Bike move spirit conquers rain, cold, and heavy loads

[Overloaded? No such thing!]

What do I love most about Portland’s bike community? That’s impossible to answer, but very high on the list would have to be bike moves.

Last night, amid dark and drizzly skies, a cheery group of people showed up to help Ernie Wisner move from his place near SE Belmont and 34th to his new digs in North Portland.

We packed, strapped, and tarped our loads and the journey was made without incident. There were all manner of trailers and bikes including an XtraCycle, a Bikes at Work trailer (that carried a bed and a dresser), and even a “bakfiets” (Dutch cargo bike) I’ve got on loan from Dean at Clever Cycles.

[My loaner bakfiets with super secret
power-assist mechanism.]

I must confess though, this isn’t just any normal bakfiets. This one is “stoked” with Todd Fahrner’s fantastic Stokemonkey human-electric hybrid drive unit. I’ll have more thoughts on this mind-altering combination soon.

At our destination, Ernie had two towering pots of fantastic soup (oyster and French onion) waiting for us along with a pleasing selection of cold beer.

Over steaming bowls of soup we chatted about the movie, Who Killed the Electric Car? and then went our separate ways.

Thanks to Matt Philips for organizing this bike move and special thanks Ernie for the hospitality and the fantastic soup!