Metroblogging Portland writer Alex Williams had a run-in with the Day Time Naked Bike Ride yesterday. He pulled up next to a group of cyclists sans-clothing on SE Stark.
The run-in inspired Williams to compare Pedalpalooza to the Rose Festival (an annual event that coincides with Pedalpalooza each June). Not surprisingly, he concludes that naked cyclists rule.
Here’s what he wrote on Metblogs.
“It was like seeing some rare, beautiful sight…What a great way to celebrate bike culture. It is as much an event about Portland as is the Portland Rose Festival. Even better, Pedalpalooza is an entirely non-commercial event. Just look at the Portland Rose Festival and how much it has been sodden by commercial interests. It’s like the event has lost all of its imagination.
But not Pedalpalooza — it’s all about imagining the possibilities. It’s an expression of what bike culture means to people here in Portland. Funny, the Portland Rose Festival is such an event about patriotism, civic culture, welcoming soldiers home, military style parades. It’s all about the past. Pedalpalooza, in contrast, is like this event that blossomed from some other world yet firmly represents Portland and its future. Viva Pedalpalooza!”
Look forward to seeing you out there Alex!
Thanks for reading.
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I love it when I\’m on a bike having a ton of fun, and I look eyes with someone in a car for a second. In that moment, they almost always look like they wish they were riding a bike too. It\’s rather awesome… it\’s like encouraging people to ride by partying.
I remember looking into that car window (photo above) and thinking, \”what\’s with this dude having his son take pictures of us with a camera phone?\” before thinking \”what\’s with us, freezing our asses off in the rain, riding around town naked in the middle of the day?\”
Thanks for the nod, Alex. Pedalpalooza certainly is a fascinating foil for Rose Festival. The naked rides really do a good job of ripping visitors\’ Rose Festival tinted glasses off but most folks seem to quickly lapse into their ClearChannel-induced coma of consumption. I wish we could somehow spirit more of them away for a taste of real, free, Portland fun. Any ideas for how to do that?
It was SO MUCH FUN!
Great to see you out there too.
If anyone has evidence from the daytime naked ride -drop me a line.