bike bells? Thumbs waaay up!
(Photo © BikePortland/2006)
The Portland Trail Blazers will pass out 6,500 custom-branded Blazer bike bells at tonight’s home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Bike-riding fans will also enjoy a new roof over their head at the arena’s main bike parking area.
Charlie Burr, from the Blazers PR firm, told me yesterday (with tongue firmly in cheek) that, “We believe the sound of alternative transportation will serve to disorient our Los Angeles brethren, giving us a critical advantage.”
Noisemakers in the crowd are common at Rose Garden Arena, but the team usually hands out cowbells.
“Our first goal is simply to make noise,” Burr said, “then the Blazers wanted to do something that was uniquely Portland. We thought it was a cool tie-in. It’s not the most menacing sound… but we’ll see.”
Burr also had some great news to share about bike parking at the Rose Garden. The main bike racks (just north of the main box office) are now covered. Burr said it’s all part of a renewed and ongoing focus on green practices by the Blazers organization.
Last week, the Rose Garden Arena was awarded a LEED “Gold” rating thanks in part to a large chunk (30%) of fans showing up by bike and transit.
It’s great to see the bike and Blazers connection get stronger and stronger. On that note, tickets are now available for our big Bike to Blazers ride on April 14th against the Golden State Warriors (last home game of the season)! Check out BikePortland.org/BiketoBlazers for more info.
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That’s fantastic! Have never been to a Blazers game, and I’ve been in this town for three years now. Will have to make this Bike to Blazers one!
WOW…safety and sports together.
Imagine if the Blazers were to take bike safety on as a promotional outreach to the neighborhood…handing out bike bells to passing bicyclists without them…then pedestrians would see all the bikes with ‘Blazer Bells’ parked all over town.
PS. There is a nice looking bell already made with a rose image on it.
Hoping for an ongoing raffle for folks who bike/Trimet to games…
Hopefully the new racks will relieve some of the pressure on the racks down below. I worked at Thursday’s game and the rack near the bottom ramp was completely full. I guess I’ll find out tonight.
I can’t wait to hear bicycle bells going off. I think it will disorient the Lakers.
That reminds me… where can I get a louder horn than the Air Zounds 2? Air Zounds isn’t a loud enough horn to get a Californian’s attention.
Does anyone know what the % of Rose Garden visitors use alternative transportation to get there?
Venues in England, UK could learn a lot from you guys! We get a couple of bike stands but that’s about it, forget about any sort of cover!
To play off Steve’s comment, Seattle could learn a lot from Portland. Go to any given Mariners home game and there’s like two or three bikes locked up at the Safeco racks, which, by the way, are covered. Simply put, the central location of the RG makes it real simple for us Blazers fans to use alternative transportation going to and from games.
Great to have some covered parking there, though if I may pick nits…
1) I biked to that game, and 20 minutes before tipoff, the one covered rack was jammed full already.
2) And though the Rose Quarter is lit up with streetlamps illuminating almost every inch of the place, the bike parking area has been left in the dark.
Like I said, I’m glad for the improvements, and I hope they’re a sign of more to come.
Marcus…the answer is something like 30% alt mode mode split. As reported by the recent LEED award for the Rose Quarter…see above.
Jonathan do you know how we might be able to get these Blazers bike bells if we weren’t able to attend that game?
In response to Josh, I’ve heard that they’re working on some lights in the bike parking area already. I also noticed a security camera on the wall. Big improvements! Great Job!