Two Portland builders stood out among the country's best bicycle craftsmen today at the awards ceremony at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS).

Aaron Hayes of Courage Cycles was voted "Best New Builder," and Joseph Ahearne won "Best City Bike" for the second year in a row.

Aaron is a former product designer who started building frames just six months ago. When I visited his shop in Northeast Portland a few weeks ago he said he thought of his NAHBS debut as "a challenge".

Aaron Hayes

Well Aaron, you not only met the challenge, you rose above it. Congratulations!

Last year, Joseph Ahearne took home the "Best City Bike" trophy for a mixte he made for his girlfriend. This year, the award went to his gorgeous orange bike I gave you a preview of last week.

Joseph Ahearne

His winning bike.

The day's biggest winner was another name you'll be familiar with -- Sam Whittingham of Naked Cycles. His stunning single-speed that I drew your attention to yesterday took home three major awards today; "President's Choice" (chosen by show founder Don Walker), "People's Choice", and "Best in Show".

Sam's rig won big.

Sam Whittingham

After accepting his awards the British Columbia-based builder told the assembled crowd that he built the bike, "to pay homage to the Portland scene." "You guys have something really special going on here," he said, "and I wanted to do something special to honor that."

NAHBS founder Don Walker will take the fifth addition of his show to Indianapolis, Indiana next year.

He made the announcement at the end of today's show saying, "I'm sure many of you are already aware of Indiana's very rich cycling culture."

Walker cited the classic bike movie, Breaking Away as proof of Indiana's two-wheeled heritage.

Wish I had more time to share stories from last night and today, but the awards ceremony is starting soon and I've got to get back to the show.

Below is a slideshow of my photos from this morning. Highlights include Pegoretti's magical paint jobs, bikes from Richard Sachs and Rene Herse, Craig Calfee's bull-bike, and today's gratuitous celebrity shot of Robin Williams checking out the work of John Slawta (Landshark).

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

In a few hours, North American Handmade Bicycle Show founder Don Walker will make the announcement of where next year's show will take place.

Each year it is a closely held secret, but Walker has already already shared clues and has made it clear it won't be in Portland, and rumors about NAHBS '09 are swirling through the aisles.

Here are the clues Walker has shared:

• The governor of the state concerned wrote to express his desire to host the show
• The host city is within one day's drive of approximately 100 million people
• The state concerned is adding $20 million a year to build, expand and link the state's trail systems, and sees bicycling as a major part of that
• Three micro-breweries are situated within two blocks of the expo hall, and the host hotel is right across the road
• The city is regarded as one of the most hospitable in the USA

Matt Bracken of Independent
Fabrications.

Any guesses?

The inaugural NAHBS was in Walker's home town of Houston, Texas and the last two were in San Jose, California. So far, most rumors going around the show are that he might once again bring the show home in 2009 -- to Indianapolis, Indiana.

Given the huge attendance and the community support for the show here in Portland, some people would wonder why Walker wouldn't stick around for at least one more year.

I've talked to several builders and they would all love to come back to Portland again. Matt Bracken of Massachusetts-based Independent Fabrications was one of them. He said, "I was hoping it would go another year here [Portland]. We've really enjoyed this city."

Regardless of Walker's final decision, these past few days have sent a clear message to the bicycling world that Portlanders love bikes.

In an article in VeloNews this morning, reporter Matt Pacocha wrote that he was so impressed with how "the cycling community...has embraced the show and its builders" he wonders what it would be like to have Interbike in a city like Portland where, "the public is very much into the bicycle."

I'm not so sure Portland needs Interbike, but it sure would be nice to have a smaller, handmade show like the NAHBS here every year.

Stay tuned for the official announcement.

Here are a few snapshots I've been collecting in my head...

Joseph Ahearne (Ahearne Cycles) has a flask with an image of the late Sheldon Brown burned into it. When I asked Joseph how he had it made so quickly, he told me he's had this flask for many years...

