volunteer Ted Buehler at the start of the
Transport Your Activism Ride
on Saturday.
(Photo © J. Maus)
I’ve been wondering how best to share and spread the word about all the great bike stuff that happens on the weekends in and around Portland. I’ll try to be more consistent in posting a Weekend Open Thread, but I thought I’d try something new… Below is a recap of events that happened over the weekend that I was either able to attend myself or that I came across a report and/or photos of.
streetcar tracks during a quick
stop in the Pearl District.
On Saturday, fledgling livable streets activism group Active Right of Way held their second Transport Your Activism ride. The idea behind these rides is to empower people by giving them the information to make a difference. It’s like a meeting on wheels for livable streets activists. The ride stopped at four project or issue locations where someone volunteered to give a short presentation.
We learned about TriMet’s planned Orange MAX Line, the bike-friendly efforts at PGE Park (and we also had a discussion about Canzano-gate), upcoming plans for NE 12th across I-84, and the exciting plans for the Holman Neighborhood Greenway. See more photos from the ride in our gallery.
I didn’t make it out to the Tour de Lab, but I saw tons of riders streaming through my neighborhood and I’m sure it was a big success (anyone care to share?).
The inaugural, gravel road endurance fest, the Oregon Stampede also took place on Saturday. Organized by Velo Dirt, the 127-mile, unsupported race race took most riders about 12 hours to complete. I talked to a few intrepid souls who did it and heard it was epic, painful and beautiful. Shout out to to Team Beer for riding as a team and bringing their indomitable spirit to the event. Read a recap and see more photos on VeloDirt.com.
On Sunday, I checked out the PDX Cycle Swap. There vendors were mostly old and used parts collectors, but there were also some local bike crafters in attendance like Curtis from North St. Bags, Caroline from Little Package Cycling Caps, and Geoff from Walnut Studios.
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The turnout was definitely not what the organizers (or myself) had hoped for, but it wasn’t bad for a first time event competing with a beautiful sunny day. I think this event has a lot of potential. The guy behind the Cycle Swap, John “Coop” Cooper, wants to bring the community together each month in the huge warehouse space under the Fremont Bridge. The question is, what’s the best way to do that?
Coop’s vision is to make it like a Saturday Market for bike stuff where people can enjoy handmade bike crafts, new and used parts, great food, hear live music, and take in bike-centric performances. I love that vision, but launching a new bike event in Portland is not easy, especially for someone without a lot of previous connections in the community. I plan to help Coop with this event and I’m sure he’d welcome input from the community. See more photos from the event in the gallery.
It was a gorgeous day Sunday. I hope everyone got to pedal around and enjoy it. Share your weekend memories and links below and stay tuned for our Weekend Event Guide so you can start planning the next one!
Thanks for reading.
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The Tour de Lab was awesome. I just moved to Portland a few weeks ago and this was my first organized ride. It was a great tour of some of Portland’s beautiful neighborhoods and help support Dovelewis.
I stopped by at the CycleSwap for a bit… some interesting old bicycles. I was too miser to buy anything… there was a ton of people cycling on Springwater yesterday. I attended the grand re-opening party at The Commuter Shop last Saturday. Beautiful weather weekend.
I was at PDX cycle swap, fun times good ride into town. picked up a Little Package Cycling Cap and little NORTHst sm bag
both made with lots of love 🙂
I stopped by at about 3:oo and didn’t see the vendors mentioned above, only the old bikes. Did they leave earlier?
I had a great time at the AROW ride, Cycle Swap, and the Sunset Mystery Ride this weekend.
Cycle Swap was a little sparse, but it was exactly what I expected in terms of turn-out and goings-on. I think if the organizers can build on what they had this month and up the ante a little more each time, they will have a valuable and sustainable event. The most important thing is getting more vendors in that big space, I know it’s hard to sell spots with a light crowd, but, you know, if you build it…
Amos,
I agree with you. For a first time event, especially with the amazing weather it competed with, I think it was an O.K. turnout. that’s my same advice to Coop… just keep building it and they will come. The cool thing is that he’s open to input and he wants it to be a grassroots, community event.
mimi,
yes, some of the vendors did pack up early because the crowds tapered off significantly.
Tour de Lab was awesome. Legit hill climbing…
I’m all about getting on that mini-ramp next time the cycle swap goes down!
I chose not to stop by the Cycle Swap on account of the graffiti advertising that was painted into the bicycle lane on Williams at shaver.
Cycle Swap, please find more appropriate ways to advertise your event. Your promotional graffiti is unwanted and is no way to build a successful business and brand.
No Swap,
Just an FYI that according to Coop the stencils are just chalk and they’ll wash off with a rain or two.
+1 Tour de Lab rocked. Bike + Sun + Beer + Dogs = hella awesome. 🙂
I wanted to go to the Cycle Swap, but it was on Sunday. And Sunday is now race day for the next few months for us cyclocrossers. So that is a fairly large group of people who might be interested in going to the Cycle Swap to buy or sell, but can’t because there is fun racing going on. But once the race season ends, I’ll be there.
I hear you Dave. John Howe brought up the Sunday cyclocross conflict and Coop seemed open to changing it to Saturday. we’ll see.
Cheers to Steve Bozzone for organizing the AROW ride and special hat-tip to Ted Buehler or bringing the survey tools (level, measure, radar gun, etc!) and heaps of transportation planner expertise to illuminate what we saw.
Cheers also to Michael, Russ, Gregg and Rebecca for facilitating really interesting conversations!
Can’t wait for the next one!
Thanks for the Transport Your Activism ride coverage. Great work Micheal, Mike, Russ and Gregg on the project and problem descriptions, I look forward to info from each on “what a person can do if they want to spend 5 minutes in support of the issue.”
Ted Buehler