(Photo © J. Maus)
It’s way too dark too early in Portland these days, and it happens to be the holiday season, so what better time to light up your bike and then spread the cheer by riding around to light displays throughout the city?
If you’re looking to festive-ize your bike, Aaron Tarfman recently shared a few sources via the Shift email list. Tarfman says he’s already gotten “a lot of compliments’ for the lights on his frame and now plans to wrap his wheels in them too. He recommends the LED variety which you can order online here, here or here for about $7 to $15. I’ve also found them at Sunlan Lighting on North Mississippi Ave.
Once you’ve got your bike fully adorned, you’ve got two great options this Monday to join a group ride and see the local light displays. For the second year in a row, North Portland-based Pedal Bike Tours will lead their Pedal Past the Lights ride. They plan to start off this family-friendly ride with hot (non-alcoholic) drinks and a decoration contest then head out to Winter Wonderland at PIR, which, as some of you may recall, will have a special bike-only night this year!
Perennial ride leaders and bike fun promoters Carye Bye and Esther Harlow will also lead a ride on Monday night. Their ride — which starts at a bar — will loop through residential light displays in North Portland and will also end up out at PIR’s Winter Wonderland.
See the Shift Calendar for full details on both rides, and we hope to see you out there!