Have you heard? Bikestravaganza is coming to Portland this Friday, September 10th! Bikestravaganza is the brainchild of former BikePortland Managing Editor Elly Blue and local filmmaker and Microcosm Publishing founder Joe Biel. They’ve been on a whirlwind trip, visiting 10 states in 30 days, and they’re bringing it all together in Portland on Friday night.
In the words of Elly Blue, they’re using movies and pictures to “tell the story of transportation activism in Portland,” and they’re “hearing from locals what their bicycle scene is like and what they’re doing about it.”
For their Portland event, Elly and Joe will share “the best and the worst, the most harrowing and most inspiring,” of what they’ve learned from places like Spokane, Reno, Cheyenne, Provo, Seattle and San Francisco.
On the final leg of their tour (they’re in Ashland tonight and Eugene tomorrow), Elly took a minute to reflect:
“It’s been an amazing trip. Every city has been totally different, and there have been plenty of surprises. For instance, in Missoula it’s the downtown businesses that led the way on the separated cycletracks being built on the main drag. And in Spearfish, South Dakota, the folks at the Bicycle Cooperative are creating the city’s first bike map. In bike-friendly Davis, every new bit of bike infrastructure is highly contested, while in libertarian Cheyenne the general attitude about new bike ways is very friendly and polite. And I think it’s safe to say that we were most blown away by the huge amount happening for bikes in Spokane.”
I’ll emcee the event and moderate a discussion about what Portland might be able to learn from the rest of the country when it comes to bicycling. Also joining us will be Boneshaker Almanac editors Evan Schneider and Melissa Reeser, who will share a spirited reading from their fine publication (which we reviewed here).
Here’s the official tour video:
The event is being hosted by Madison’s Grill in SE Portland. It should be quite an enjoyable evening. I hope you’ll join us! Here are the details.
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Bikestravaganza: Off the Chainring in Portland
Friday, September 10, 7pm – 9pm
Madison’s Grill (1109 SE Madison)
$3-10 sliding scale at the door, nobody turned away
Even details here
looks like it’ll be a fun film… but I’ll be spending my money on booze, rather than a door cover, in preparation for the Midnight Mystery Ride…
Yes, this event might be more suited for folks like us whose nights end around midnight rather than just beginning then. 🙂 Still, anyone want to lead a ride from this to the MMR starting point?
Thanks for the story, JM!
I was at Madison’s last night. They need more bike parking.
The good news is that there’s indoor bike parking for this event. We’ll be in the banquet hall (entrance at 1125 SE Madison). Event to the right, bikes to the left.
The other good news is there’s a full bar.
The door donation helps us cover our tour expenses (gas, iced tea, minimum-ish wage, etc) but if you’re truly broke we won’t turn you away. Just try to bring us something else to delight and amaze us.