My first Pedalpalooza ride!

[Waiting for the train.]
Photo by taisau

Last night I led my first Pedalpalooza ride! I’ve been so inspired by all the creative and fun rides I’ve been on that this year I finally decided to lead my own.

My ride, I called it the “Communified Ride” wasn’t especially creative or amazing or anything. Besides just an excuse to ride with friends, my hope was that everyone on the ride would meet someone new and then pose for some fun portraits at the end (see portrait gallery below). Here’s how it went.

[Photo by taisau]

After meeting at the Salmon St. Fountain we (25-30 people) took a relaxing spin up the waterfront. At the Steel Bridge we jumped onto the super-secret boardwalk in front of the condos. I love riding on these paths, especially on a warm, breezy night.

[Photo by taisau]

Making our way onto the Esplanade we stopped at the balcony near the Fire Station below the Hawthorne Bridge. We all mingled in the inviting sun and then I got out the camera and starting snapping portraits.

I brought a few of my kid’s toys to use as props; a fire truck, a teddy bear and a furry talking horse on a stick. Taking the photos was a lot of fun. Check them out:

communified/portrait ride communified/portrait ride
[Natalie loves doing loops through Mt. Tabor.][Reena’s hat and smile
are equally cute.]
 communified/portrait ride communified/portrait ride
[Micah just got this
bass-boat green Trek.]
[Happy Birthday Barb!]
 communified/portrait ridecommunified/portrait ride
[Wait…get him out of here!][Steve made this frame himself.]
 communified/portrait ride communified/portrait ride
[John liked the
fire truck.]
[Amy chose to pose
with my sticker.]
 communified/portrait ridecommunified/portrait ride
[Donna, bear, and Breezer][Sara looking sweet.]
 communified/portrait ride communified/portrait ride
[John’s bike is wearing a sweater.][Aaron looking statuesque.]
communified/portrait ride communified/portrait ride
[Earl’s visiting from New Brunswick!][Amy was cracking me up.]
 Communified Ride portraits Communified Ride portraits
[Ride that horse Kronda!][That’s the spirit Drake!]
 Communified Ride portraits Communified Ride portraits
[Ms. Red Bat, Carye Bye.][Only Brad can make a furry
horse seem cool.]
 Communified Ride portraits Communified Ride portraits
[John represented the “old,
commuter/roadie crowd.”]
[Kyle. Proud owner of
Dumpster Dave’s Colnago.]

Sorry if I misspelled your name. Thanks to everyone that showed up. I had a great time and I hope to see all of your at the Bike Fair on Saturday!

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Michael Wolfe
17 years ago

Dude! Nice brakes, Kyle!

Scout
17 years ago

So sorry to have missed your first ride Jonathan! Not only did I have to work that day, but I accidentally killed my bike on the way in! I was hoping you’d go over the Broadway Bridge, though, because I was going to honk the horn for you guys! Is it possible I just missed you?

Reena
Reena
17 years ago

I had lots of fun on the ride, great pictures! Thanks Johnathan, see you Saturday!

Drake
Drake
17 years ago

Wow– I’m such a dork. Thanks for putting together a mighty fine ride Jonathan!

Kyle
Kyle
17 years ago

I have never seen so many pictures of my backside as I did on taisau’s flickr. I need to learn to ride behind people with cameras. Oh, and thanks Michael!

Donna
Donna
17 years ago

Fun, fun. Thanks for the ride.

Curt Dewees
Curt Dewees
17 years ago

Taisiu made some really good pictures. Nice work! And to thing some of the best ones were (apparently) taken while riding your bike. A couple of those would make great posters!!! What kind of camera do you use?

Michael Hanna
Michael Hanna
17 years ago

Did anybody out there ride the Tour de Blast this year?
Hot day– the organizers allow 300 walk-ons to ride and then run out of food all the key rest stops including Johnstong Ridge… crazy!! So it’s 90 degrees at Johnston Ridge and I wait in line for 1 – hour to buy a hot dog (blucchhh)! Lucky I had some cash with me.
Can we get a local bike club to compete for next year’s permit to organizing this ride?
It’s always been an excellent place to ride– but the Rotary Club in Longview has long done a lousy job organizing this event. How about the Vancouver Cycling Club? They could get it done the right way. any thoughts???

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
17 years ago

Mr. Hanna,

If you have a gripe on a completely unrelated topic, why don’t you start your own blog instead of spamming mine (and everyone elses).

Or better yet, please consider posting stuff like this in the Forums.

Please respect our community and refrain from posting junk like this in the future.

Thank you.