People on Bikes: Eastbank Esplanade

For the latest installment of our People on Bikes series, Will Vanlue headed out to the Eastbank Esplanade to catch some evening commuters enjoying a bit of winter sunshine.

The photos were taken near the Hawthorne Bridge between 4:00 and 5:00 o’clock this past Friday. For those of you not familiar with Portland, the Esplanade is a multi-use path (MUP) not open to cars or other motorized vehicles. Check the images from the shoot below…

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— Browse more People on Bikes in the archives.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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9watts
9watts
12 years ago

Fun!
A pretty high proportion of single speeds.
And #4 makes my abdomen hurt.

Michael P.
Michael P.
12 years ago
Reply to  9watts

I was thinking the exact same thing on #4. I bet his knees are hurting too. Looks like a lot of people are training for next season with all the Single Speeds

SilkySlim
SilkySlim
12 years ago

I love these.

Patty
Patty
12 years ago

Nice. Surprised it is such a preponderance of men.

Randall S.
Randall S.
12 years ago
Reply to  Patty

You shouldn’t be. Between 70 and 80 percent of cyclists in Portland are male (which is typical in the US, although not the case in other countries).

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
12 years ago

Loving the lycra!

Allan
Allan
12 years ago

I’ve been noticing people riding outside my house on the Klickitat Bike boulevard more because of these segments. Its like my own personal ‘people on bikes’ right out my window!

Alain
Alain
12 years ago

Two things:

(1) Lots of bikes without fenders? This is PDX folks!

(2) Lots of bike frames designed without good fender clearance. What is the bike industry thinking? A good utility bike starts with good fender clearance, unless of course you like to wear the road.

A.K.
A.K.
12 years ago
Reply to  Alain

Not everyone wants fenders or a utility bike…

9watts
9watts
12 years ago
Reply to  A.K.

“Not everyone wants fenders or a utility bike…”

Obviously. But one has to wonder why they would limit themselves so?
– ride only in fair weather or
– cover yourself in/chew on muddy rivulets

A.K.
A.K.
12 years ago
Reply to  9watts

I dunno, maybe they own more than one bike or didn’t feel like shlepping around on their “utility bike” on a nice day?

Spiffy
12 years ago
Reply to  Alain

there wasn’t a lot of rain on Friday…

Indy
Indy
12 years ago
Reply to  Alain

I have fenders, been too lazy to put them on. They typically rattle or something goes wrong with them to make them a hassle also.

They don’t 100% prevent having to wipe off my face, so I stopped bothering. As for the seat of my ski-pants, those I don’t wear anyway at work so stopped caring about how much they got caked.

In short: Unless someone else wants to put on the fenders for me, off they remain.

Eric
Eric
12 years ago

At first I didn’t believe it was actually Portland because everybody was wearing a helmet.

Then I saw #6…that dude on the trials bike with the 3″ tires regularly smokes me going south on Terwilliger…I’m no superstar, but he’s a machine.

Will Vanlue (Contributor)
Reply to  Eric

And boy, was he going fast too! He was probably one of the five fastest people I saw pass on their bikes.

Schrauf
Schrauf
12 years ago

It was sunny and 40 degrees at 4 pm on Friday. Apparently some of these people thought it was about 20 degrees.

Sorry. Just being sassy. People can wear whatever they damn well please. =)

9watts
9watts
12 years ago
Reply to  Schrauf

Maybe it was 20 degrees where they started?

Ely
Ely
12 years ago
Reply to  Schrauf

Easier to wear it than carry it. 🙂 Not gonna leave it at work, might need it tomorrow! 😀

scaryseth
scaryseth
12 years ago

Always entertaining. It is people watching from my desk.

Demian Ebert
Demian Ebert
12 years ago

Hey! That’s ME (#10). How do I get a copy of the photo?

rider
rider
12 years ago
Reply to  Demian Ebert
PDXOutdoors
PDXOutdoors
12 years ago

Wow, this confirms what I see SO much around town.
1 – Most people ride with their saddle WAY too low. Bad for your knees, bad for efficiency.
2 – LOTS of under-inflated tires. I wonder how many pinch-flats there are a week in Portland…

Max Rockbin
Max Rockbin
12 years ago

It’d be neat to see a comment under each photo on the fit of the bike – by someone who knows about that stuff.

Erik M.
Erik M.
12 years ago

#17 – I need education…why is the chain ring on the opposite side from normal?

#24 – Nice! I dig the Blue anodize theme you have going on.

OnTheRoad
OnTheRoad
12 years ago
Reply to  Erik M.

# 17 — Maybe image got flipped?

A.K.
A.K.
12 years ago
Reply to  OnTheRoad

Flipping the image wouldn’t make the ring appear to be mounted on the wrong side, it would just make the guy look like he was biking the other direction.

With a fixie, you could probably tap out the BB and install the crank on the “wrong” side, and have a custom wheel dished to the “wrong” side. I’m no mechanic but it seems possible to me.

OnTheRoad
OnTheRoad
12 years ago
Reply to  A.K.

If you flip the image, it would look like the chainring was on the right side of the bike. Try it.

A.K.
A.K.
12 years ago
Reply to  OnTheRoad

Ah! Weird. Maybe Will can shed some light on this mystery?

thefuture
thefuture
12 years ago
Reply to  A.K.

Maybe he’s British.

A.K.
A.K.
12 years ago
Reply to  thefuture

It would be easy to tell if we could just get a look at his teeth…

OnTheRoad
OnTheRoad
12 years ago
Reply to  A.K.

If the pic was a little higher res, we could see if the lettering on the guy’s helmet was backwards or not.

are
are
12 years ago
Reply to  OnTheRoad

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeportland/6790312809/in/set-72157625457179488/
helmet reads “giro,” forward. image not flipped. chainring is in fact on the left.

basketlover
basketlover
12 years ago
Reply to  Erik M.

Two piece cranks can go left or right. Three piece square taper cranks can be left or right. The pedal threading could be a small issue if you seize a pedal.

Fixed hubs with tabbed sprockets and lock rings can be left or right. Freestyle BMX has left and right hub cassette drivers as well a left side drive specific cranks.

The dude is being different because he can.

was carless
was carless
12 years ago

Man, I went biking today wearing pants and a t-shirt. Whats with all the cyclists geared up for monsoon season?

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
12 years ago
Reply to  was carless

i dress that way largely to irritate other cyclists. i wouldd much rather wear $200 houndstooth woolen chappies but one must make sacrifices for a political statement.

Eric
Eric
12 years ago

Will Vanlue (Staff Writer)
And boy, was he going fast too! He was probably one of the five fastest people I saw pass on their bikes.
Recommended 0

And…as if he was reading this and waiting for his chance… he blew by me again tonight. He was wearing jeans and 2 coats and didn’t seem to be breaking a sweat. Dude is a machine

Ted Buehler
12 years ago

Sweet pics. Nice panning. & such pretty bikes. Portlanders put a lot of love into their bikes, they’re really quite the commuting machines.

Thanks for sharing,
Ted Buehler