WRITING SAMPLE #1

In October of 2012, I participated in a tour of bicycle shops conducted by the trade publication Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. BRAIN subsequently asked me to provide commentary on the tour which published in their November issue:

OF BAGPIPES AND CARPET SWEEPS: 
Portland’s bike culture more than skin deep

I thought I could escape unnoticed by doing the sheepish, fast walk, don’t-make-eye-contact thing as I rolled my grimy bike down the freshly-swept hallway. But no dice—the mechanical carpet sweeper stopped moving and I could feel his eyes on me.

“Hey,” said the hotel cleaning guy as I braced for a WTF?

Fun absurdities are but one 

aspect of Portland's vibrant 

cycling culture. 

Photo: Bearly Rambling

“That blinky light is insanely bright—what kind is it?” he continued, apparently unconcerned about the grit stripe I just painted on his carpet.

I gave him the run-down on the Blackburn Flea light clipped to my backpack, then ducked into my room for its USB charger and gifted him the kit for his third-shift commutes.

While we had our share of Portlandia moments during the BRAIN Dealer Tour, I took this encounter as an encouraging harbinger—proof that bikes here are about more than the “Unipiper”—a guy dressed as Darth Vader in kilt who plays the bagpipes while unicycling. No, this was just a regular guy, working an everyday, real world job—THIS is the guy we as an industry want to connect with. While our tour of Portland’s finest bike dealers was enlightening and educational, this was my ah-ha moment.

I was reminded of the democratic nature of bikes and, how given the right confluence of culture, necessity and infrastructure, they can be truly transformative. I ride away with a renewed vigor for both our industry and advocacy, because it occurs to me that we’d be a whole lot better off with more hotel guys on bikes…and maybe even another Unipiper or two.

Don Palermini

Director of Marketing, Bell and Blackburn