(Illustration by Shawn Granton)
If you are in love with bicycles, there’s simply no better city in the world to live in than Portland. Case in point are three upcoming bicycle tours — all happening on August 24th — that will showcase three things that many bike lovers cherish: our rich and diverse culture around bicycling, urban parks, and public art murals.
A tour developed by the non-profit Know Your City and held in conjunction with the Portland Art Museum’s Cyclepedia Exhibition, will introduce you to our vaunted bike culture. Dubbed, America’s Bicycle Capital: A tour of Portland’s Many Bike Cultures, the ride will leave from PAM at 10:00 am and visit sites and personalities that, “define our city’s bike culture — from bike advocacy to Zoobombers.” Guest speakers on the ride include: PBOT staffer Timo Forsberg (also a veteran volunteer with Shift); Ayleen Crotty, who edits ORBike.com and organizes many well-known bike events; Dingo Dizmal, the man who made the (now defunct) Alberta Clown House famous; and Rex Burkholder, a former Metro councilor who helped start the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. The tour is free and everyone is welcome.
Here’s more from the ride flyer:
“Along the ride, we’ll learn about the history of bicycles in Oregon and visit famous bike-related businesses, artworks, and landmarks. Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist or a novice, you’ll enjoy learning about Portland’s offbeat and colorful bike community.”
Then at 1:00 pm, the Portland Architectural Heritage Center is doing their first ever bicycle tour. The ride will be an educational journey of Portland’s legendary Olmsted park plan. Expert regional planners and historians Steve Dotterrer and Richard Ross will lead participants through southeast Portland’s historic Olmsted landscapes including: the Springwater Corridor, Ross Island Park, Sellwood Park, Sellwood Bluff Parkway, Eastmoreland and Reed College Place, Reed College Campus, Kenilworth Park, Laurelhurst Park, Dr. James Hawthorne Gravesite, Ladd Circle, and Ladd/Elliott boulevards.
Registration is required for the Olmsted Parks ride and there’s an $18 fee for the public (members of the AHC are $10). Learn more on their website.
Also on August 24th is a bicycle tour that will showcase new murals created as part of the Portland International Mural Festival. Gage Hamilton with non-profit art group Forest for the Trees, says this tour will take riders to brand new murals that are all being created over the course of one week (August 18th-25th) by four local artists as well as artists from Japan, Australia, Brazil, and Canada. Gage said the inspiration for the tour was, ” a way to highlight the murals and tie them all together in true Portland fashion, I wanted to have a viewing route by bike.” For more information, check out the Forest for the Trees website.