{"id":45405,"date":"2019-04-12T05:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=45405"},"modified":"2019-04-22T12:15:33","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T19:15:33","slug":"living-to-ride-one-woman-bike-techs-wild-and-wonderful-career-in-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/living-to-ride-one-woman-bike-techs-wild-and-wonderful-career-in-cycling","title":{"rendered":"Living to Ride: One Woman Bike Tech&#8217;s \u201cwild and wonderful\u201d career in cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\"><p>I caught up with Jacinta &#8220;J&#8221; Higgins as she waited for a flight to Colorado, where she\u2019d be learning the intricacies of new Cannondale suspension systems at REI Denver. Her next scheduled stop was Sacramento, where she looked forward to talking shop with fellow craft-cycling fans at the North America Handmade Bicycle Show. As REI\u2019s Portland-area market shop coordinator, Higgins ensures the co-op delivers what cycling customers want while helping to refine the skills of a team of 40 bike mechanics at eight Oregon stores. It\u2019s a dream job for someone who has spent a lifetime learning about\u2014and loving\u2014bicycles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love learning new things so I can build expertise in our bike shops,\u201d said Higgins. \u201cWe want people to get stoked on bikes and learn more about them\u2014to build a community that makes people want to ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her passion for cycling is contagious, but if it weren\u2019t for a pivotal experience at REI several years ago, she might have given up working in the industry altogether. Higgins\u2019 career in bikes began accidentally, when she was 16 years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI walked into a bike shop looking for a part and realized that I knew more about it than the guy helping me,\u201d she said. \u201cThey had an opening and hired me on the spot.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_49319\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49319\" class=\"size-article_body wp-image-49319\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/JoverlookingTheOcean-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C1365\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1365\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-49319\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">J on a bike-packing trip overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Photo by Ashley Hockersmith<\/p><\/div>\n<p>But the job had unspoken boundaries that became more apparent the longer she worked there. Higgins came to realize that invisible obstacles were endemic to the biking industry as a whole\u2014women were not asked nor welcomed to step from jobs on the sales floor into jobs in the shop.<\/p>\n<p>Though she loved all things bike\u2014from building them and fixing them to selling them and riding them\u2014she was eventually worn down by a demeaning ethos where her talents were measured by gender not skill. After more than a decade working in everything from mom-and-pop family shops to a worker-owned collective, a particularly overbearing boss pushed her too far. Higgins turned in her wrench, packed her panniers and pedaled off on a head-clearing long-distance bike tour from Seattle to the Mexican border.<\/p>\n<p>She returned to the Bay Area in 2012, rejuvenated but determined she wouldn\u2019t return to her former job. Having heard good things about working at REI, Higgins applied for a bike tech position at the Berkeley store to test the waters as she mulled over her next chapter. She got the job, and what was intended to be a temporary gig stretched into six years of engaged learning, career advancement and a renewed love of cycling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was an incredible transformation. I dealt with a lot of stuff I hope nobody ever has to deal with\u2014blatant sexism and harassment,\u201d she said. \u201cAt REI, I was hired directly into the bike shop and everyone was supportive from day one. It was the first time I felt valued for my work and it had nothing to do with gender; they saw me as a leader and encouraged my development.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_49322\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49322\" class=\"size-article_body wp-image-49322\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/TakingMeasurements.jpg?resize=1024%2C683\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-49322\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hands on training at Barnett Bicycle Institute. Photo by Ashley Hockersmith<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By 2018, Higgins had moved through the ranks from tech to master tech to her current role in Oregon. She says one things that sets the co-op apart is its commitment to training and continuing education. Every REI bike shop is staffed by a master tech, certified tech or both. Many of them bring years of experience to the job, on top of which REI invests time, energy and money in trainings at accredited bicycle industry schools to ensure an ever-widening skill set.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur highly-trained techs make us leaders in the industry,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cI see REI bike shops as unsung heroes. I had never before worked for a bike shop and had health care, genuine support and encouragement from my peers and superiors, plus access to boundless trainings\u00a0and opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though REI has excelled in tech expertise for years, the co-op struggles with a challenge reflective of the industry as a whole: most bike shop employees are men. Looking for a way to chip away at this gender imbalance, in 2017 REI sponsored an all-woman bike tech course at Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is not a lot of gender diversity in our bike shops and this training was a big opportunity to begin to change that,\u201d said Higgins, noting that the focus is not only on the male\/female balance\u2014REI is investing in all intersections of diversity to reach and serve everyone in the cycling community.