(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)
The 10th annual Mini Bike Winter kicks off this week. The event is organized by Zoobomb, which is Portland’s beloved mini-bike riding, bike fun facilitation organization. Zoobomb is best known for hosting weekly rides down the West Hills and you might recall them from their big feature on the BBC or from their publicly-funded bike “pyle” sculpture that sits at SW 13th and Burnside.
Mini Bike Winter is Zoobomb’s flagship event. Over the course of six days, it brings together everything we love about Zoobomb: free fun, bikes, friends, parties, urban exploration, and sheer spectacle.
MBW X starts tomorrow with “Bar Tuesday” then continues Wednesday night with a special edition of Open Bike Night (dubbed Open Mini Bike Night of course). Thursday (2/14) is the Craft Night and Valentine’s Dance followed by a Dropout Bike Club ride on Friday night. After that four-night warm up, the real fun starts.
Saturday begins with brunch (where “tons of bacon will be on hand”) followed by a bike ride to one of the marquee events: The Chariot Wars. This is where gladiators duel for supremacy (and bragging rights) atop chariot-pulling freak bikes. Think Mad Max meets Ben Hur. After that, the Sprockettes host an alley kitten followed by a big blowout party.
Then on Sunday, it’s the Mini Bike Winter Olympics! At the Olympics you can expect all sorts of silly events loosely based on biking skill. Then it’s onto the Cupcake Challenge where everyone is welcome to launch themselves into the Willamette River. The madcap marathon continues Sunday night with the Badass Challenge which is the climbers’ time to shine. The Challenge is a race from the Zoobomb Pyle to the top of Washington Park. Then, as per usual, there will be lots of Zoobombing throughout the night with special ‘Bombs for mini bikes, freak bikes, gravity bikes — and there’s even a Family Bomb.
Check out a few more of my favorite Mini Bike Winter photos from years past. Hope to see you out there!
For more details, check out Zoobomb.net.
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It brings warmth to my bikie heart when Mini Bike Winter season is upon us…and I know the dark wet cloaking the bike lanes will be soon over and the pavements dusted with cherry blossoms.
Then I sadly wonder how long Portland will have appropriate site to stage such extravert bikie displays of urban culture.
I ask: When will they open up the Memorial Coliseum to the next generation of Portlanders?!
What What!
chopped heads…disturbing