Archive for Category: New Columbia

Carl’s 20th Anniversary Party

If you’ve been by the bike shop sometime in the past two decades, chances are you’ve seen Carl! He does a lot of different things around the shop but he’s probably best known for holding court every Sunday at the Salvage Sale where he helps people make use of the discarded bits and bobs often […]


2022 Impact Report

We are thrilled to announce the completion of our 2022 Impact Report! We took a deep dive into the past year to tally our accomplishments, acknowledge some of our struggles, and celebrate them all. Through a combination of staff/participant stories and quantitative data, we’re able to summarize where we are at as an organization. This […]


Bike Shop Apprentice Success!

You might remember Nina from almost a year ago when we posted an interview with her on our blog. Well, we’re back, and pleased to say she completed her 540 hour apprenticeship with us at the bike shop! 540 hours! We are all incredibly proud of her.   Nina lives in the New Columbia community […]


Meet Our Shop Apprentice, Nina!

Did you know that the shop hosts an apprentice every year? Since 2017, we’ve been able to provide this opportunity to youth from our various partner communities. The intent of this program is to provide experience and industry connections for young people who are seriously considering a career in the cycling industry — a foot […]


Cycling Center Celebrates 15 years of Carl Wilson!

There has been a lot of change at the Cycling Center in the past 15 years. The one constant? Long-time mechanic Carl Wilson. On Sunday, May 27, Carl — who started at the Cycling Center on that date in 2003 — was surprised by a host of current and former CCC employees (who were all […]


John Slaughter’s Poem for Gentrification is WEIRD! The Ride

For those of you who attended Gentrification is WEIRD! The Ride, you may remember the powerful poem that John Slaughter shared with us. Well, there is a longer piece of poetry that John would like to share with you. In the words of Laquida Landford, “I feel honored to have shared the community platform with these […]


Gentrification is WEIRD! The Ride – Recap and photos

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager Over 50 people arrived at the Bike Repair Hub in New Columbia on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Some people stopped by purely because they were curious about the large fleet of bikes glistening in the center of the Bike Skills Park. “I woke up this morning and my […]


A day in the life at the Bike Repair Hub

By Qingyang Xie, Communications Intern “Tim, can you come over? I can’t unscrew this part! Tim?” Royal, a third-grader, shouted out eagerly to one of our two bike mechanics, Tim and Carl, who run the New Columbia Bike Repair Hub on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. It was an extra busy Wednesday with limited volunteer support. […]


Support the Bike Repair Hub – Give Today

This summer, we celebrate the 4th anniversary of the Bike Repair Hub by doubling its open hours and debuting a Build-A-Bike program. Check out our new stop-motion video about the Bike Repair Hub and support our work through our Indiegogo campaign today. About the Bike Repair Hub In 2010, the Community Cycling Center asked neighbors […]


Islabikes donates 14 bicycles to the Community Cycling Center

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager Islabikes—producers of lightweight bikes made specifically for children—gave back to their community by donating 14 bikes to the Community Cycling Center. These bikes will be used for our new bike fleet, allowing us to lead many bike rides in Portsmouth, Cully, and beyond. “We can’t thank Islabikes enough […]


Community Cycling Center launches pilot High School Program

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager Earlier this year, the Community Cycling Center launched a pilot program with students from Rosemary Anderson High School (RAHS). RAHS is a community-based alternative high school for students who are not succeeding in the public school setting. RAHS’ efforts are proving successful with a current graduation rate of […]


Highlights from ABC and We All Can Ride’s presentation at OATS

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager Translations of ABC Member quotes by Lale Santelices, Collaborations Manager Members of Andando en Bicicletas en Cully (ABC) and We All Can Ride  spoke about their work in north and northeast Portland at this week’s Oregon Active Transportation Summit (OATS) in Portland. Here are a few highlights from […]


3 Things you need to know about Cycling for Change

By Kelly Hansen, Program Director Jorge, an 11 year old who frequents the Bike Skills Park at New Columbia, wanted to learn to do a wheelie. He asked me for help. I told him I couldn’t help. One day I showed up and found him covered in dust with skinned elbows riding around on the […]


