9 July 2009 Archives

Online, on TV, on your phone or with dinner: A Tour de France viewing guide

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Chris King Lucky Lab Tour de France party

Tour de France viewing parties, like this one
at the Lucky Lab in 2007, can be
found all over Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus)

With six stages down and 15 to go, the Tour de France is just getting warmed up.

For some reason this year, the race is already exciting and the action hasn’t even hit the mountains. A guy named Lance has a lot to do with the buzz, but the bottom line is that more people than ever seem to be tuning in.

Year: 1993
Brand: kona
Model: humuhumunukunukuapuaa
Color:light metalic green
Size:14-16 in?
Serial: ?
Stolen in portland, OR 97318
Stolen:2009-07-3
Stolen From: From my driveway at my home near 60th and NE Prescott.
Neighborhood: Cully / Prescott
Owner: peter archer
OwnerEmail: peterarcherart@yahoo.com
Reward: 100.00
Description: Single speed, coaster break, steel, mountain bike style cruiser. BMX style silver bar clamp, straight forks(grey) white pedals, cruiser handlebars turned backwards,Ritchey seat, Very sentimental!!!
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Builders challenge; design the ultimate transportation bike

[BikePortland.org is an official media partner with the upcoming, five-week Oregon Manifest event that will celebrate bike builders from across the nation, bike advocacy, and much more.

Stay tuned for more coverage of builders, events, rides, and more.]

A few of the builders who will compete.

Portland just might bear witness to the Next Big Thing in transportation bikes.

As we’ve shared recently, city bikes are (finally) sweeping the bike industry right now and that makes the timing of the Oregon Manifest’s Constructor’s Design Challenge competition all the better.

The Design Challenge is based on what were known as “technical trials” held in France in the early 1900s. In those trials, builders built frames and components to achieve specific goals and that would have to stand up to actual riding (as opposed to making a bike for to be displayed at a bike show).

Need something to occupy, amaze, and inspire you as you lie on the beach, in your backyard, or on your couch in the coolest room in your house at the end of a long day this summer? Check out the BikePortland Bookstore for ideas, or browse through our most recent additions below.

Through our partnership with Portland’s own Powell’s Books, BikePortland.org will receive a portion of all sales on Powells.com made through the links on this page (including any books and DVDs, not just the ones we link to).

Who’s to blame for poorly timed
commercial breaks during the Tour?

Yesterday’s exciting Tour de France stage saw popular racer Thomas Voeckler (who won many fans for his courageous defense of the Yellow Jersey in 2004). Voeckler pounced on his breakaway companions and rolled into Perpignan alone for his first-ever stage win.

But for many Portlanders — who were watching the action unfold live on their televisions via the Versus sports channel — all they saw was a commercial (and ironically, one person reported it was an ad for Comcast).

The inopportune break really peeved 47 year-old Lewis & Clark law professor Dan Rohlf. “This morning the break occurred just seconds before the end of the race,” he wrote, “Viewers missed all the riders finishing.”

Billing itself as “the premiere event for cycling microbrew lovers in North America,” the Bikes ‘n’ Brew Century will offer a physical test, a visual feast, and a bounty of good beers.

The informal, 100-mile group ride (scheduled for July 18th) will take participants from Southeast Portland up and over Mt. Hood and down the backside to Hood River. Organizers call it a “fairly challenging” route but then add that, “frequent beer and food breaks will help dull the pain.

Online, on TV, on your phone or with dinner: A Tour de France viewing guide

light metalic green kona humuhumunukunukuapuaa 1993

Builders challenge; design the ultimate transportation bike

Read and ride: Summer picks at the BikePortland Bookstore

Portlanders miffed at Tour de France commercial break

100 miles, four breweries on tap for Bikes ‘n’ Brew Century

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