Nearly a year after we first noted the bike-oriented development taking place on N Williams Avenue, the trend is as strong as ever. Today we confirmed that, while the ink's not quite dry on all the paperwork, Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) plans to be the latest bike-friendly business to open up on the street (thanks to PDX Eater for the tip).

The banner is already flying.

Now even more so.

I caught HUB owner Christian Ettinger on the phone this morning. He said he's still working out some details, but it's "pretty much guaranteed" that they're moving into a spot in the new "bike-centric" EcoFlats building that is currently under construction between N. Failing and Shaver streets. HUB will be neighbors with Queen Bee Creations and United Bicycle Institute.

EcoFlats is notable because developer Jean-Pierre Veillet is aiming to make it the "first mixed-use residential building in the nation to achieve a net-zero energy status," according to the Daily Journal of Commerce. The building will also be oriented to tenants who use a bicycle as their primary mode of transport.

For Ettinger — one of the nation's premier craft brewers, a bike racer, and a major supporter of the local bike scene — the location on Portland's best bike street is a natural fit. "For us, it's just such a great fit to be right next to UBI, on the bike highway, in a net energy zero building. It makes sense on many levels."

Like his current location on SE Powell Blvd near 29th, the new HUB on Williams will feature many bike-centric touches.

Ettinger behind his 'Bike Bar' at the
2009 Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show.

Ettinger says he's building a bike canopy over the bar which will feature Oregon-made frames donated from members of the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association. "Imagine 30 frames worth $3,000 each over your head." (The Southeast HUB has a bike canopy, but it's made out of free-pile bikes.) There will be parking for 50 bicycles in the back of the restaurant and Ettinger says he's building something called, "the pulpit" facing the sidewalk. "We'll have a drink rail along the sidewalk where you'll be able to sit and watch bikes go by on Williams."

Ettinger is currently looking for an kinetic sculpture artist who can help him make a bike-powered sculpture that people can power while they're at the bar or waiting for a table.

The lease on the new location is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks. The building is nearing completion and construction is expected to be completed by this spring. Stay tuned for more details once opening day gets closer.

Local grocery store chain New Seasons Market will open its tenth store tomorrow on the corner of SE 40th and Hawthorne (former location of Daily Grind), smack-dab in one of the most bike-centric parts of town. According to a press release sent out by the company today, the new store has some pretty serious bike-friendly credentials.

The biggest thing that jumped out at me was that the store will have more space for parking bikes (50) than cars (36). According to New Seasons, the store’s small footprint and central location "inspired us to pilot unique transportation options for customers and employees." In addition to the bike-heavy parking ratio, the new store will offer grocery delivery by bike, a patch kit and air available free to customers, and hand carts and wagons to walk your groceries home (or creatively pull them on your bike).

The new store's march toward bike-sensitivity became very apparent a year ago. Back in October 2009, the BTA reported that they adjusted the design of the store so it did not negatively impact an adjacent bike boulevard. The decision had to do with where they would put the access ramp motor vehicles take to get onto the rooftop parking lot. According to the BTA:

"In the original design, the ramp entrance to the parking lot was located on SE 41st Avenue, and the receiving door for freight and delivery trucks was on the opposite side of the store on SE 40th. The BTA and neighbors, once we heard about the plans, became concerned that car traffic into and out of the parking garage might use the SE 41st bicycle boulevard, even taking it to reach SW Taylor or SE Lincoln streets to get to SE 39th Ave (Taylor and Lincoln are also bicycle boulevards)...

Staff from the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the BTA, as well as many SE 41st neighbors, agreed that flipping the design and placing the parking garage ramp on SE 40th and the truck receiving area on SE 41st would be best to maintain an existing safe bike route and to maintain traffic flow on Hawthorne. The independent traffic report supports that conclusion: "SE 41st Avenue… should be operated to encourage bicycle travel and discourage vehicle travel.""

How's that for a bike-friendly business!?

Green Drop Garage, a full service auto repair shop in Southeast Portland, now offers free bike loans to customers who need a lift when their car is being serviced.

Farhad Ghafarzade, President of Green Drop, has struck up a partnership with local bike shop Bike N' Hike. Ghafarzade says he and his staff already run most of their errands by bike -- including picking up parts from nearby suppliers with their trailer -- so, "Offering our customers a bike to borrow is an easy way to reduce our carbon footprint just a little bit more."

