Report: Bike Kiss-in

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[Reported by Elizabeth]

Last Friday’s Bike Kiss-In was without a doubt the best of it’s kind that Portland has ever seen. It inspired mini-kiss-ins afterward at various intersections, and looks to become a nation-wide phenomenon (look for an east coast Kiss-In ride report in the future).

23 couples rode from City Bikes Mothershop to the very visible 39th and Glisan traffic circle. We made Joan of Arc blush, I’m sure. Upon arrival, we dispersed ourselves among the circle, and commenced the spit-swapping in the name of bike love. Some couples held signs as
they made out, including:

  • Make love, not traffic
  • Honk if you’re jealous
  • Lip lock, not gridlock
  • Bikes have more fun
  • If you rode your bike, you’d be kissing now

The weather held out long enough for everyone to make out for a goodtwenty minutes or so. At the end, we all gathered for a group photo-op and one-minute make out intensive. Then the clouds rained their congratulations upon us and the satisfied participants scattered
homeward.

Props to:

  • Alex for the idea
  • Carye, Timo and Jeff for spectacular signs and slogans
  • the many vegans on the ride (next time I promise I’ll plan better and not buy gelatin-filled Altoids from the Circle K)
  • everyone who came to demonstrate bike love to the auto-driving, Friday evening masses; you’re all hot.

I’ve got some tasteful photos that I’ll post soon. All in the name of bike love,
Elizabeth

Report: Museum Tour 2

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Reported (and led by) Carye Bye:
6/24

Bicyclists: 8
Museums Visited: 5

On a busy Pedalpalooza Friday, one day from the fair, the Small Museums & Collections ride II squeezed in between BonB and the Critical Mass Memorial Ride.

The tour began at Laughing Planet Cafe on Belmont where half the group filled bellies with burrito fuel for this tour that would bring us to 5 museums scattered throughout the Eastside & Downtown Portland.

At 1 pm we headed to our first stop (2 blocks away) The Belmont Firehouse and Jeff Morris Memorial Museum. In fact this was a last minute add-in. Don Porth, the museum director, gave us a wonderful guided tour. Highlight: Trying out a smaller version of the fireman’s pole – use your feet! Not recommended with shorts!

Next Stop: Movie Madness, – Mike’s movie memorabilia at Belmont & 43rd. Luckily also at the last minute Mike agreed to tell us about his collection himself. We oohed & ahhed over Julia Andrew’s sound of music dress, Orson Welles Touch of Evil Suit, Psycho Stunt Knifes, Blue Velvet’s ear and more! Mike does such a great job putting up signs and photos showing the movie props & costumes from the films. But it was added bonus to hear him gush about his favorite movie dresses.

Then we bike-bombed from SE to the Hawthorne Bridge. We headed over to the Police Museum at the Downtown HQ building. After all our IDs were recorded (everyone handed them over – so we had no fugitives in the group) we headed up to the 16th floor to meet the museum director Lori who gave us a brief guided tour of police weapons, confiscated weapons (criminals are creative!), and Portland’s First Traffic Light. Sadly the talking Macgruff,the crime dog, was taken off the floor for repair, after scaring a child with a mutating voice the day before.

From here, with 1 bicyclist less, we headed back over the Hawthorne Bridge to the “secret” Kidd’s Toy Museum off of SE Grand. It’s hidden in a non-descript gray business building with a little note on the door. The Banks, locks, and (scary) dolls amused us.

Now after 4 pm. All ditched but the leader +1; so the last two biked off down SE 3rd through produce row towards Stark’s Vacuum Museum at Couch & NE Grand. On the way we made a pit stop at City Liquidators to check out 20,000 chairs in stock, and most importantly “The Stairway to Savings” to the Mysterious 3rd Floor room of chairs. Sadly the file cabinets have been taking over, and the furniture chute was closed up.

And finally the Vacuum Museum, which has 100 or so antique, vacuums, some with tags of explanation. Cool stuff, but would have been more appreciated with a guide. However, the staff of Stark’s was very busy showing rosy-faced families how to buy new vacuums and how to use them on a variety of carpet surfaces. The scene in the store was almost more interesting than the discarded mummies at the back of the store.

Too much Bike Fun!

Critical Mass - Portland
Ahearne Cycles
Mt. Tabor Circuit Race
Multnomah County Bike Fair

I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve done tons of great bike stuff in the last few days. And, there’s some really great things on the horizon. OK, a quick recap:

A benefit showing of “The Tour Baby” at the Bagdad Theater last week saw about 700 people over the two nights. Total raised for the Lance Armstrong Foundation = $14,371! If you missed the screening you can still buy the DVD here.

Friday’s Critical Mass Ride was a great success. Lots of cop and bike love, a huuuge turnout (I counted 230 people) and an emotional speech by friends and family of Noah Cardamon (who was recently killed by a motorist while cycling). Before the ride, I met with Jim Sayer, the new Executive Director of the Adventure Cycling Association.
Click here for a slide show of the Critical Mass ride.

Last Wednesday, I met another member of Portland’s emerging bicycle industry; framebuilder Joseph Ahearne. He makes solid, custom cargo racks and frames with interesting features. His fledgling company is called Ahearne Cycles and he is known in the bike world for his custom flask holder. Yes, it’s like a water bottle cage…but custom made to fit a flask of your favorite libation.

Today (Sunday) I was lucky enough to be a volunteer at the 53rd annual Mt. Tabor Circuit Race. What a great venue for bike racing! I got to hang out and take pictures of the racers and I even took a few laps of the course in the official pace car with Portland bike racing legend, David Auker. Lots of fun, and these racers really inspire me to get my butt out and start riding more!
Check out my Mt. Tabor Circuit Race photos.

