A bike casts its shadow on Union Station.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)
Got any bike adventures planned for the weekend?
About 60 people got their weekend started on a fun note at Critical Mass last night. The ride was fun, mellow, cop-less, and ended with a dance party in front of the entrance to the Portland Auto Show (report, photos on Monday).
Were you on the ride? What did you think?
Today there’s a ride to recycle and a ride to dance. Then on Sunday, there’s racing at PIR, a bike move, a party for City Council hopeful Chris “Citizen” Smith and then, of course Zoobomb! (check event links in the sidebar)
Have fun, stay warm, and share your adventures below…
Thanks for reading.
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I\’m just wondering if the local morning \’news\’ shows will give as much coverage to the handbuilt bike show as they have to the fossil burning air polluting vehicle show going on this weekend…
What with the freezing rain, I think I\’ll start dissassembling the vintage bike I\’m restoring.
I just finished a really cold 90 minute loop throughout SE Portland. Ground was mostly just wet, a bit slushy on bridges. The weird thing was my bike was almost completely glazed over in ice when I got home! Be careful out there…
Was planning a ride this morning until I slipped on the ice forming on my backyard concrete patio while filling bird feeders. A friend slipped on the ice commuting to work and broke his hip two weeks ago. Ouch!! I decided to stay off the ice this morning; instead, be home with warm coffee, warm laptop, and small (warm) dog next to me in my chair.
I was on the ride last night, and I had a good time. I loved the security guard at the convention center on the knock-off segway. in my mind, I could totally see her turning into jabba the hutt or something.
Did the family grocery run this morning with the Bakfeits. Groceries stayed warm & cozy (I could hear the cauliflower & turnips giggling to themselves) while I froze. Especially my fingers and….I\’m sorry to say, my \’man part\’ which felt like a frozen Popsicle. Bad day to go commando I guess. Thawed out in bed with hot chocolate and read books to the little man. Not an ideal weekend for sane people to go out cycling.
(no bike fun to report; just can\’t stop teeheeing at the thought of Mr Downes reading a book to his little man (part)\”)
No wait, I had some bike-related fun: visited several goodwills and dollar stores pulling together bikey ensembles for BunnyonaBike, PedalPalooza, Tour de Fat, etc.
Wheee!
I did my first solo ride, kids at home with daddy!
Happy mama can only put off getting a haircut for soo many months. Ada just turned 7 months.
The slush was no match, hauling kiddos and such in the bakfiets is always more challenging;->
Enjoyed our cold winter weather, hope all riders are safe this weekend.
editrixpdx,
Actually the little man is my son……but you\’re right, that is funny.
Did a cold and wet 56 miles out to the end of Lower River Road in Vancouver and back to my house in SE PDX (via I-205, Marine Dr., the I-5 bridge, Mill Plain, back on Marine to 33rd and up through Alameda/Hollywood to home). Put my winter riding gear to the test and (most of) it passed with flying colors. No ice on the roads, but plenty of icicles hanging from the street signs.
Michael and Carie, the last two weeks I have been wishing I had a bakfiet. I just feel guilt putting my two kids out in the cold on the family tandem. Mostly we have been driving our usual school bike trip. The rain isn\’t so bad but in the cold wind I wish my oldest would still go in the trailer… even more to have a Bakfiet with one of those sweet tents.
Unicycle Polo!
1pm
Sunday!
Alberta Park!
any weather, baby!
I biked around southeast picking up supplies and shirts and loving every minute of wearing my new rain pants — can\’t believe I ever scoffed at them. Big rubber boots still win out over fancy shoe-covers any day though.
Then about twelve valiant volunteers spent 8 hours silkscreening Carfree Portland t-shirts in my basement. It was a blast, and the shirts came out looking sharp if I do say so myself. Look for them at bikey events coming soon!
I bought a sweet new bike from Todd B — a Dutch folder with internal hub and generator lights!!!! It\’s gold colored, and totally awesome.
I went for a great ride with my roommate friday night. It was warm and dry. I love riding down the hill on sandy between 11th and 7th, and I love following it up with a pitcher of beer shared with my friends. The weather tends to make you want to hibernate, but it always feels great after you get the first few blocks under your belt. enjoy what you can everyone. I\’m sorry to hear about frozen man parts!
Oh Cecil, you\’re the bomb! 56 miles this AM!!! I saw the ice and fog and decide it was the pretend bike in the gym instead. Even then, just a measly 21 miles.