On average, Green Drop loans out two bikes every day and Ghafarzade says he hopes to get even more bikes to loan in the future as more customers hear about the service. "People really like the concept. I hear a lot of, 'That's so Portland of you.'"

In an email to customers explaining the new bike loan service, Ghafarzade wrote,

"Even though we fix cars, we still think the best way to get around is by bike, foot, or public transportation. These modes of transportation are more eco-friendly. They also allow us to meet new people, to share, and experience the journey outside of those sterile, air-conditioned, rage-inducing boxes on wheels."

In addition to the bikes, Ghafarzade also loans helmets, locks, and lights.

It seems Green Drop is looking to find the balance between car dependency and carfree living, acknowledging that cars have their place and providing services to keep them running smoothly, while doing what they can to encourage people to bike, walk, and take transit whenever possible.

Check them out at GreenDropGarage.com.

Apex Bar (1216 SE Division) is the latest Portland beer joint to roll out the welcome mat for people who show up on bikes. Owner Jesse McCann is a former beer rep who worked for New Belgium Brewery (and helped us round up a ton of great prizes for a BikePortland benefit party a few years ago) whose love of bikes is evident at his new establishment.

On the bar's website, McCann writes that Apex combines a love of great beers, "with a life-long passion for all things two-wheeled."

When it opened earlier this month we heard about Apex right away from readers who where excited about the huge row of bike racks available right near the patio.

I haven't made it out there yet myself, but the Daily Vaguard (PSU's newspaper) published a glowing review yesterday. About the bar's bike-friendly vibe, the Vanguard wrote:

"McCann has two other passions... that give Apex its personality... Pictures of both are hung on Apex’s walls, including a large photograph of naked bicyclists above the bar. Also nailed against the walls are shelves designed for helmets.

The huge bicycle rack on the patio reveals McCann’s passion, too. It would take an enormous crowd to fill up the rack, which is sure to make many bicyclists sigh with affection for the place."

If you go to Apex, keep in mind it's cash only (ATM on-site) and they don't serve food (but Mexican food place Los Gorditos is in the same building). Check out ApexBar.com for more info.

There are so many bike-centric business sprouting up in Portland these days that I need a business editor just to keep up.

Adding to the long list of Portland businesses that are either operated from bicycles or focused on the people who ride them are Cookie Pedalers and The Bicycle Chiropractor.

The Bicycle Chiropractor is Christopher Pierce. Pierce is a doctor of Chiropractic who has practiced in Portland since 2001 and who is, "dedicated to keeping bicyclists optimally healthy and tuned up for riding their bikes."

Dr. Pierce, the
Bicycle Chiropractor.

But The Bicycle Chiropractor takes "bike-friendly" one step further. On his website, Pierce says he's trying to "create a family of bicycle culture." In addition to helpful bike clinics and rides, The Bicycle Chiropractor will trade exams, X-rays, and adjustments in exchange for three hours of volunteer bicycle advocacy time (described as "writing letters to editors and politicians").

To better diagnose your bicycling-induced issue, Dr. Pierce will have you take a spin on one of the bikes he's got set up on a trainer in the office (which are facing a big screen TV playing bike racing videos) so he can evaluate your position before heading to the adjustment table. "Often times aches and pains are only brought out while you are riding your bike, so this gives us a real time, real world scenario."

Once your body is feeling good, why not celebrate with a bacon-infused shortbread cookie in caramel sauce? If that sounds good call up Molly McCarthy and Teal Smerlinder of Cookie Pedalers and they'll deliver it to you by bike.

"A business of making creative cookies and delivering them by bike just seemed to make perfect sense," so says the Cookie Pedalers website. Started in November of last year with just $500, a Facebook page, and some supportive and talented friends, Molly and Teal's business is off and riding!

Learn more about these bike businesses online at TheBicycleChiropractor.com and CookiePedalers.com

Back in August, local fast food chain Burgerville made headlines when they opened their drive-thrus to bicycle-riding customers at all 39 of their locations.

But, according to an interview with the company's CEO Jeff Harvey published in The Oregonian last week, that's just the start.

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Read below for Mr. Harvey's response to a question about the bike-thrus (emphasis mine):

The O: A bicyclist was turned away last year at a drive-through at a Portland restaurant. Burgerville responded by opening the drive-throughs at all of its 39 restaurants to bicycles. Is that feature getting used very much?

