I know it’s cheesy and cliche, but I couldn’t resist.
Here’s the bike stuff in Portland that I’m most thankful for. I encourage you to share yours if you’d like.
I’m most thankful for:
- Portland’s visionary transportation activists and politicians that laid the groundwork for our existing bikeway network (check out this cool animation of how far we’ve come).
- The Eastbank Esplanade, The Springwater Corridor and the bike-friendly Steel, Hawthorne, and Broadway bridges.
- The many people who have given me the feedback, guidance and support (both financial and technical) that make this site possible (you know who you are!).
- The creativity, intelligence and energy of citizen activists, mostly coming from Shift to Bikes. From Breakfast on the Bridges to Pedalpalooza, you folks continue to be a huge inspiration.
And finally, I know it’s not technically “bike stuff” but I’m extremely grateful for my wife Juli and her patience and understanding while I pour my heart into making this site a success.
What about you?
Thanks for reading.
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I am thankful for bike cops who get to ride on the sidewalk because they take a special class, while I am expected to jump get off my bike in traffic when making a delivery.
February’s break in the rain.
Endorphins
I am thankful for:
Running into Jeff Bernards the minute I realized that I had lost my bike light one dark night.
Sam Adams and his team, the BTA, and all those great bike loving advocates working to make cycling in Portland even better than it is today.
And of course BikePortland.org. Man, where would we be without you?
Team Veloshop, ’cause they bring it to the max!
And OBRA (Candi, Sal et al), for the most bitchin’ races.
I concur, put BikePortland.org at the top of the list.
Cross Crusade, Monday Night PIR, OBRA
Providence Bridge Pedal
Bike Gallery, Bike N’ Hike, Veloce
PDX Transportation Options (Dan Bower, Janis McDonald, etc.)
Full fenders on a commute bike and sticky chain lube like Dumonde Tech
Portland’s ever growing, ever changing bike culture.
Defintely BikePortland.org!
bikeportland.org
the decently paved portions of the Springwater Corridor
the fact that my employer doesn’t mind when I come in late and/or muddy from a long morning ride and lets me have a rack in my office on which to dry out my gear
Breakfast on the Bridge
Corey at 7 Corners bike shop
the bike lockers at work
the Sunset Hwy bike path
my cycling buddies
the stretch on Jackson Quarry Road that curves through the forested area
Of course bikeportland.org
The bikefreaks in Portland who make me feel like I’m part of something bigger than me.
The bike mojo that’s brought me great friends through bikes.
Bikeportland.org and its forum
Bridge Pedal, Vineride, Ptld Century, Night Ride (to name a few)
Quiet roads on Sauvie Island
Polite drivers on Roy Rogers Rd and Tualatin-Sherwood Rd
My boyfriend Scott, for getting me going on this whole bike adventure and keeping me going!
the washington park tri-met stop!
the urban growth boundary!
the person or persons who put the funny hats on the bike lane fellers all over town!
caffeinated malt liquor!
CITYBIKES!!!
and that car that braked in time to not run over me last weekend …
The snap of cleats as they lock into the pedals
The soft rolling of a freshly lubed chain
The smell of the neighborhood at dinnertime
Boxes of used bike parts at CityBikes
SE Ankeny, Salmon/Taylor, Lincoln/Harrison
Chopped bicycles and those who ride them
The plastic grocery bag on my seat
Hot shower after riding home in the rain
Jonathan, we’re thankful for your wife Juli for her understanding too, since without that, your web site wouldn’t be the success it is.
I’m also thankful that I can bike commute / bus from Portland to Vancouver every day – easy. Not many places in the US have the infrastructure to support that!
Thanks to you, Jonathan, for your work on the site and out in the community on behalf of bikes and bikers. You made it easy for a newbie to town find out about so many resources and get me biking more than I ever have.
Thanks to all the volunteers with BTA and other pro bike groups that put in so much time for little or no reward to make Portland bike friendly.
Also thanks to voters who turned out so many petro-addicted, pro sprawl politicos and put bike supporters like Blumenauer, DeFazio (and, earlier, all our local pro-bike reps like Sam Adams) in positions where they can make a big difference. Maybe this time next year, we’ll have more to give thanks for.