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_49321\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-49321\" class=\"size-article_body wp-image-49321\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/JatSunset-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C1365\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1365\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-49321\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">J on a bike-packing trip taking in the sunset. Photo by Ashley Hockersmith<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Higgins, who attended the Barnett course as a mentor for the group of 16 apprentices, is impressed that the two-week experience has had such a long-lasting impact. In addition to graduating an enthusiastic new crew of highly trained technicians (including Megan Ryan, who is now REI\u2019s San Francisco market shop coordinator), the training united a supportive community that continues to connect today. Even though they were of different ages and backgrounds and from different parts of the country, they bonded over a shared curiosity around bicycle mechanics and working with tools.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI watched these women find confidence and excel in something many of them had been taught to fear. The solidarity that grew over those two weeks is indestructible,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n<p>Higgins is always looking for new ways to make working in bikes accessible to anyone who wants to give it a spin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are pushing to create offerings and space to challenge the status quo and doing our best to build up women and others who are underrepresented in our shops,\u201d she said. \u201cWith motivation and training, anyone can do wild and wonderful things in any facet of the cycling industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I caught up with Jacinta &#8220;J&#8221; Higgins as she waited for a flight to Colorado, where she\u2019d be learning the intricacies of new Cannondale suspension systems at REI Denver. Her next scheduled stop was Sacramento, where she looked forward to talking shop with fellow craft-cycling fans at the North America Handmade Bicycle Show. As REI\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":45406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1687,1127,726,1515,1486],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-45405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cycle","tag-bike-mechanics","tag-cycling","tag-force-of-nature","tag-northwest","tag-staff-stories"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/living-to-ride-one-woman-bike-techs-wild-and-wonderful-career-in-cycling","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Living to Ride: One Woman Bike Tech&#8217;s \u201cwild and wonderful\u201d career in cycling","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/living-to-ride-one-woman-bike-techs-wild-and-wonderful-career-in-cycling","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/living-to-ride-one-woman-bike-techs-wild-and-wonderful-career-in-cycling"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/03\/Content_022717_0670_converted.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/03\/Content_022717_0670_converted.jpg?fit=5760%2C3840"},"articleSection":"Cycle","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Chapman"}],"creator":["Laura Chapman"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["bike mechanics","cycling","force of nature","northwest","staff stories"],"dateCreated":"2019-04-12T12:00:09Z","datePublished":"2019-04-12T12:00:09Z","dateModified":"2019-04-22T19:15:33Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Living to Ride: One Woman Bike Tech&#8217;s \\u201cwild and wonderful\\u201d career in cycling\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/cycle\\\/living-to-ride-one-woman-bike-techs-wild-and-wonderful-career-in-cycling\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/cycle\\\/living-to-ride-one-woman-bike-techs-wild-and-wonderful-career-in-cycling\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/Content_022717_0670_converted.jpg?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/Content_022717_0670_converted.jpg?fit=5760%2C3840\"},\"articleSection\":\"Cycle\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Laura Chapman\"}],\"creator\":[\"Laura Chapman\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[\"bike mechanics\",\"cycling\",\"force of nature\",\"northwest\",\"staff stories\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2019-04-12T12:00:09Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-12T12:00:09Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-22T19:15:33Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/03\/Content_022717_0670_converted.jpg?fit=5760%2C3840","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45405"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49323,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45405\/revisions\/49323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45405"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=45405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}