Mr. Harvey: It is getting used, more so than it was before we made the shift. I still don't think it's, you know, it's not a substantial percentage of our guests showing up on bicycles, but that wasn't the intent anyway. The intent with Burgerville always is that everybody is at the table. So whenever we run in to a situation of someone's excluded we want to make the effort to make sure that they're there.

We're not done. Allowing bikes at the drive-through is not the end game for Burgerville. I would expect this year you're going to see us engaging more with bicycling organizations. If nothing else I want to make sure that when bikes go through the drive-through it's a great experience for them and easy for them.

Good to see that the CEO is aware of more people using the bike-thru service.

It will be interesting to see what else Burgerville does in the coming year. 2009 was the year Hopworks Brewery established themselves as the go-to beer in the local bike scene -- will Burgerville become the fast food burger joint equivalent?

Have any of you biked-thru? If so, what was your experience?

There's yet another new bike-based business in town -- the difference is that at this store, everything is free.

The Portland Free Store is, according to its website, "basically a second-hand store, except that everything is free." People can drop off donations at the recommissioned school bus that houses the store at SE 11th and Clay during its open hours -- currently 11am - 7pm, Monday to Friday -- or a bike messenger will come and do a pick up.

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Free Store owner Ben Aubin
sorting through a recent wave
of donations.

Customers can make a visit to the bus, or fill out an online wish-list and have items delivered by bike as they come in.

Last week I caught up with owner Ben Aubin as he was sorting through the leftovers of the well-attended Free Box Bazaar he had thrown the day before. Aubin has a ton of energy and is working full time to make a dozen things happen at once, from fundraisers to opening satellite locations (he hopes to find donated spaces in all five quadrants) to finding local artists to redesign the outside of the bus each month.

"Yesterday we gave away a bicycle," Aubin told me. A week ago, a woman walked away with a laptop and a new purse. "Right now we have a lot of shoes, if you need those."

The store is accepts donations of "consignment quality" goods, and can't handle anything too bulky yet, though hopefully with new warehouse space across town they'll be able to start taking furniture and other large items.

Free Store courier Shonn

Though all items are free, Aubin is working to make the store economically sustainable. He has been able to raise enough money to hire a salesperson. A handful of couriers work for tips; Aubin wants to be able to start paying them, partly by selling ad space on a flyer they leave with every pick up and drop off, and partly by seeking sponsors to pledge a small sum per month to help keep a favorite courier in business.

All donations are entered into a database and matched against customer wishlists. Another program finds free items posted to Craigslist and Freecycle, and Aubin dispatches couriers to pick them up. The goal, he says, is eventually to dispense with the school bus storefront altogether and work entirely peer to peer.

The Portland Free Store is one of four currently operating in the United States not run by a religious organization. Aubin says the shop draws inspiration from the Really Really Free Market movement.

Last Thursday they sealed the deal with a promotion at their Hawthorne location -- anyone showing up by bike got a free blackberry milkshake with their purchase during a two hour window.

Joe Biel and I decided to head over there with his video camera to get some milkshakes, see how it worked, and talk with the officials on hand. Here's the movie that resulted:

Drive Thru Mayhem from Joe Biel on Vimeo.

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It seems there is still some development to be done on the "cycle-thru" concept. I liked the convenience of not having to lock up, and it was nice not to have to wonder whether or not I would be served, but sitting behind an idling car while waiting for my food was a pretty substantial downside.

It'll be interesting to see if other companies follow Burgerville's lead and start changing their bikes in the drive-through policy.

Oh, and this didn't make it into the video, but the Burgerville honcho also told me that they're looking into installing new bike parking at all their locations (most currently have only a wave rack, and a few have none at all.

I just witnessed the unveiling of something truly in the Portland spirit: A locally built cargo bike that holds two kegs below an inlaid wood bar. A rear rack is built to hold a stack of pizzas; below that a wood-paneled pannier is in fact a compact sound system.

It's made in Portland. And it's beautiful.

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Celebrating the unveiling in style

Described as a "pub bike," or a "mobile party," this human powered machine was built by local box bike builder Metrofiets specially for Hopworks Urban Brewing (HUB) and will make its first public appearance at the company's free Biketobeerfest celebration this Saturday.

