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Pedalpalooza, week one: Rounding up the bike fun


Anti 12-lane CRC Ride-27
Streets filled with bikes: a common
sight during Pedalpalooza!
(Photo © J. Maus)

What an amazing week! Portland bike funnists have been outdoing themselves this year, with the biggest Pedalpalooza ever (over 200 events total!)

Team BikePortland has been scrambling trying to cover all the events we can (is this really our job or is it a dream?) — and reports and photos have been rolling in from the community, true to the DIY spirit of the event. Keep an eye on the Shift list and the Pedalpalooza twitter account for live updates and discussion.

Below is a selection of reports, photos, rumors, and shout outs that we’ve come across in the past week, in rough chronological order. Share your own links and experiences in the comments.

Oh yeah, and be sure to check out our full Pedalpalooza 2009 coverage for more updates and stories, including a daily ride guide and all the ride reports we can get our hands on.


Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride 2009-38
Kickoff Parade!
(Photo © J. Maus)

– Before it all began, for the creative and impatient, there was the Pedalpalooza Preview Ride.

– The Kickoff Parade was a good-natured, high-spirited blast — I counted 200 riders, and more were reported later on. Check out our report (including a slideshow and a video), the Bike Temple’s video, and photos by Carye Bye.

The weekend kicked off with a bang on Friday.

– Jonathan took a tour of the city.

– I tried out unicycling in the rain with a couple dozen other folks.

– Our intern Dan Liu took photos and wrote a report of the Jesus Ride and the Midnight Mystery Ride (over 300 people were rumored to attend the latter).

Saturday was off the handle!

Art Bike Parade at Cirque du Cycling-51
On Parade at the Cirque du Cycling
(Photo © J. Maus)

– Cirque du Cycling was a huge success, with record numbers attending (including about 70 naked riders from the Daytime World Naked Bike Ride). Here‘s our full report. There are tons of photos out there — check out some by Dan Liu. Event organizers have set up a Flickr group as well.

– Speaking of the Daytime Nekkid Ride, leader Allan Folz reports that 78 jubilant riders were counted at the halfway point — and several more spontaneously disrobed and joined the ride on the way to the Cirque. Here’s another, more detailed report (misleadingly titled — it’s about the daytime ride).

– The World Naked Bike Ride. So much has been said and written about this that it’s hard to know where to link to. Here’s our report. Someone made three neat time-lapse slideshows. Jim Parsons took some photos and also posted his GPS trace from the ride. Here are some shots from one of our commenters. Every single spectator seemed to have a phone, camera, or camcorder. Google is your oyster here folks.

Story continues below

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Sunday was a completely packed day.

– Organizers were thrilled by the turnout of 50 outer-eastside bike afficionados for the Lents Bike Boulevard Ride.

The Joy of Sects Ride - Pedalpalooza 09-17
We learned about meditation
at the Dharma Rain Zen Center
on the Joy of Sects Ride.

– Around church-time, the Bike Temple’s Joy of Sects Ride toured various places of worship. Here’s their report, and here’s our slideshow.

– A small but hardy group met up in Beaverton for the Pirate Ride — a success, though “no one brought any rum, and in spite of all the left turns there wasn’t even any port.” Here’s the full report.

– 20 – 30 happy riders splashed around in public fountains while dancing to music from a mobile sound system. Carye Bye tells the story with photos.

– The CRC Protest Ride attracted 80 riders. Here’s our report, and here’s Chris Smith’s write-up on PortlandTransport.

– We’ve heard rumors that the I Heart Photobooths ride was well-attended and tons of fun, but awaiting confirmation and photo scans.

– The Grant Petersen ride seems best summed up thusly.

– The Hands-Free Derby was reportedly a blast.

Monday morning:

romance redux ride
The Romance Redux Ride
with special guest Batman
(Photo © Elly Blue)

– The day was kicked off by the 9 intrepid sugar-loving hill-climbers who showed up for the Ridiculously Early Donut Ride.

Romantics united in the rose gardens of Ladd’s for dramatic readings from paperback romance novels, accompanied by a roving trash trailer and a Batman mask.

– Anarchists and the anarcho-curious assembled briefly for a discussion of situationism before loosely scattering in various spontaneous directions to follow our emergent experiences on the Psychogeographical “Tour” of Portland. These photos tell the story of one of the several splinter groups. Rumor has it that another group turned up at a local bookstore to browse and buy Situationist texts. The rest may still be out there creating a new emotional map of the city.

– The Big Girls Ride was reported to be in trouble — the organizer had the flu. Any word on how/if that went?

– Apparently members of the Dandy Warhols joined in the Dandy Warhol ride on Monday night — who went on that?

We’ll unscientifically bring you the reports that roll in during the next few days. For now, here’s a quick one from this morning’s Slackers Ride.

How’s your Pedalpalooza going?

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