The great thing about the Portland bike scene is that no matter how you take your two-wheeled fix, you’re sure to find something you like. Take this past weekend for example.
Photo: trolf3323
Thing got off to a roaring start with the Midnight Mystery Ride on Friday night. I wasn’t there, but I heard the meeting spot – Amnesia Brewing on N. Mississippi Street – was absolutely packed with bikey people (see photo above).
Then on Saturday, the annual St. Johns Parade rolled through the northern part of our city. There was all sorts of wacky stuff on display, including this funky-yet-friendly looking bike gang, captured above by VJ Beauchamp.
Photo: P. Edward Squidersons
Also on Saturday, on the other side of town, there were more bikers in pink. Except this event was much more serious than a street parade. It was the second annual Eric Kautzky Memorial Track Race, the first big track event of the season out at Alpenrose Velodrome.
Saturday was also the famous Wasco Wild West, a pair of 75-mile recumbent and tandem road races out in The Dalles, Oregon. ‘Bent enthusiast and route expert Michael Wolfe was there. Watch the comments for links to his report and photos.
And of course Sunday was Mother’s Day. Juli’s long overdue for a new city bike so the girls and I started the search at River City Bicycles. The place was buzzing with activity! There’s something very inspiring about a packed bike shop. You could really sense the energy and excitement (or maybe it was just the free espresso).
Did anyone out there happen to do a ride with their mom on Sunday?
Feel free to share your weekend adventures…
Thanks for reading.
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I had family in from out of town. That kept me from getting in a ride, but they were blown away by and made several remarks about all the bikes. I live by SE Umatilla, on the “missing piece” of the Springwater in Sellwood, so both walking around and just looking out the window was a eye-opening (to bikes) experience for them. After they saw that my garage is used to park bikes, not cars, they were full of “lifestyle” type questions about Portland.
mom and i went to bike gallery yesterday after a waterfront picnic to look at some cruisers, and mom got really excited about getting back on a bicycle (she hasn’t really ridden since she was a kid!). mom and dad’s birthday is on friday, and i know what mom’s getting!
For Mother’s Day, I went on the first ride on my bike in about 10 years! My husband cleaned up my old bike for me, made sure it was in proper working order, and got me a new light, helmet and lock.
I did a practice run to work because I wanted to particpate in the ride to work party that Lloyd TMA is putting on this Friday. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I’m actually going to start bike commuting tomorrow, and I can’t wait!
t
I hope I speak for the whole bike community when I say congratulations and three cheers to you! This is just the sort of news we like to hear. We like every kind of bike, and every kind of rider (except wrong-way riders). Keep it up, ride a little every day, don’t let anyone snob you out, and keep the rubber side down!
Absolutely – awesome, t!
Have fun on Friday. PDOT is hosting a bike-to-work event on Wednesday as well.
Hey, how did MMR go for those who stayed? (Sorry, I had to ride back to Clackamas, so I bugged out early)
Jonathan – there was indeed a LARGE number of cyclists at Amnesia at the start. Well over 100. It was fantastic, as was watching dozens of cyclists and a few tallbikes trying to negotiate pot-hotled and glass-strewn alleyways in N Portland – I still can’t believe there weren’t any serious wrecks.
Yay for t, and yay for “the other” steph’s mom!
I didn’t get to ride with my mom, because she is in Botswana (busily vying for Miz Lillian status on her second stint as a PCV), but I am guessing she rode somewhere.
I spent MD weekend the same as all weekends – racking up maximum miles. But yesterday’s ride was especially good, because I got to ride with a friend who has only recently returned to cycling after suffering a TBI exactly one year ago yesterday. She was determined to spend the anniversary on a bike and I was more than happy to go along. She press-ganged a friend with a tandem to captain for her (she’s not quite ready for a single), we found two other willing accomplices and set out for a cruise around Hagg Lake and environs. It was a GOOD day!
Welcome t and steph’s mom. That’s what a I like to hear. Less than two years ago, it was me and let me wish the addiction on you. Commuting by bike really is the best way to start and end every work day.
It sounds like AO should host evenings of looking out the living room window for the majority of PDXers that are unaware of Portland’s bike culture. My job moved me one block east of the Hawthorne bridge a year ago with a window looking east up Madison. Before then, I was one of the unaware. Madison is a bike funnel to the Hawthorne Bridge!
t
Welcome to the joy of bike commuting! Its so great to hear about people getting turned on to it. My bike commute is generally one of the highlights of my day. And I’m always happy to have company on all the lanes and bridges. See you out there!
The Wasco Wild West 75 was a hell of a race. 35 mph gusts, 20 mph sustained winds. Participants included the British hour record holder, the world hour record holder, 2 former WWW75 race winners, 2 RAAM veterans, and 5 Race Across Oregon veterans. Stiff competition, indeed.
No in-depth write up on my blog for a little while, as I’m mired in schoolwork for a few more weeks. But here’s a quick recap:
Rob English (British hour record holder) shot off the front like a missile after 3 miles, and was on pace to finish sub 3 hours (which would have netted him a ~$600 bounty!). But he fried his freewheel on a 50 mph descent, and had to withdraw.
In the meantime, me, Fred Markham (world hour record holder), and John Schlitter (RAAM veteran) comprised the lead pack. I fell off the back on the first descent — I ran out of gears and I ran out of nerve in the gusty crosswinds. That put me 3 minutes back after 1 lap. I kept them in sight for the 2nd lap, though. Fred and JS caught the lead tandems (who had a 10 minute head start on us) and passed them on the descent on the 2nd lap.
I caught the tandems at the beginning of the third lap and sat on their wheel for a half lap, where we made up some time on the lead recumbents. Then at the beginning of the third time up the hill, the front tandem made a break for it, but at that point they had towed me up to just 15 seconds back from Fred and JS, so I burned a match and caught the two of them on the climb before the top of the hill. We learned there that the three of us were in the lead, as Rob had DNF’ed.
We did the 4th lap all together, and I started to realize that the wind had beaten the crap out of all of us. So I attacked at the bottom of the 4th climb, and opened up maybe 10 bike lengths on Fred and JS. I held it to the middle of the hill, where the grade levels off somewhat, but then just ran out of gas and Freddy pulled back onto my wheel. We limped the rest of the way up the hill, and down the other side, into the teeth of the wind.
We kept limping along the flat section back towards the finish line, and it was clear that each of us was just a house of cards, ready to collapse at the slightest provocation. So I put myself at the front of the pack, and made one last attack into the wind, just before the 180 degree sweeper that puts you onto the final quarter mile straight to the finish line. I figured that if I could make it around the sweeper and catch the tailwind first, I might be able to open up an insurmountable gap and just hang on. I gapped Fred. I felt strong, but my leg muscles twisted themselves up like rubber bands on a balsa wood airplane. Fred closed on the inside of the turn, but I saw in my mirror that JS was making a move on the outside, and came roaring by on my left. “Go get ’em, JS!” I yelled. Schlitter had more left in the tank than Fred did, and edged him at the end. Fred crossed the line second, and I was right on his heels. We all finished within ~30 seconds of each other.
It was one of the most exciting races I’ve ever been in. John is one of the founders of the company that I race for (Bacchetta Bicycles), so I was glad to help get the team win, and I felt that I represented well myself by pulling out a 3rd place finish against such august competition.
Wow! Thanks for the welcome! I’m an official bike commuter today. I’ll go over and post in the forum since I’m no longer talking about Mother’s Day. 🙂