Cold, distance no match for ‘extreme’ bike movers

On Saturday morning, over 20 friends and volunteers showed up to help Matt Picio move-by-bike from Clackamas to Portland. (Photos by Brad Reber)

Over the weekend, the folks behind Portland’s proud “move by bike” tradition took on one of their biggest challenges ever; a 12 mile bike move from out past Clackamas Town Center to inner southeast Portland.

A regular at Portland bike events, and the subject of the move Matt Picio, said he was “tired of living out in the hinterlands” so he put out the call for help on the trusty Shift email list.

According to fellow bike mover Brad Reber, 27 people showed up at Matt’s apartment on a chilly Saturday morning, eager to help and ready to fill their baskets, pannier bags, and cargo trailers.

After fueling up on pastries, donuts, and coffee they pedaled through suburbia together, laden with all manner of stuff including desks, tables, and mattresses.

“There were so many of us we had to cross intersections in waves of three,” said Brad.

Once into Portland, they were rewarded with a sense of accomplishment, loads of good karma, and of course plenty of free beer and pizza.

For more photos of this inspiring show of human, community-powered help, see Brad and Tomas’ photo galleries.

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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a.O
a.O
16 years ago

Awesome. Tell us where you live now, Matt.

And always remember: If you\’re cold, all you have to do is pedal harder.

Dan Kaufman
16 years ago

Great work, folks!

Jessica Roberts
Jessica Roberts
16 years ago

Clackamas County has lost a great advocate….Welcome to Portland, Matt!

Kirsty
Kirsty
16 years ago

This was a super-duper fun bike move, not to mention, my first time ever bicycling all the way out to Clackamas, which was very empowering.

Thankyou to Matt for hosting, and to everyone who showed up. It\’s amazing how something as stressful as moving house can be transformed into a mobile party on wheels!

It was also fun just now to look back at our Shift2Bikes Move by Bike page. There are some great reports and photos from more recent past bike moves here in Portland!

Siobhan
16 years ago

Looks like you guys had a bunch of fun!! I wish I could have helped.

Would one of those trailers fit over the I-5 bridge? My youngest sister has been living with me for almost a year, and she is about to get evicted so she might need some bike move love! 🙂

true
true
16 years ago

I think we just found the real Team Awesome. Team Awesomest?

Aaron
Aaron
16 years ago

Well there should be no contest for awesomeest, but everyone who came on Saturday was definitely awesome! The most unique part of the move was cycling past Clackamas Town Center (the largest mall in the state) on the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
Thanks to the great photographers, thanks to a rain-free trip, and thanks to Dat for the lasagna.
🙂

Dan (teknotus)
Dan (teknotus)
16 years ago

There were so many people that I found myself asking \”Don\’t you have anything else to move\” as I found my trailer rather lite.

I second the thanks to Dat for the balanced meal of lasagna, salad, bread, etc.

Christopher Cotrell
Christopher Cotrell
16 years ago

I saw these guys pedaling through Ladd\’s—I had no idea how far they had come!

Joe
Joe
16 years ago

you all rolled right past my wife.. sooo
cool.. Great Job!!

Matt Picio
16 years ago

a_O, I am now very close to the intersection of 2 bike routes in SE: 16th and Salmon. I love it!

Of course, I have no Internet until Monday, so I have to sneak out to free wifi spots in the interim.

Mike
Mike
2 years ago

“Once into Portland, they were rewarded with a sense of accomplishment, loads of good karma, and of course plenty of free beer and pizza.”

Matt, maybe you should pay them a living wage of at least $100 each instead of just $2-3 worth of cut-rate junk food.