I noticed another poignant memorial to a fallen cyclist in the booth of Signal Cycles. Signal's co-founder Matt Cardinal was a good friend of Brett Jarolimek, who died after colliding with a truck while riding last October...

And now, to lift the mood a little, check out Sycip's beer bike...

There's a lot of great wood at this show; whether it's inlaid into racks, bent into fenders, or even CNC'd into frames. But this beautiful rack by Austin-based True Fabrication stopped me in my tracks...

And there's this mysterious button that says, "What would Sacha do?"...

I assume the meaning behind it is meant as some sort of homage to Sacha White, the man behind one of the most crowded booths at the show, Vanilla Bicycles.

And the last snapshot is something it seems everyone is talking about right now. The crowds that turned out today...

Hopefully tomorrow is full of even more big crowds and memorable snapshots. Stay tuned for more coverage...

The Oregon Convention Center was overwhelmed with guests arriving by bike for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) today.

As crowds hit their peak around mid-day today, hundreds of bikes were locked to every piece of metal in sight. Convention Center staff tried to alert show-goers that they would remove (or "tow") bikes that were not in designated bike parking areas. They made announcements over the PA system and placed at least one sign on one of the center's doors.

But that wasn't enough and some visitors had their locks cut with bolt cutters wielded by Convention Center security guards.

Reader Jeff T. noticed one such security guard working on the U-Locks of two bikes parked just north of the main entrance. He took this video from his cell phone...

The day before the show, NAHBS organizers announced that indoor bike parking for 500 bicycles would be available, but by 1:30 or so there was barely a spot available.

While a hassle and an annoyance for some, others took it in stride. One commenter said the "packed to the gills" indoor bike parking area was one of their favorite parts of the show. He said,

"Watching bikes hunt for parking spots always puts a grin on my face. We should be so lucky to have that problem every day! There were some gems tucked in there as well, sort of like an Easter egg hunt for well ridden hand built frames. Very cool."

NAHBS organizers say they'll take steps to prevent problems tomorrow.

Volunteer coordinator and operations coordinator Bob Mandelson says they've ordered 10 additional racks for the tomorrow that should increase parking capacity by about 100-200 bikes. He says they'll ask for as many racks as they can get. More signage directing visitors to available parking and warning them about where not to park will also be posted.

The show begins at 9:30 tomorrow and doors close at 5:00.

The crowds here at the Oregon Convention Center have been thick all morning. So thick in fact that City of Portland Fire Marshall Michelle Coefield just told me that they can't let anyone else in until people begin to leave.

Just after 1:30 or so today Coefield said she was worried that the size of the crowd was getting out of hand. "When we can't get through the aisles," she said, "we are forced to close the doors."

Fire Marshall Coefield estimated that the capacity of the venue was just over 3000 people and that the crowd at around 2:30 was "well over" that figure.

Earlier today, Convention Center staff was threatening to start cutting locks of the hundreds of bikes locked to railings at the building's entrance. The made announcements over the PA system and posted warning signs that said, "Bikes attached to trees or handrails will be towed" were posted on the main entry doors (see photo below).

According to several witnesses, the Convention Center security personnel weren't just threatening. "They actually did cut some locks," said a reader named Jeff. He added,

"This happened after one announcement that could barely be heard over the masses inside...As I stepped outside to check on my bike, a security dude walked over to a bike attached to a handrail and removed the lock with giant bolt cutters. It couldn't have been more than 5 or 10 minutes after the first (and at that point, only) announcement requesting people to move their bikes."

After closing the doors to all visitors for about a half-hour, they are now allowing people to trickle in as folks leave. Meanwhile, the line is growing and would-be visitors look miffed.

"I just think they didn't know how popular it would be," said Coefield.

Chris King, the man who redefined headsets and has not compromised the quality of his Chris King Precision Components in over thirty years, has rekindled his love for making bicycle frames.

In typical Chris King style, he has quietly re-launched his Cielo Cycles brand name.