Most thankful that 10 of my 16 mile commute home is through Forest Park. Just enough mud, no cars, and,this time of year, few people with off-leash dogs.
SUGOi shoe covers
I am thankful for Portland.
I’ve been to almost every major city in the USA and have never found a better place to live. Bike culture is alive and well here like no other place on the planet, and for all the strife we work through to make it better remember this: we should be so lucky.
That a forum like this exists, so that we may debate and share ideas about all things biking, is awesome. That a modern American city could be such a mecca for all things pedal-powered and even have a significant “just say no to cars” population, is amazing.
Recognize and appreciate all that, from the Messengers to the $8K bridge and tunnel bike riders. It’s all part of what rules about Portland.
S
I’m thankful for bike love.
That joyful feeling of the wind through my helmet vents. Sharing a smile with another cyclist along Tillamook. Ogling over the cool bikes at the Community Cycling Center. Riding with friends. Feeling proud of the amazing people in Portland who love bikes in so many ways. And I’m thankful for my sweetie who shares so much bike love with me.
I’m thankful for the 20 and 30-somethings who have been riding and making a Bike Revolution happen in Portland.
No, I’m not one of them. I’m in my early 50’s.
You may not realize it, but only 10 years ago, the Oregonian, described the most typical bike commuter (there were only a handful of us) as a “middle-class guy in his 40s”. In other words, someone like me. We, the aging boomers on our 10 speeds, would gamely pedal back and forth on the roads and bridges, but no one ever talked about bike lanes, bike paths, bike corridors, pedalpalooza, BikePDX.org, bike parking at events, bikes on buses and MAX, etc. That stuff didn’t exist.
Then the youngsters showed up. With far more bikes and energy and imagination than my generation had never produced. (I wish more of you had showed up with helmets and lights, but I’ll let that go, it’s Thanksgiving.)
You guys are great. You’ve made MY biking experience a hundred times better. Thanks for riding and thanks for working to make biking a real option (and a fun one too).
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Alan
I am grateful for the amazingly supportive community. Sure, we all love our bikes and what we can do with them, but it is the people that rock the cycling experience. So I guess I am saying I am thankful for all you die-hard cyclists streaming by, triggering that Pavlovian response of drooling and whining in me when I’m not on my bike too. Thanks!
I am thankful to live in a city where I don’t need to own a car.
I am thankful for bike maps and kind bike shop employees.
I am thankful for fall leaves, spring gardens, the roses in Ladd’s Addition, the river & bridges, summer evenings and blinky X-mas (and bike) lights to brighten my ride.
I am thankful for my bike (less than $200) that lets me experience all these things (and the lovely boy that bought me that bike!) & gives me independence.
I am thankful to live in a city where I don’t need to own a car.
I am thankful for bike maps and kind bike shop employees.
I am thankful for fall leaves, spring gardens, the roses in Ladd’s Addition, the river & bridges, summer evenings and blinky X-mas (and bike) lights to brighten my ride.
I am thankful for my bike (less than $200) that lets me experience all these things (and the lovely boy that bought me that bike!) & gives me independence.
And, I am thankful for my beautiful city and the lovely people that live here & bike here & volunteer & lead us.
I am thankful for the Sprockettes and all other women on bikes because they keep biking from being one big sausage fest.
I’m thankful for bp.org of course! * Cory at 7 Corners and his obsession with baked goods
* Sam, Mia, Roger, Greg, Evan, Earl, and the rest of the political kick ass and take (bike) lanes crew
*Ayleen Crotty
*Shift
*Pedalpalooza
*Breakfast on the Bridges
*My awesome new commuter bike
*Having a hot girlfriend to bike with! 🙂
Happy T-day.
I’m thankful I live in a city where the cops have better things to do than write cyclists tickets… oh wait… That’s anywhere BUT here.
I am just thankful that after 20 years I still love to ride a bike and hopefully forever will.
I am thankful, in no particular order:
turbo who loves everyone
zoombomb who shows no fear
all sexy women who dance near bikes
mmr
CM
summertime
etc.
*edited* the police and any other bullies who like to pepper spray young girls.
