United Bicycle Institute - Portland, Oregon

My bike, waiting to board
Amtrak at Portland Station

After a month at United Bicycle Institute in Portland, I'm home again. Our class results will be mailed to us, so I don't know whether I passed the certification test yet. But I will report on my experience now without letting that influence my opinions, or worrying that my comments might affect my results.

The days and weeks of class went by fast. The instructors are knowledgeable and well-organized. They would lecture for an hour or so, then demonstrate how to take apart and reassemble various bicycle components, then turn us loose to work on demo bikes or parts, but were always available to guide, assist and answer questions. Their written exams are open-book and multiple choice, and not too demanding, but as the teachers often pointed out, these days everything is available on the internet. In real life, they said, any mechanic will often see components they've never handled before, and have to search online for instructions or specifications for particular parts, or contact manufacturers or dealers to trouble-shoot.

I already feel more confident about working on my own bikes, although I still would need more training and supervision to work in a bike shop. Probably many people could learn the same material by hanging out in some bike fanatic's garage shop, but I don't know anyone like that and wouldn't feel comfortable loitering in someone's garage, or making a pest of myself in a bike shop - it's just not a welcoming environment for middle-aged women. Most of the other students in the class had more experience than I have, even several years working in very responsible positions in bicycle businesses. I sometimes wondered whether they felt the class was below their level, but they never acted superior. I think they also learned new ways of doing things, or had misconceptions corrected, and often met with instructors after class with more advanced questions.

Classes meet Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, with an hour-long lunch break that gave me plenty of time to try out the many very good (but kind of pricey) restaurants on N. Williamson Street. Unfortunately that didn't allow a lot of time for exploring the city, especially after an early autumn storm hit. I had been hoping to escape the first of Bellingham's October drenchings, but I guess it was a big weather system that covered most of western Washington, Oregon and northern California.

St. John Street Bridge, Portland OR

Sometimes I was able to get out for an hour or two after class and ramble ten or twenty miles around nearby streets, which are well-marked with designated bike lanes and routes. On a few weekend days there was enough sun for some 30-40 mile rides, including a ride on the East Esplanade along the Willamette River, and along N. Willamette Drive on the bluff above the river.

On one Sunday ride I took a wrong turn-off and ended up riding a short stretch on the freeway, which had a marked bike lane. I kept my cool and made it to the Broadway exit, then rode through the edge of downtown and along a stretch of wide industrial/waterfront roadways. There was very little traffic on the weekend and I even saw several deer grazing in vacant fields and margins near railroad tracks. It wasn't at all the route I'd planned to take but at least I got a good cardiovascular workout.

I crossed back over the river on the St. John Street Bridge and found a small harvest festival street fair in progress in the St. John neighborhood. I liked this area, which is a little more modest and earthy, less upscale (and less expensive) than some of the city's other redeveloped areas. If I get back to Portland I'd like to explore more and get to know it better.

Back to School (again)

This coming weekend I leave for United Bicycle Institute in Portland. I will probably be riding my bicycle in the rain to catch an early train at the Amtrak station in Fairhaven. I'm getting nervous, worrying that I'm not prepared for the class. It's been six years since I took UBI's week-long intro class, and except for about six weeks at the Birch Bay Bike Shop, I've only done basic repairs and maintenance on my own bikes - my old K2 Tradewinds hybrid, my Surly CrossCheck, and my new Cannondale Synapse.

I've been doing a lot of cleaning and housework, including sorting through my collection of bicycle paraphernalia, old parts, and tools. I wrote up a tools inventory and found duplicates of a few things like cable cutters, and an assortment of hex wrenches of different sizes. And a couple of things I've never used and don't recognize (crank puller? free wheel remover?) I guess I'll find out soon.

I also found this collection of old keys, clamps, clips and devices for attaching lights and accessories. Back in my days as a commuter, it took a lot of trial and error to find head and tail lights that would last more than one rainy season. Rain or condensation always seeps in to corrode the contacts, so every autumn I would end up buying a new set. Often the lights came with more than one type of attachment, to give the customer options for mounting. But the fittings are not interchangeable so now I'm stuck with a bunch of mysterious, useless black plastic parts.

Would it be possible for designers and manufacturers to invent a universal attachment, maybe using zip-ties? Please?