BikePortland

Bike shop news roundup

The eBike Store has moved.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

I’ve got several bits of local bike shop news in my brain and my inbox, so I figured it’s a perfect time for another roundup…

Congressman Earl Blumenauer turns attention to bike shops today

Portland’s representative on Capitol Hill is in Portland today focusing on bike shops’ impact on the local economy. After a tour sampling a few shops, he plans to convene a ‘Bike Shop Roundtable’ at VeloCult. According to a Blumenauer aide, about 12-15 local bike shop owners will be there. “It’s meant to be a check-in with different bike shops and businesses around the city, a discussion of Portland’s budding cycling economy, and an opportunity for the businesses themselves to discuss issues, federal or otherwise, they might be facing,” said the aide. I plan to be there and will bring back a full story, so stay tuned!

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Bicycling is allowed in both directions, while driving is only allowed southbound.
(Photo: Matthew Arnold)

ODOT managers inspected Highway 101 pavement
conditions on Monday.
(Photo: ODOT)

A regional manager with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has responded to a paving issue that was brought to the agency’s attention last week because of its impact to bicycle safety. ODOT Region 2 Manager Sonny Chickering says he is already looking into taking corrective measures to repair the dangerous seam left behind from a paving overlay project on several miles of the Oregon Coast Bike Route. Chickering also forwarded a new page on the ODOT website that addresses this issue directly.

As we reported last Monday, Jeff Smith, a 30-year veteran of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, was riding the Oregon Coast Bike Route on Highway 101 south of Florence when he was “gobsmacked” at what he called an “inept” repaving job. He emailed ODOT (and cc’d dozens of his contacts) a photo and description of several miles of the highway where a new layer of pavement extended only half-way into the shoulder. The new layer of pavement left behind a rough ledge running right in the middle of the bicycling area.

Fall is coming, and in Oregon, unlike in the many places that foolishly declare May to be their official bike month, that means it’s time for the annual Bike Commute Challenge.

A major annual project of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, it’s grown into one of the most popular and successful bike-to-work challenges anywhere, spawning fun rivalries like the Intel-vs-Nike matchup highlighted at right. (More on that in a moment.) In the last two years, the friendly workplace-to-workplace competition has attracted 12,000 Oregonians on about 1,400 teams logging their trips by both frequency and distance.

“Per-capita participation in our program is bigger than in any other program I’m aware of,” BTA Deputy Director Steph Noll said Wednesday.

This year, Noll’s team is making it easier for blue-collar workers to participate by offering cards with radio-frequency chips in selected workplaces.

Join us in welcoming lifestyle columnist Cathy Hastie to BikePortland. Cathy is a former contributor to Portland Afoot and we’re excited to bring her perspective to our pages. Her first article is about a certain local civic engineering project that still needs a name. And it turns out, Cathy has an idea…

Lifestyle columnist Cathy Hastie.

The solemn elk in the middle of Southwest Main street; the diminutive bronze of former mayor Vera Katz smiling upon Eastbank bikers; the plaid-shirted effigy of Paul Bunyan at North Denver and Interstate: despite these few commemorative statues, many of them celebrating non-humans, Portland is not a city overflowing with monuments.

So would it surprise you to know that there is a new $134 million monument under development in our fair City of Roses as we speak? A massive landmark built to commemorate and celebrate a local hero?

Streetview looking south on SE 7th at Taylor.

The Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division have located a tow truck and driver involved in a hit-and-run collision that injured a 16-year old boy who was riding his bicycle. The incident occurred at around 10:50 a.m. at the intersection of SE 7th and Taylor. According to the PPB, the boy was riding southbound on 7th when the driver of the tow truck turned right onto Taylor. Sounds like a classic right-hook.

No arrests have been made and “investigation into the circumstance of the crash is continuing,” according to a Wednesday afternoon news release.

PPB officers responded to the scene and found a “teen-aged male bicyclist” suffering from “traumatic but not life-threatening” injuries. The officers soon learned that the young man was hit by someone driving a tow truck and that the person fled the scene. The man has been taken to the hospital where he’s being treated for his injuries.

A proposed Salmonberry trail would link to the existing
Banks-Vernonia Trail 25 miles northwest of Portland.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

A proposed 86-mile rail-to-trail project that would link Washington County to the Pacific Coast is the subject of two public meetings next month at either end of the future route.

The trail, whose cost would run into the tens of millions, has attracted early attention from touring organization Cycle Oregon and important legislators like state Sen. Betsey Johnson (D-Scappoose), who said in an interview last year that a trail through the Salmonberry River Valley would open up “some of the most beautiful land anywhere” to personal travel.

