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Beth Chase
Operations & Supply Chain Manager
"Independently minded, apparently from the start, my father put bells on my shoes so he could find me and keep me from getting lost in the hay fields."
Independently minded, apparently from the start, my father put bells on my shoes so he could find me and keep me from getting lost in the hay fields, but I knew that there had to be more than the rolling pastures that filled my early life in southwest Michigan.
After I earned my first real ten-speed (Huffy, black and pink, thanks for asking) I dreamed of what it would be like to ride the Tour de France while my brother and I cruised the back-country roads collecting discarded beer cans for candy money at the corner store. A real foray into road bike racing after moving to Oregon many years later taught me that there was no chance, I’d ever scale the Alps on two pedal-powered wheels. It didn’t change the fact that I was hooked on two-wheel travel though.
Near the end of my first adventure in higher education, I landed a job at a bike shop. It was just meant to get me out of food service and pay the bills. It ended up getting me through that round of college and then another one. By that time, nearly five years later, I didn’t see a future that didn’t involve the bike industry. I knew that if I was really going to make a go of it, I had to be somewhere where bikes were actually a big deal. With a vision of a car-free life and poorly functioning U-haul truck, I came west to Portland, Oregon.
Almost a decade later, after living and breathing all things bicycles, I needed a change. Fortunately, I got an opportunity at Columbia Sportswear that allowed me to expand upon my newfound production and demand planning skills. It was about this time that I also came to realize that I needed out of the ‘big’ city and I looked to the Gorge. It took some time, but I got my chance with Dakine. Flash forward a few more years and here I am.
While I still love my bicycles (I have managed to cull the herd down to just three) I also now have motorized two wheeled options. I love riding my little KLX250S on the amazing trails that the pacific wonderland offers and my Versys X-300 gets me to further afield backroads and camping options. I haven’t made it to the Alps yet, but I feel with a motor I just might make it up to them in the future.