The bike follows the basic Metrofiets design of a long body, with a cargo carried in the front. The cargo container is a metal keg bucket which holds two full sized kegs and 25 pounds of ice. Beer from the kegs run through a 50 foot cooling coil and then to your glass via two taps (made by Shimano and Chris King) which protrude from a wooden bar inlaid with HUB's trademark lightning bolt.

Tap handles by Shimano
and Chris King

A large, square rear rack is designed to fit a stack of pizza boxes. Below the rack is a sound system "pannier" with another lightning bolt inlaid wood panel casing and a speaker. The bike sports HUB's colors, matte orange and black.

This party is entirely human-powered, with the help of nine gears -- any more would allow a rider to go faster than would be entirely wise, explained Ross. Sturdy looking disc brakes and chunky tires with full fenders adorn both wheels.

When fully loaded with pizza, beer, and ice, the bike should just about meet Metrofiets' 400lb weight limit. Still, Ross is recommending that the bike be transported with pony kegs, and refilled with full-sized kegs on the scene.

The sound pannier in action

The bike was conceived over the course of casual conversations this summer between Hopworks founder Christian Ettinger and Metrofiets owners Phillip Ross and Jamie Nichols. The idea quickly escalated; then the friends began paring it down to a buildable concept and began lining up support.

The bike is a group effort. Ross and Nichols designed and built the bike. Damon Eckhoff inspired the sound system and did much of the wiring. Metropolis Cycles (2249 N Williams) built the wheels and provided general bike shop support. Michael Moscarelli of local brewing supply company F.H. Steinbarts did the beer plumbing; local high school biology teacher, homebrewer, and woodworker Gregg Heppner created the bar top and sound system shell. The bike's components (including the tap handles) were donated by Chris King Components and Shimano.

Ettinger still has big plans for the bike's future. A second sound pannier will allow music to be played in stereo; a solar panel cover for the pizza rack will power the sound system and a string of LED lights around the base of the bar, making the bike fully self-sufficient.

Christian Ettinger shows off his
new seasonal "Bike Beer"

As if the bike isn't enough, Ettinger plans to unveil his new, seasonal Bike Beer this weekend. The first season's offering is an organic Pacific Northwest style IPA. It comes in bottles branded with a bike chain motif and the words "Ride your bike," and features a Portland bike fun event calendar on the back.

The beer was brewed specially for the upcoming Oregon Manifest, and will be the event's exclusive beer. Its broader intent is to promote Portland's unique bike culture. "We're seeking a cross-pollination between the bike and beer cultures," Ettinger explained.

You can expect to see this season's Bike Beer at various stores around town in the next month. And keep your eyes peeled for a party on wheels -- HUB expects to be bringing its new steed to various bike events year round.

Here's a photo slideshow of the bike and its happy creators:

Bikes and beer will be celebrated in true Portland style this weekend at Biketobeerfest, a carfree event being thrown by Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB). The event is Saturday, September 19th, from noon to 10pm. And it's totally free and open to the public.

There's one catch -- the event is carfree. There will be plenty of bike parking right outside the entrance, but no car parking. The block of SE 29th next to the bar will be carfree. And attendees are asked not to arrive by car.

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The program is up on the website, and it looks great -- performances by local bands including March Fourth Marching Band, a performance by iconic Portland mini bike dance troupe the Sprockettes, roller races, tons of activities for kids, a BMX trick riding exhibition, something called the "Huffy Huck Off," a handbuilt bicycle show and tell, and a rodeo just for bike shop workers.

Hopworks will also be premiering two beers brewed especially for the occasion.

We'll be there, hosting a mini BikeCraft fair, with a double handful of some of the best local bike-oriented crafters and artists. I'll be posting in the next couple of days about the amazing, handmade biked-out goods that we'll have there.

Hopworks owner Christian Ettinger
(Photo © J. Maus)

The event was originally set to be called Biketoberfest, but a trademark issue influenced organizers to change the name.

HUB, which has been open at SE 29th and Powell since 2008, has focused on bikes since its inception, wooing bicycling clientele with plenty of bike parking, decor made out of used bike parts, spare tubes available behind the bar, and sponsorship of local bike causes and teams.

Event details:
Biketobeerfest
September 19, noon to 10pm
SE 29th and Powell, Portland

More information