VOLUNTEERS VOLUNTEERS VOLUNTEERS
With these people’s help Bike Events & Organizations have become the pillars of Portland’s Bike Culture. MCBF, Pedalpalooza, Sprocketts, Carfree Day, Breakfast of the Bridges, Community Cycling Center, Get Lit, City Repair, BTA, Zoobomb,(& all those not mentioned here) wouldn’t be the same without the hundreds of volunteers. ALL iving there valuable free time, to make it all work.
Thank you Volunteers
WE ALL LOVE YOU! AND COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU.
Ride On,
Jeff
wool
sunshowers
bikeportland.org
moms on bikes
everybody on bikes
street grid
amber lenses
ball bearings
brooks
full coverage + 2″-from-the-ground mudflaps
i am thankful to the whole portland experience on a bike. rolling up to a stoplight with a mass of cyclists. messengers, racers, bike shop wrenches, commuters, everyone all together adds to what makes this place so wonderful. without the culture, something as incredible as bikeportland.org couldn’t exsist. thanks julie for helping jonathan make it all happen. thanks to the bta for fighting the good fight even if i did run all those lights to get deliveries made on time. thanks for shift and breakfast crowd for making it all fun. thanks to the frame builders and mechanics who keep everyone’s bikes rolling and in style. thanks to the messengers who work so f-in hard to keep this city going. thanks to all the people who continue to to have a global cycling vision and work to make it happen.
I am thankful:
1. that I get to do work that provides great meaning to my life as well as an income. I love being a bike mechanic and I love working at Citybikes. Loving one’s work is not a given and I am committed to striving to be worthy of the gift.
2. that I live in a city like Portland where I can live without owning a car (17 years and going strong).
3. for my family and friends for cheering me on in my bike-laden lifestyle, even if they don’t or can’t experience it as well.
3a. for my Sweetie, who understands my need to ride as often as possible to stay happy.
4. for all the creative framebuilders who have come to call Portland home in the last five years or so. Their presence can help revitalize the bike industry in Portland and they deserve our support (and yes, our money!).
5. For all the volunteerism and shameless bike promotion from the likes of Transportation Options/PDOT, the BTA and Shift. You guys ROCK!
I’m thankful for the customers who keep my bike repair business alive, for the amazingly wide assortment of cyclists in this area who together comprise a bicycling culture. I’m thankful that I live in an area where the largest city is at least trying a little to crack the poisonous, treasonous, idiotic automobile culture of our country!
Bicycling would be a drag without my:
burley rain rider & shoe covers
bianchi eros, my most prized possession
good health
and without the help and support of
city bikes
fellow portlanders
and
a culture where I can show up for work looking like I hadn’t combed my hair (and maybe I didn’t)
I’m THANKFUL for Portland’s hott parade of girls on bikes! Amen. Can we eat now?
I’m thankful for my health, which lets me keep riding.
Thanks to the folks who scrape up the leaves off the streets of east Portland. It is nice not having to ride through applesauce any more!
Thanks to every one of you that stopped to help another biker in need, be it an accident, a stuck chain, or a flat tire. You rock!
My Thanks List:
BikePortland.org: Give it up, y’all
BonB: Respek
Fixies: I won’t join you, but I’ll defend your right to do it to the end.
All PoBikers: Give it up for y’all selfs. You change the world every day.
TriMet: Thanks for letting me live another year.
I am thankful I have an employer who provides me with a shower, a secure place to lock my bike, and a long lunch to train.
I am thankful for integrated, indexed shifting.
I am thankful for BikePortland.org and the people who comment on each post. You peeps put the “smart” in “smart-ass.”
I am thankful that the transportation gripers who post on Sam Adams’ blog get shot down with facts, economics, and logic, rather than panicky, new-earth morality. Whew! There’s crazy people about who truly believe we can build our way out of the traffic gridlock with more more more freeways.
I am thankful for Robin and Duncan, who make everyone feel like a Calver brother. (Wait, is that a good thing?)
I am thankful my wife didn’t flinch (much) when another horse joined the stable.
I am thankful that my car insurance has gone down because my Volvo’s mileage officially qualifies as “recreational.”
Ride-a-long options for the wee ones!
Waterproof helmet covers and fleece neck gaiters.