It’s the first week of Bike Camp! Here’s what the kids have to say…

  It’s the first week of Bike Camp, that time of year where kids of all ages take over the streets of Portland, armed with popsicles, wrenches, new friends, and adventures. We sat down with fellow Bike Campers at New Columbia–many of which are graduates of our Bike Club program–to ask about what they learned […]


Community service day gives Bike Skills Park fresh look for spring

By Lisa Ratzlaff, Volunteer Storyteller Close to 25 volunteers gathered on March 15th in New Columbia to spruce up the Bike Skills Park.  Volunteers and staff from We All Can Ride, The Community Cycling Center, Village Gardens, Northwest Trail Alliance, and East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (who provided the grant to cover the […]


We All Can Fix It

By Cheryl Matushak, Volunteer Storyteller The cold weather may have driven many people inside, but the members of We All Can Ride used it as a chance to learn the nuts and bolts of bike repair. Linda, Doug, Michelle, and Yvette spent the better part of an afternoon – first watching and then doing – […]


13 new riders graduate from Rosa Parks Bike Club

By Theo Roffe, Instructor Rosa Parks Bike Club has come to an end and we’re proud to announce 13 graduates! Each graduate received a certificate, lights (it gets dark early during the school year and our participants want to be as visible as they can be riding home from school in lower light conditions), and […]


How neighbors help sustain bike ridership

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager “I especially enjoyed meeting Neda. She’s from Iraq,” remarked Doug, a We All Can Ride member. “I think it’s marvelous that we can have all of this diversity here. It’s one of the great wonders and joys of living in New Columbia.” Last Friday, four members of We […]


Ride along with Linda on her commute

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager This September, we are celebrating the BTA’s Bike Commute Challenge month by riding along with one of our favorite commuters. Linda Dougherty lives in New Columbia and is a member of the We All Can Ride Bike Committee. I met up with Linda last Friday afternoon to join […]


New Bike Skills Park brings neighbors together

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager The Bike Skills Park at New Columbia is now a popular gathering spot for families, friends, and neighbors, bringing more people and attention to the once vacant lot that resides on the corner of N. Trenton Street and N. Woolsey Avenue. “When I go to the garden, I […]


New Columbia celebrates grand opening of new Bike Skills Park

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager Residents of New Columbia and staff from the Community Cycling Center and Home Forward celebrated the grand opening of the new Bike Skills Park with a bike safety fair last week. The new park, located adjacent to the Bike Repair Hub on the corner of N. Trenton Street […]


Breaking ground on New Columbia’s Bike Skills Park

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager This week, we’re putting the finishing touches on New Columbia’s Bike Skills Park, located adjacent to the Bike Repair Hub on the corner of N. Trenton Street and N. Woolsey Avenue. The park, opening in July, will offer a safe riding area for neighbors of all ages. Participants […]


Hacienda and New Columbia residents to lead summer bike rides

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager This spring, bike committee members from Hacienda CDC and New Columbia spent six weeks immersed in a comprehensive ride leader training course taught by Community Cycling Center staff members. They learned everything from rules of the road, to bike safety checks, to communicating with children, and more. The […]


The Metro Grant – what this means for our community partnerships

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager On April 10th, great news arrived at the Community Cycling Center – we received a Metro Regional Transportation Options Grant! This funding gives us the opportunity to continue our collaborative work with our partner agencies in Cully and Portsmouth over the next two years. We will be able […]


Keeping kids safe: protecting the eggheads

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager “Last year, a car hit my grandson as he rode his bike,” Rosie explained. Rosie’s 8-year old grandson wore a helmet and escaped with a few minor bumps and bruises, but this incident made an impression on her. “I hate wearing a helmet. It’s hot and sweaty, and […]


New Columbia residents help design a bike skills park

By Omar Casillas, Community Collaborations Manager On Tuesday, January 29th, New Columbia residents gathered to take part in a design workshop for a new bike skills park in their neighborhood. Landscape architects and planners from MIG, Inc. facilitated the event and worked with community members to come up with creative bike skills park designs. Members […]


