The ‘Tour de Ladd’; Portland’s first bike-a-thon

Tour de Ladd-12.jpg

Eager to ride.
-Watch video below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

This morning, despite a steady stream of rain, hundreds of Abernethy Elementary School kids took part in a new spin on the the traditional walk-a-thon fundraiser; they did a bike-a-thon.

Dubbed the Tour de Ladd, organizers of the event closed a loop of streets adjacent to the Southeast Portland school (hence the name) so the kids could pedal around the neighborhood and enjoy the blooming roses and carfree streets.

Volunteer Mia Birk has two kids at the school and she helped organize the event. Birk said over 80% of the kids (350 kids total) participated and she and other volunteers outfitted all of them with helmets (provided by Legacy Hospital).

The event also had a lot of support from community businesses and organizations including River City Bicycles, Clever Cycles, Seven Corners, A Better Cycle, Bike Gallery, Lakeside Cycles, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

Tour de Ladd-13.jpg

City Commissioner Nick Fish and
Officers Pickett and Park from
the SE Bike Patrol led the kids out on
their first lap.

City Commissioner Nick Fish stopped by the event on his way to City Hall and rode with the kids for a few laps. It was great to see the newest member of City Council showing support and participating in a bike event.

Hear interviews with Mia Birk, Commissioner Fish, and more in the video report below. You can also view more images in the Tour de Ladd 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.

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Angela Koch
Angela Koch
15 years ago

That is absolutely spectacular. Congratulations to all the organizers and thank you Mia for once again showing us all how cool bikes + kids can be!

When can we do Tour de Buckman?!

toddistic
toddistic
15 years ago

Scofflaw kids! Enjoying the streets! The PPB was there, handing out $242 fines for all these scofflaw “kydclists” who ran stops signs! It was a fundraiser for the police dept. too!

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
15 years ago

toddistic,

dude. don’t go raining on the parade with your talk about cops and tickets. not on this post. this is a family-friendly post full of smiles and goodness… let’s save the PPB/stop sign chat for another day.

thanks.

toddistic
toddistic
15 years ago

Sorry about that Jonathan! Didn’t meant to offend, feel free to delete the aboved referenced post.

Bob
Bob
15 years ago

What a great concept. These kids are the future of biking in this city and the look awesome. Now let’s work on getting these kids to bike/walk to school every day!

L
L
15 years ago

Cool! I wondered why all the streets around there were blocked off this morning.

Laurie
Laurie
15 years ago

Fabulous! Congratulations to Mia for an outstanding idea and event! What a great way to get kids excited about biking, to make sure helmets are properly fitted, and raise money. Way to go!!

Robert Ping
Robert Ping
15 years ago

Great job, Abernethy kids, parents and volunteers!! It is so cool that so many kids came out in the rain and were smiling and having fun.