You go girl!
Kevin
The severity of the snowstorm out here in Hood River took everyone by surprise. By our scheduled dinner plans last night, there was 8-10 inches of snow and the plows still had not cleared any of the streets. We saddled up with our neighbors and their chariot and rode to dinner. I\’m glad we dusted off the mountain bikes to make the trek- the commuters couldn\’t have handled the deep drifts. Good fun! The bike with Chariot did best- Hudson went right to sleep and the weight and extra wheels helped to keep the rear wheel from sliding around.
This morning (~18 inches now, plows in full force), we strapped our skis on our backs and rode to Post Canyon. Locked up the bikes at the trailhead and explored for a few hours. With shoveling, we\’ve done a winter triathalon!
Happy riding. Be safe.
the MXB Virgin Moves By Bike move was a total success! we had about 18 movers, at least 4 of whom were first-timers. the route was less than 3 miles with good weather that held. load-up to pizza completion was less than 4 hours. thanks, all! we\’re sad to see Richard [last name suppressed to encourage the curious] leave, but what a way to go.
MJ made his famous hot toddies until it was time to head to unicycle polo.
Four of us braved the continuous downpour and treked over to the plastics recycling site at Floyd Light Middle School on Saturday. DyLynn (our neighbor and secretary for the Center Neighborhood Association) thoughtfully brought hot tea and a large umbrella.
Despite the weather we heard that the turnout was good in general, although, as usual, we were the only bike contingent. We feel like celebrities when we do this; the whole place cheers when we arrive.
The next one will be in the spring and we\’ll plan to include a lunch stop afterwards as there\’s a pizza place located conveniently en-route. Start saving up your plastic!
I saw critical mass go by from the cozy comforts of Bailey\’s Taproom. If you like NW micro-brews give \’em a shot (or pint). Rode to work on Sat and today I have been holed up in the basement sorting through my piles of parts and helping a friend get her new (to her) ride running.
Watched the bike move roll past Fremont @ 7th–lookin GOOD! Sorry I could not join in : ( but it looked like you were having fun : )
spent the morning with Brian Borello brunching and batting around zoobomb pyle ideas, spent the evening watching \”Contested streets: breaking New York City gridlock\”, which is available through the Mult. County Library.
A bit dry, but interesting none-the-less. Comparing NYC, Copenhagen and London. The best part is in the extras, a short film about Bogota. Worth it to check it out for that alone.
I was up in Seattle sans bike, but upon arrival at the train station, Seattle\’s Critical Mass went by. A pretty impressive size, and was fun to see so many bikes in the streets. I wondered how CM went back in Portland.
Despite mixed feelings about its value in Portland, I had a great time at Critical Mass. Bailed out early for a zine release party but the Westside leg seemed truly positive. Met up with the remainder of the crew at the Crown Room for some Russian dancing, then rode up to close down the Vern with buny (16\” and tallbike in peaceful coexistence). All in all, I think I prefer bar-crawl-with-friends critical mass to the display-of-dumbassary-with-cops critical mass.
Saturday I hit up the reincarnation of the Ninja Cafe (now on Clinton @ 19th) for an enormous and tasty vegan brunch washed down with plenty of talk about bikes, Quakers, and kale. Then I got a tour of A Better Cycle from Sauce (lookin\’ good!) and picked up some grease for my poor Schwinn\’s coasterbrake (it\’s goin\’ to Canada for Bikes Inside!). After that I helped screenprint shirts for the Towards Carfree Cities Conference until the BBC World Service came on (read: late).
On Sunday, I finally got my ass up to Alberta Park for some polo. Didn\’t have a mallet, so I whacked one together out of bamboo and PVC. Damn, I\’m bad at polo…but I was tolerated. From there I headed to Chris Smith\’s Over-The-Top party at the NW Lucky Lab and I resisted the urge to take the most obvious route: The Fremont. Too much traffic that time of day but SO temptingly direct. Chris\’ party went well. He\’s very close to 1200 $5 contributions, so he\’s feeling comfortable. The Greasy Chain String Band (motto: \”less cars, more banjos\”) kept the mood festive and old-timey. Then it was off to Zoobomb in the snow. What a beautiful night in Washington Park!
It sounds like Carl had the least bike/portland fun of all of us. (sarcasm with a smile) Who is this guy!? If there was a bike fun challenge. Carl would win.