[This is part of our ongoing Pedalpalooza coverage. See all our reports and photos here.]
never know what to expect.
– Slideshow below/Gallery –
(Photos © J. Maus)
Last night, a hearty group of Portland bike fun elders headed north to Vancouver to bid aloha and pay respects to our fine friend Todd Boulanger. Todd was laid off by the City of Vancouver a few weeks ago after years of admirable service as a transportation planner (with an expertise in bikeway design).
A fitting send-off was in order. After all, Todd has almost single-handedly spread the idea of bike fun in Vancouver. With his help, that city has a fledgling movement of bike activism and a bike spirit that is just beginning to awaken.
We started with a party at the Bike Love Art Show at Angst Gallery. After that, Todd led us to several different bars where things got more and more silly as the night went on (as bar crawls tend to do I suppose).
There was random nakedness (ending in a patrol car unfortunately), gambling, a hit-and-run, a late-night bike-through for Mexican food, a Jon Bon Jovi singalong, an impromptu jam session, and an eventful journey south back over the I-5 bridge in the early morning hours with rain drizzling down on our smiling faces.
Get a taste of some of the shenanigans in the slideshow below or browse the gallery (also check out Carye Bye’s photos/report here):
Thanks again for all who attended last night’s aloha party and have sent me best wishes over the last month.
I wish to directly thank Leah and Terri for the fabulous event they hosted at the Angst gallery. (The Bike Love show has been held over for another month – so come on up and see the bike art: Wed-Sat 12 to 5.)
Love, T
Thank YOU Todd! That event was AWESOME! Although, I’d have to say that was my drunkest impromptu jam ever, and I wish I hadn’t had a guitar or microphone given to me at all! Oh vell! And to those of you that helped me search for my wedding ring, I’ll have you know that we went back today and found it – just in time for our wedding anniversary tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Great times!
Thank you Todd, Leah and Terri!
It was so much fun it almost makes me wish for a bigger bridge that would facilitate the access from Portland to Vancouver 😉
yep… got cuffed and stuffed for riding my bike naked. at least i had a helmet on so there was no ticket for that! i go to court on monday, wish me luck.
So what was with the hit-n-run?
I’m the hit-and-run victim. It happened back in Portland luckily near my house. My poor Puch 10-speed mixte is very bady broken (wheel, fork..), but luckily not the frame. I’m okay, but skipping a few things to rest up. The big black truck turned left across my path, and I hit the side and crashed. They didn’t stop.
But boy oh boy was Todd’s party and tour of Vancouver so fun!
And my toast to Todd stands.. heres to a guy who truely understands infrastructure and community are both necessary components to a great cycling city.
brutal couve.
aloa todd!
Hi all,
Just a little recap on the year since this ride and art event.
– I had two nice bike camping trips (one with Leah) through the Low Countries of Europe (low is the way to go for bikeways and great food without pedaling with a derailleur – my own ‘sans derailleur euro tour’) on a lead sled of a 1970s brown Dutch Batavus 3 Speed and a mutant 14 speed (2 speed speed internal SRAM hubbed) Batavus “Happy Tourist” 501 lugged frame with Magura hydraulic rim brakes!,
– on and off visiting Bikestation’s new cool bike parking stations in DC, Claremont CA, and Covina CA (cool module).
– 7 months of resume sending and waiting game…though nice family times! (I miss them),
– and the last 4 months have been in the UAE with Alta co-managing a pedestrian blackspot action plan for a local agency (ends in July) – its hot here and not doing much bike riding, and
– I hope to be back for a few days of Pedal Palooza…I have not missed one yet!
See you all at MCBF…