Bike Fair puts exclamation mark on Pedalpalooza

Visiting from Canada, the all-male Brakes thrilled a huge and appreciative crowd.
(File photo) – View Gallery – Slideshow Below


There could not be a more fitting end to Pedalpalooza than Saturday’s Multnomah County Bike Fair (MCBF). After 17 days of pure bike fun, the community came together for a day packed with zany competitions (unicycle jousting anyone?), bike dance troupe performances, and colorful characters.

Multnomah County Bike Fair 2007

Synergy between the Velo
Vixens and Sprockettes.
(File photo)

Hundreds of bicycles filled the park. The bleachers were packed with smiling hoardes. It was a day to remember. My only wish was that it didn’t end so soon.

I spent most of the day in the middle of the action. From the many competitions to four (yes four) bike dance troupe performances, I got skinned up and tired out just from taking pictures (1124 of them).

Our beloved Sprockettes celebrated their fifth third anniversary and broke ground with new performances that included chariots, fire, a rotating platform stage, and a host of dramatic and skillful moves. The ladies in pink sure have come a long way in five years.

But this was MCBF and one bike dance troupe, no matter how spectacular, was simply not enough. We were also treated to the three troupes from Canada: the all-male Brakes; The Velo Vixens; and the B.C:Clettes. Each group brought their own distinct style and creative energy to the asphalt stage.

Multnomah County Bike Fair 2007

Unicycle jousting.
(File photo)

Other highlights included the debut of a “Bud Clark is my Mayor” sticker, and of course there was plenty of jousting action. Mini-bikes, unicycles, tall-bikes, and freak bikes all got a chance to display their worthiness on the jousting stage.

Some came away victorious. Others were not so lucky.

Toward the end of the day, the silliness edged up a notch when one unidentified participant stripped naked, jumped on a bakfiets, grabbed a lance, and kicked off naked jousting! I think it’s safe to say that this was the world’s first Naked Bakfiets Joust!

I whittled down all my shots to bring you a slideshow of 128 images. Check them out on my Flickr gallery.

Three cheers for Shift and all the volunteers who made this such a great event.

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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peejay
peejay
16 years ago

The really great thing is that it\’s not over for bike craziness. This town is great because in addition to the official organized mayhem, there\’s plenty of unofficial impromptu bike silliness. I\’ll do my part to keep it up through summer and into the winter.

Here\’s to Shift, the Sprockettes, and everyone else who made it all go down. You, too, Jonathan, with your great updates and reports. It was great to finally talk to you face to face.

West Cougar
West Cougar
16 years ago

For those that weren\’t there or don\’t remember, the inaugural MCBF featured Nekkid Bike Jousting. This being the 5th MCBF a commerative nekkid joust was necessary.

As they say, \”those that fail to learn history are doomed to to repeat it.\”

bicycledave
16 years ago

Here are some videos for those who missed it:

Velo Vixens

Bike Powered Smoothy

The Brakes

More Velo Vixens

Wish I could\’ve stayed \’til the end.

justa
justa
16 years ago

hey jonathan,
thanks for all the time and work you put into documenting the amazing phenomenon that is our portland bike culture. it\’s important, and i\’m glad to see someone doing such a rad job of stepping up to the plate.

Red Brake (jim)
Red Brake (jim)
16 years ago

Brakes had a blast in Portland. It was great to perform for you all and a super thrill to perform for and with the talented ladies of \’kettes, \’clettes and vixens. Those ladies keep raising the bar again and again. Thanks everyone who was at the afterparty…you were over the top all of you!!!!

VeloMutations 2007 sept 22 you are all invited!!!

Nickey Robo
16 years ago

Oh, Jonathan, I wish we were all the way to 5! This was the Sprockettes 4th MCBF and 3rd birthday.

Thanks for the awesome pictures! We love you!

Agent Feral, the Carol
Agent Feral, the Carol
16 years ago

MCBF was fantastic!

thanks for always coming up with the best pictures ever. So many awesome shots, I wanted to see even more!

Todd B
Todd B
16 years ago

Jonathan…impressive as always…one photo per attendee!!! Another attendence record… a 1100+ bikes parked I heard.

And a true composition photographer…one who was able to take so many photos of Allan F. without showing that much.

dingo the clown
16 years ago

Hi Jon, Dingo here, did you see the photos on Flikr that people took of Ood the Clown under a huge inferno that is the RAMP OF DEATH?
That was cool…um…I mean hot.
My favorite part of the fair was the beer, just kidding, I loved making out in the huge bike parking lot, we felt like hillbillys in a haystack.

lennon
16 years ago

…and just in case someone hasn\’t gotten completely sick of photos of the event yet:

http://flickr.com/photos/rcoder/sets/72157600472543087/

i had to leave right after the brakes finished, but there a quite a few shots of them and the \’vixens….

(btw, jonathan, something about your comemnt form brings firefox on linux to its knees…as long as i\’m typing in this box, my cpu is at 100% utilized…)

Mean Justine
16 years ago

Jonathan,

You are a wicked photographer. You captured the events perfectly. It\’s the first time I have seen pro shots of us Velo Vixens. This is very exciting because I am a photographer myself and being part of the group means that I can\’t take pictures of our performances. Can we pretty please use them for our site. A photo credit to you of course.

Thanx

Roxy
Roxy
16 years ago

Anyone know where I can pick up a \”Bud Clark is My Mayor\” sticker post-Multnomah County Bike Fair?