Get to know Yvette from New Columbia’s We All Can Ride

By Omar Casillas, Community Collaborations Manager Yvette Maranowski joined We All Can Ride, New Columbia’s bike committee, in April of 2012. She is a regular volunteer at the Bike Repair Hub, which opened in October. How did you get involved with We All Can Ride? I got involved because a colleague, one of the two […]


Creating connections – bike committees from Hacienda and New Columbia come together

By Britt Appleton, Social Media Specialist Last Tuesday, October 16th, members of Hacienda CDC’s resident-led bike committee, Andando en Bicicletas en Cully (ABC), New Columbia’s We All Can Ride, and staff from Verde and the Community Cycling Center, met to share stories and best practices with regards to bike advocacy in their communities. Even though […]


Opening the Bike Repair Hub

By Jonnie Ling, Bike Shop General Manager The neighborhood was quiet when we first arrived at the Hub. “The Hub” is what we call the 200 square foot building we constructed at New Columbia to teach basic bike maintenance and safe riding skills. I was there with two fellow staff members, four Community Cycling Center […]


Community Cycling Center launches the New Columbia Bike Repair Hub video

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager Haven’t been able to make it to the New Columbia Bike Repair Hub? Sit back and enjoy this video produced by Dan Kaufman of CrankMyChain! Cycle TV. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the people and partnerships involved in transforming a vacant lot in the New […]


A Community Celebrates the New Columbia Bike Repair Hub

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager In just 10 quick days, students from Oregon College of Art & Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art transformed a vacant lot into a beautiful bike repair space at New Columbia. Made possible with support from Bikes Belong, the Coon Family Foundation, the Portland Development Commission, the […]


Meet Ihe

Every Saturday, Ihe gets out his helmet, gets on his bike, and joins up with his neighbors to go on a group ride. The grassroots bicycle group at New Columbia, “We All Can Ride”, has been teaching Ihe bike safety and the joy of riding. Through the Saturday rides, Ihe has taken on a leadership […]


Meet Michelle, a We All Can Ride superstar

By Britt Appleton, Social Media Specialist Michelle Hanna is a great example of what can happen when you make biking accessible to everyone. A few years ago she earned a bike through our Create a Commuter program, and has since become very involved with We All Can Ride, a resident-led bike committee at New Columbia. […]


Save the Date: Celebrate the Bike Repair Hub grand opening at New Columbia!

We are so excited to transform a vacant lot into a beautiful Bicycle Repair Hub in the New Columbia neighborhood. Please join us on September 5th to celebrate this inspired project. What: Ribbon-cutting celebration + tour the Bike Repair Hub When: September 5th, 2012, 5:30pm – 7:00pm. Tours begin at 5:30, ribbon-cutting, cake, and celebration […]


It takes a community to build a Bike Hub

My family moved to Portland from Togo. Moving to a new environment isn’t easy. But the magic gift of a new bike helped me to get out and explore. I received my first bike through the Community Cycling Center’s Holiday Bike Drive. Rolling through the neighborhood and exploring Portland gave me such joy. In 2010, […]


Press Release: Community Cycling Center to Build a Bicycle Repair Hub in North Portland Neighborhood

Community Cycling Center to Build a Bicycle Repair Hub in North Portland Neighborhood The new facility will be built in August in an effort to eliminate barriers to bicycling often experienced by Portland’s communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. August 1, 2012 – Portland, Ore. – The Community Cycling Center announced today it is forging […]


New Columbia takes center stage on PBS

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager Our partners at New Columbia—a revitalized community situated on 82 acres of land in North Portland—garnered national attention on Earth Day as they were featured in the Earth: The Operators’ Manual special that aired on PBS. In the video, Egbevado Ananouko, leader of We All Can Ride—a group […]


Our response to Monday’s Oregonian article on New Columbia

By Melinda Musser, Communications & Marketing Manager We were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that occurred on Sunday at a New Columbia pocket park on North Woolsey Avenue. Resident Sergey Dronov was quoted in an Oregonian article as saying, “I don’t think there’s enough attention paid to this part of town.” In some […]