking advice and placing orders over the phone. Your role will include becoming proficient in giving informed and clear advice over the phone with the technical ability to record an order and process it efficiently.
• For those families coming to try an Islabike, you will arrange to meet and greet them at our Fitting Studio on site. In supervising a demo, you will provide sizing advice and product information to make this a really excellent experience.
• Islabikes attend various external events during the year to meet new customers. You will be required to take part in occasional weekend exhibitions as a representative of the company where our bikes will be available for demonstration.

About us:

Islabikes was founded by renowned British bicycle designer Isla Rowntree, one of the few female designers in the industry. The company has singlehandedly redefined the notion of a child’s bicycle with a product unparalleled in its quality, lightness and depth of design detail.

In 2013 we opened our first overseas store in Portland, OR. Every bicycle is prepared here to order and shipped direct to the customer nationally. As a small business, we are keen that everyone works to their strengths whilst working together as a team and ultimately enjoy the challenge of being part of a growing company.

Hours: Full-time

Salary: Will depend on experience.

How to Apply
Apply to: (Send/email a cover letter and resume)

Tim Goodall
Islabikes
2113 SE 7th Avenue
Portland, OR 97214
info@islabikes.com
www.islabikes.com

Job: Shipping Specialist – Velotech, Inc. – FILLED

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Sorry. This job has been filled.

Job Title
Shipping Specialist

Company/Organization
Velotech, Inc

Job Description
Velotech Inc. is looking for a detail oriented full time shipping specialist to join our fast paced and fast growing operation. This person will be expected to pick and pack shipments in a timely manner. Additionally
there will be many random tasks that will assist in warehouse operation.

* Must be able to lift 50lbs
* Must be comfortable with ladders
* Basic knowledge of cycling components preferred
* Enthusiasm for cycling
* Fun and exciting work environment
* Full-time
* Great benefits package
* Flexibility to work Sundays appreciated

How to Apply
Send Resume and Cover Letter to Jobs@velotech.com

Microcosm is latest bikey business to open on N Williams Avenue

Right off the Williams Avenue bicycle highway.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

The local bike-friendly bookstore that also happens to be one of the country’s largest zine distributors and publishers has grown again and joined the row of bike-friendly businesses on North Williams.

“Once we built lofts in our storefront to store books under, and filled up a storage unit down the street, we knew it was time to get serious about finding a new building,” Microcosm Publishing spokesman Tim Wheeler wrote in an email Monday. “Since we’re bike commuters and our customers are bike commuters, we didn’t want to move hundreds of blocks outside the city center or away from our own homes and lives, so we narrowed our search to affordable commercial spaces in inner Portland.”

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Gun Metal/Blue/White Civilian Le Roi Le Veut 2013

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Year: 2013
Brand: Civilian
Model: Le Roi Le Veut
Color:Gun Metal/Blue/White
Size:57
Photo: http://imgur.com/Lov3zSQ
Stolen in Portland, OR 97209
Stolen:2012-01-27
Stolen From: Stolen early this morning from NW 11th between NW Glisan and NW Flanders
Neighborhood: Pearl
Owner: Charlie Wolff
OwnerEmail: cwolff@cresa.com
Reward: 250
Description: One-Of-A-Kind cyclecross/commuter single speed belt drive with matching orange head-set and seat stay. matching blue bar tape, fenders, Jandd saddle bag, miniture blinky front/rear lights
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

The Ride: Exploring Columbia County backroads outside of Scappoose

Columbia County backroads-6

There are many miles of logging roads waiting
to be ridden just north of the Scappoose-Vernonia Hwy.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

When the sun comes out around here in January, folks that enjoy bicycling take full advantage. This past weekend was a real gem weather-wise, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who grabbed the opportunity for some two-wheeled adventure. What I found were some off-the-beaten-path backroads that I enjoyed so much I’ve decided to share them here on the Front Page.

Wanting to do my first century of 2014, I ventured over to RidewithGPS.com (a site — based right here in Portland! — that I could not live without these days) to map out one of my oldies but goodies — the Portland-Vernonia-Scappoose loop. This is a fantastic loop that I highly recommend.

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Green and Red Tommasini TECNO EXTRA with Genius Tubing 2000

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Year: 2000
Brand: Tommasini
Model: TECNO EXTRA with Genius Tubing
Color:Green and Red
Size:54cm
Photo: http://imgur.com/6faezwS,bo6mlHZ#0
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2014-01-22
Stolen From: 1st and SW Salmon
Neighborhood: Downtown
Owner: A Mason
OwnerEmail: andymoerke( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: 200
Description: -Green and Red Tommasini Tecno Extra Racing Bike
-Columbus Genius multi-shaped frame, with chrome chainstays
-Selle Italia Flite saddle
-Campy Chorus / Athena drivetrain (front hub is Shimano 600)
-Dark Grey Carbon Fiber fork
-At time of theft had on old campy record pedals with metal toe-clips
-red/black tires
Police record with: Portland
Police reference#: 14-6287
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

What projects should a street fee pay for? City announces town halls (updated)

Commissioner Steve Novick leads a City Hall
conversation about transportation budgets.
(Photo: City of Portland.)

The City of Portland is getting ready to write its most important transportation wish list in years.

A trio of town halls next month — one east of Interstate 205, one in outer Southwest Portland and one in middle Southeast — will help determine which projects the city will publicly commit to when it proposes a new revenue plan to the public.

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