Bikes help local non-profit “Take Back the Night”

Bike Back the Night-2.jpg

About 100 riders assembled at Colonel
Summers Park for Bike Back the Night.
More photos here – (Photos © J. Maus)

The Portland Women’s Crisis Line — a non-profit that helps victims of sexual violence — held their first annual Bike Back the Night ride last night.

The name of the ride is a spin-off of the more well-known Take Back the Night — an event observed nationwide which is part of a movement to end sexual abuse.

“April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and we wanted to do something that was both very visible and would help bring people to our rally and event at PSU [Portland State University],” said sexual assault advocate and one of the event’s organizers Ledena Mattox.

Mattox added that she did a similar event on foot last year and that she wanted to do something on bikes because so many of her group’s clients and volunteers already ride.

Bike Back the Night-23.jpg

The riders strung out along the Waterfront.
Bike Back the Night-17.jpg

The ride met at Colonel Summers Park in Southeast Portland where participants were treated to a lovely buffet of donuts, pastries, coffee and cookies. Mechanics from Bike N’ Hike and PSU were on hand tuning-up bikes and a volunteer from the Community Cycling Center handed out free front and rear bike lights as part of their “Get Lit” program.

City Council candidate Jeff Bissonnette was there (check him out). I enjoyed meeting him again and I was able to introduce him to a few friends. (After the ride, my family and I met up with Bissonnette again as we rode up the bike lane on N. Williams Ave.)

Bike Back the Night-22.jpg

The happy crew of volunteers and organizers.
(Notice their nifty “Bike Back the Night” patches.)

After a few statements by Mattox, executive eirector of the Portland Women’s Crisis Line, Rebecca Peatow Nickels, and PWCL program coordinator Lyndi Burton, a line of people on bikes that numbered close to 100 set off for a ride through Southeast Portland.

We rolled out over the Hawthorne Bridge, through downtown (past the new bike box at Broadway and Taylor) and onto the South Park Blocks, where a rally (that included an awesome performance by the Sprockettes!) was held in front of the Smith Student Union on the campus of Portland State University.

Along the way, volunteers held up signs in support of the cause — like this one that read, “You are creating change right now.”

The ride was a major success and it might not have happened without the inspiration of Shift. “I was on their website,” said Mattox, “and it said anybody can organize a bike event. So I thought, I’m anybody, let’s do it!”

See more photos from the ride in my Bike Back the Night Photo Gallery.

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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

7 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Linda
15 years ago

Thank you so much for being there everyone! It was a wonderful ride to watch (I was the one with the little girl on the sidelines cheering you all on)!

I hope that there are more opportunities for the Portland bike community and the Portland Women\’s Crisis Line to raise awareness together!

Linda Miles
Development Director
PWCL
Confidential 24/7 Domestic & Sexual Violence Crisis Line 503-235-5333
Online advocacy: support@pwcl.org

Lyndi
Lyndi
15 years ago

Thank you to everyone who came out last night for Bike Back the Night! What a magical ride. Thank you also to bikeportland.org for the great article and all of the pics.

Lyndi Burton
Sexual Assault Program Coordinator
Portland Women\’s Crisis Line
Crisis Line: 503-939-4464

gabriel amadeus
15 years ago

This is so rad! Congrats on the big turnout.

Aaron
Aaron
15 years ago

This is a beautiful statement and my thanks goes out to Peatow and everyone who helped her to make this event happen. I hope that many more people have an awareness of this issue now.
Congratulations!

John Russell
15 years ago

Speaking of new bike boxes, might there be a way to make a special page on the site that shows the locations of the bike boxes as they go in? Something like the Google Maps mash-up that shows bike shops in the area, perhaps?

Ledena Mattox
Ledena Mattox
15 years ago

Hi Everybody,

Many thanks to all of the volunteers and people who came out for the ride (and it didn\’t rain!). If anyone wants to get involved with our organization please be sure to check out http://www.pwcl.org. There are lots of ways to volunteer (and of course we\’ll be doing this ride next year).

Also, I wanted to say a special Thanks to Timo Forsberg and Janis McDonald from the office of Transportation Options. They were a big help and encouraged me right from the get go with this idea. Thanks!

Ledena Mattox
Sexual Assault Advocate
Portland Women\’s Crisis Line

halle
halle
15 years ago

Bike Back The Night was rad! It was great to see people coming together to support bike culture and ending sexual violence! Thanks so much to Ledena Mattox for all her hard work and inspiration for this awesome event.