Sunday’s ‘Cycle Swap’ will breathe new life to riverside warehouse

John “Coop” Cooper.

This Sunday, a warehouse under the east side of the Fremont Bridge that sits partially over the Willamette River will be buzzing with bikes, bike parts, and the people who love them. The PDX Cycle Swap is a new event that its organizers plan to hold every second Sunday of the month. With competitions, live music, vendors, food and more, it looks to be a great event that will bring the community together and hopefully become a Portland mainstay (and I’m not just saying that because he’s an advertiser!).

The Swap is being put together by 27 year-old Portland native John Cooper (his friends call him “Coop”). Coop says his vision for the event is a “Saturday Market feel but strictly geared toward bikes.” I asked Coop to share a bit more about himself and what we can expect on Sunday.

What is the Cycle Swap and how did it come about?

“PDX Cycle Swap came about after sitting down with my friends/business partners and discussing how to get great use out of this spectacular warehouse space we own on the eastside of town beneath the Fremont Bridge. It has served the purpose in the past 5 years for holding parties, concerts, events and we wanted to bring a Sunday afternoon event to Portlanders or to be more specific Portland bicyclists.”

What’s your background and your relationship to bicycling?

“I first learned to ride a bike when i was 3 years old. Now 27, I have touched in all areas of cycling. When we were young and dumb it was riding around on our BMX bikes in big posses of trouble makers causing havoc throughout Northeast Portland. Mountain Biking then became a great opportunity for me to get out on my own or with friends and do trail riding on Powell Butte, Mt Hood, or even the occasional urban ride throughout the downtown area.

Being a native Portlander, born and raised, I know biking has been a big part of Portland even before the city decided to go full-fledged on being a commuter city. These days I like riding my bikes for commuting mostly, I enjoy taking rides with my nephew on my Schwinn Cruiser — that I still have from my Santa Barbara college days — or getting out with buddies and going on day rides on our road bikes.”

Portland has tons of bike shops and then there’s Craigslist, so why do we need Cycle Swap?

“Yes, Portland has an extensive amount of bicycle shops who cater to all areas of the cycling world and that’s great. We don’t want to interfere with that by any means. You can’t argue with Craigslist either, it is hands down the best free public source of advertising and place to find virtually anything you may be on the hunt for.

PDX Cycle Swap has a visual of giving our event a Saturday Market feel but strictly geared towards bikes.

The Historic River St. Warehouse which it will take place in is a site to see in itself, built over 100 years ago for the Port of Portland it sits halfway out on the Willamette River on several wood pilings and gives you a instant feeling of real urban industrial space. The goal now is to build a solid name for ourselves and making sure that once the people hear about PDX Cycle Swap they put it on there Sunday to-do list. We are giving opportunities to small business, bike guru’s, mechanics, builders to get there name and product out to the Portland locals, whether it may be whole bikes, parts, accessories, apparel, art, anything!!!”

It’s great to see a new event make its way onto our local bike calendar. I can’t wait to see what and who shows up. Check out PDXCycleSwap.com for more info.

PDX Cycle Swap
Sunday 9/12 (every 2nd Sunday of the month)
10:00 am to 7:00 pm
1300 N River Street (under the Fremont Bridge)
PDXCycleSwap.com