By far, the most amazing event of the summer was the Multnomah County Bike Fair on Saturday. I’ve never seen so much bike fun in one place. All the usual suspects were on hand for perfect weather and all sorts of cool, bike-related activities, competitions, crafts, etc… Best part of the day was an astounding performance by The Sprockettes. They’re a group of hot chicks on pink bikes that dance, sing and ride like no one you’ve ever seen…and they got a huge standing ovation for their performance. Sprockettes rule.

At one point during the fair, 500 bikes were counted in the park and it’s being said that that is a record for bike attendance at an event. That’s awesome.
Check out my Bike Fair photo gallery.

Report: Atomic War Preparedness Ride

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Reported by Shawn Granton:
Ride date: June 23

Figures:

  • total riders: 50
  • riders all the way up Kelly Butte: most of that 50
  • riders all the way to Chez Bernard for the movies: about 20
  • men in dresses: 1
  • tall bikes: 3? 4?
  • gas masks: a few
  • hazmat suits: 2
  • authentic Civil Defense hats: 1
  • confused civilians: many
  • buttes climbed: one
  • wrong turns: one (sorry!)
  • bike collisions: one
  • total length of ride: 4 1/2 hours

For a full report visit the Urban Adventure League Blog!

Report: Eastside Theater History Ride

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From Shawn’s Urban Adventure League Blog
Wed 22 June 2005

While the weather wasn’t perfect for this Urban Adventure League ride (there was the imminent threat of rain for most of the ride’s duration, and it actually DID rain for a moment), it didn’t deter seventeen people from showing up at the starting point of Ladd’s Circle at 6:30pm for this unique tour. Introductions were given, the zine for the ride handed out, and the bicycle ride headed south-eastward on Ladd Av towards the first destination, the Clinton Street Theater. I gave a brief history of the theater, and the crowd gawked at the new addition to the cinema–Portland’s smallest brewpub (as of this week!)…

Click here to watch Clarence Eckerson’s movie of the ride!
Click here to continue reading the full report!

Report: Gorge Ride

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Gorge Ride – 6/22/05

Reported by Kiran:

Brief showers did not keep 5 intrepid riders from MAXing to Gresham and riding to the Vista House on the Historic Columbia River Hwy (The easternmost point of Pedalpalooza).

Photos by Dat:
http://homepage.mac.com/datn/PhotoAlbum66.html

Stats:
Top Speed-39mph
Detours-1
HelmetCams-1
Muddy pints of $3 strawberries-2
Espresso Drinks-3
Flats-1
MAX trains-3
Buses-2 (flat recovery)

After caffeination in Troutdale the sun came out and riders who still had air in their tires opted for the extended return to Portland via marine drive.

Local biker chronicles his commute

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Local commuter John Beaston loves his commute and his city. Over the past year, he has ridden his bike to work 99 times, and snapped a photo of the same spot each time.

He shared his just finished photo gallery, “A year of morning commute pictures” with me the other day and I thought I would pass it on to you guys.

Here are some comments from John about the photos:

“99 days” represents how many times I actually managed to bike commute over the last year. After moving to NPDX I’d been commuting the route (NPDX to Beaverton) for a few months and I remember thinking one day about how beautiful the river is no matter what the weather and what a wonderful job Portland has done to celebrate it downtown. I was struck by how it changes from day to day and season to season. I’ve always loved time-lapse photography and I guess I was inspired by the “A Year in the Life of….” books and websites. I decided to give it a shot and see what came out of it.”

I think it’s a beautiful statement on bikes and our city. I’m glad you’ve taken the time to put this together and If I had the connections and/or money, I’d help you with that book deal!

Oregon MTB Groups Release Mt. Hood Proposal

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In an effort to retain access for mountain bikes in the backcountry, the Oregon Mountain Bike Alliance (ORMBA) and the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) have teamed up on an innovative plan that suggests new ways to look at “wilderness” designations in Mt. Hood National Forest.

At issue here is how the Feds define “wilderness”. The fear for mountain bikers is that the current definition excludes mountain bikes completely from all “wilderness” areas. If the Feds expand the wilderness boundaries, it means less places to ride. Therefore, this new plan is a huge development because it is an effort to revise how the Feds define wilderness areas. If successful, this plan might influence other decisions happening all over the country.

At stake is the sport of mountain biking itself. If they’re completely excluded from large backcountry areas where they’re currently allowed, it would have a severe effect on the health of the sport, tourism, and the cycling economy in the region.

But it’s not a matter of saving the economy. I think preserving wild areas are much more important that the health of the economy(!). However, I do think that there is a misperception of the effects responsible mountain bikers have on the trails. When ridden properly, bikes can co-exist peacefully with other trail users.

…but it all starts with a plan and I’m excited by the great work ORMBA and IMBA have put into this. Stay tuned for more developments.

Here’s a summary of the proposal.

A map detailing how the proposed designations for Mount Hood might be administered can be downloaded from IMBA’s web site.

Report: Shortest Night of the Year Ride

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26 traversed mt tabor

12 rode the springwater

10 climbed powell butte, listened to the guitar and harrmonica sounds of Ali; ate tasty pasta al pest and drank champagne

9 saw the sunrise at 5:30

8 are riding home on MAX right now

the shortest night of the year ride has been the longest of Pedalpalooza, lasting from 21:54 to 06:00.