According Chris King Components marketing guy Chris Distefano, King began making frames in 1978, just two years after he created the headset that would make him a household name to bike geeks around the world. He built bikes primarily for road racing teams that would be labeled under a variety of nationally-known brand names.

By the mid-'80s King was forced to put down the torch to focus on handling his skyrocketing headset business. But, Distefano says, he never stopped thinking about framebuilding and it always "bugged him" that he no longer had time to pursue the craft.

Now, three decades later, with his business hitting on all cylinders after a successful move to Portland, he has found time to indulge himself.

The result is a frame made from Reynolds 953 stainless steel with a few King-esque touches. He machined his own fork crown and also managed to fit a 1 1/8" inch headset into a 1" head tube. He pulled that off by removing the lower skirt of the headset and brazing the cup directly to the head tube.

What's next for Chris King's Cielo frames? Distefano says that remains to be seen. At this point, he says, "We have a plan to make a plan."

35 year-old builder Sam Whittingham of British Columbia-based Naked Bicycles, exhibited at NAHBS last year. He displayed several of his Naked Bicycles, got a few orders, but he failed to wow the crowds.

This year, he thought he would do something different. He brought only one bike -- but he made it count.

The result, of what he said took him about eight weeks to complete, is a bicycle that many folks say is the odds-on favorite for "Best of Show".

It's a bike that blends an appreciation of a centuries-old tradition and aesthetic with new ideas and features that Whittingham says "are what handmade bikes are all about."

Whittingham told me the bike was inspired in part by Sacha White's stunning tricycle from the 2006 NAHBS, but mostly from the grass track and six-day racing that used to pack venues like the Madison Square Garden nearly 100 years ago.

The bike's aggressive yet agile lines might also have come from Whittingham's intimate experience with speed. According to Wikipedia, he currently holds five world speed records for recumbents and human powered vehicles.

But the story of this bike is more about the execution than the inspiration.

Now that's convenient.

As I walked around the bike, Whittingham listed off all the bike's impressive touches: the tied-and-sautered spokes; the silver pinstriping on the wooden rims; the eccentric rear-axle dropouts; the hole through the head tube lug for a U-Lock; the front disc-brake cable that enters at the fork crown and runs the entire length of the fork leg; the custom handlebars with finger impressions; and the vintage Dia-Compe MX brake lever.

One interesting feature that really stood out came by accident. When peering down at the shiny silver rear hub body, an optical illusion from the wooden rim makes it appear like the hub is transparent. Take a look...

Taken all together, Whittingham's bike is a true piece de resistance that demonstrates what can happen when a talented bike builder combines his personal passion with an appreciation of history and a creative, bold vision that pushes the boundaries of bike design.

Nice work Sam.

[More photos of this bike.]

One of the most important keys to the success of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) is the media coverage it generates.

Local and national news outlets from both the cycling and mainstream media are covering all the action. And this year, with the show in Portland, the stories often feature Portland builders.

Here's a little rundown of some of the recent coverage.

Yesterday's edition of the Christian Science Monitor ran a story with the headline, Hand-built bicycles pedal into the mainstream and referred to the show as the "two-wheeled version of the Detroit Auto Show" (that must have made the Interbike folks cringe).

The story featured an audio slideshow with builder Mike Flanigan of Massachusetts-based A.N.T. Bikes (who will be joining me and others in a city bike seminar tomorrow) and worked in a quote from myself, Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles and others.

The Oregonian business section put the show on its front page this morning (too bad the bike in the photo is a re-habbed GT and was not handmade). Their story included quotes from Natalie Ramsland of Sweetpea Bicycles and mentioned the Lance appearance last night along with the big announcement by Rapha.

Also this morning, Matt Pacocha from VeloNews published a great article on Sacha White and his Speedvagen program.

There's sure to be plenty more media attention for this show. To help keep you in the loop, I've put a NAHBS Newswire in the sidebar (below the top stories) and I'll keep that updated as I come across more stories.