“I used to go up there before I was a legislator, when I had a life,” Johnson said.

Job Title
P.T. Sales

Company/Organization
Chrome Industries

Job Description
Chrome is looking for a kick ass person to become the newest member of the Chrome Familia PDX. This new member will be responsible for delivering a best-in-class brand and customer experience, hitting sales goals, and creating an easy-to-shop environment. Key responsibilities will include servicing customers on the sales floor, merchandising the space and keeping it clean, supporting inventory management, and an excellent understanding of a detailed POS system.
In addition, Chrome PDX shop familia are involved in community outreach, local guerilla marketing, pre-release product testing and development, and throwing legendary parties at Chrome PDX.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities
•Deliver a best-in-class brand and buying experience
•Help to keep the shop merchandised, well-organized, and clean
•Proficiently opening and closing the store
•Self-motivated and able to motivate other team members
•Support inventory management, including counting, back-stock organization, and reporting
•Help organize and run parties, local community events, and marketing efforts
•Provide input on key company initiatives, including product development and testing
•Proficient computer & communication skills
•Reaching and exceeding daily sales goals
Requirements
•1.5+ years retail key holder experience
•Entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to find innovative ways to drive the business
•Knowledge of cycling industry and culture
•Knowledge of retail processes and procedures
•Strong understanding of the Chrome brand
•Stoked to become part of the Chrome Familia

How to Apply
Bring us your resume that includes your cycling experience and or background to:

Chrome Industries
425 SW 10th Ave
Portland, Or 97205
503 719 4693

Vancouverites energized after successful ride for Lower River Rd project

A big crowd showed up to learn more about the project.
(Photos: Jacob Brostoff)

A Washington state legislator, the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator for the Washington State Dept. of Transportation, the mayor of Vancouver and several city council members and council candidates and representatives of the Port of Vancouver and the US Congress were among the more than 70 people who turned out Friday afternoon for a ride supporting a new cycle path along NW Lower River Road in Vancouver. Speakers touted the benefits of a new path, and urged community residents and leaders to push for additional funding to speed up its completion.

This could be yours for $20.
(Photos: NW Trail Alliance)

One very special mountain bike could be worth $15,000 to a local non-profit.

The Northwest Trail Alliance (NWTA) is raffling off a custom bike in order to raise money for their trail work projects and ongoing advocacy to improve off-road bicycling access and conditions throughout the region. The bike (size 17″) is a carbon fiber, Veloforma Rival Two9R model with a custom paint job and it comes with a hand-picked component package that includes: a Cannondale “Lefty” carbon XLR 100mm fork; Thompson seatpost and stem; Stan’s No Tubes ZTR Crest wheelset; and a SRAM XO build kit. It’s got an estimated retail value of $8,500 and it was donated by Portland-based Showers Pass (whose owner, Kyle Ranson, sits on the board of NWTA).

If only there were a strip of underused pavement nearby.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Here in Portland, it’s been a summer of detours. And some of them are much better than others.

Let’s help the city make more of them good.

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance, fortunately, has noticed this problem. This Thursday, BTA intern Ruben Montes is hoping to meet with the City of Portland’s Mark Lear and Craig Goodroad to start looking for ways the city can better design construction zones to work for active transportation.

We’d love to give them some material to talk about. So for the next few days, any time you see a detour in Portland that doesn’t seem to prioritize human beings, or one that you think does so well, snap a photo and email it, with a few words about its location, to michael@bikeportland.org or text it to me at 503-333-7824.

Bike shop news roundup

Changes on SE 14th near Sellwood school improve bike access

ODOT considers repairs to pavement on shoulders of Highway 101

‘Nerds vs Jocks’ and more fun rivalries on the way in Bike Commute Challenge

Portland’s $134 million monument to me

PPB investigating hit-and-run at SE 7th and Taylor (updated)

September meetings will help plan Salmonberry Corridor Rail Trail

Job: PT Sales – Chrome Industries

Vancouverites energized after successful ride for Lower River Rd project

NW Trail Alliance is raffling off an $8,500 mountain bike

Photo contest: Portland’s worst (and best) detours

Latest Headlines

Port unveils plan to smooth traffic to and from PDX airport

Parks bureau shares latest designs for trail system in Rose City Golf Course

Mayor wants to raise parking and rideshare fees to buoy PBOT budget

Monday Roundup: London’s success, Pee Wee’s bike, and more

From the Archives

More biking = better driving. So why isn’t this said more often?