(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
This menu of delicious rides and events is brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Their support makes BikePortland possible.
If you’ve been wanting to ride new sections of the Historic Columbia River Highway, this weekend is a perfect opportunity to do it. You can ride out about 50 miles to enjoy a brewery party on Saturday or check out the cyclocross racing vibes on Sunday. If you stick around Portland you can partake in some freak biking or take a tour of the many excellent new murals that have popped up around town recently.
If you do head out, plan for some mid-60s weather and rain (forecast posted below)
Have a great weekend!
Friday, October 16th
Red Bull Rampage Viewing – 9:30 am at Velo Cult
It’s the 10th annual version of one of downhill biking’s most high-profile event. “Flatten your bill out and put on tall black socks” and watch it on the big screen at Velo Cult Tavern. More info here (FB).
Freak Bike Fall – All weekend, starts 7:00 pm Friday with Alley Cat at Colonel Summers Park
Annual celebration of freak bikes of all sizes, shapes and colors. Events happen all weekend and include a social ride, a freak bike ‘cross race, and a special freaky Zoobomb. More info here (FB).
Dropout Bike Club Monthly Ride – 9:00 pm at Colonel Summers Park
The Dropouts are a friendly local freak bike club. This month’s ride will be extra fun and special because of Freak Bike Fall. Show up with your own Freak Bike or just ogle the handiwork of others. More info here.
Saturday, October 17th
Stub Stewart State Park Work Party – 8:45 am to 3:00 pm at State Park Welcome Center
Help the NW Trail Alliance maintain and build freeride trails at Stub Stewart. This is such a positive project and it shows how mountain bike lovers and land managers — when working together — can create something truly special. More info here.
Zen Bike Fab Warehouse Sale – 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at Zen HQ (2309 N Kerby)
Zen is a local bicycle manufacturing company who recently launched their own line of frames. This sale will feature huge discounts (25-75% off) on their frames and framebuilding supplies like tubing, parts, tools, and so on. You’ll also find frames and other goodies from other Portland builders. More info here (FB).
Disaster Relief Trials – 10:30 am to 5:00 pm at University of Portland
This is the Big One. No, not the Cascadia quake you’ve read about… This is the big cargo bike event that rules them all. Come out and learn how bicycles are being used to respond to major natural disasters, watch racers compete an amazing set of trials, brush up on your preparedness skills, and more. Bring the whole family! More info here.
The Great Pumpkin Regatta Ride – 11:00 am at Tilikum Bridge
Join a bike ride to the 12th annual West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta in Tualatin. Expect to pedal 18 miles up on and over to the West Side — including several miles on the wonderful Fanno Creek Trail. More info here.
Thunder Island Brewing 2nd Anniversary Party – 12:00 pm in the brewery in Cascade LocksThis is a perfect excuse to ride to Cascade Locks. About 50 miles west of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge lies this excellent brewery. They’ve always been very kind to bicycle riders and they’ll even give you a free souvenir pint glass if you show up by bike. More info here (FB).
Celebration of Fall – 2:15 to 3:15 pm at Colonel Summers Park (SE 18th and Taylor)
See the splendor of the fall season while pedaling through southeast Portland neighborhoods and making stops to tast apples and pumpkin beer. This ride is hosted and led by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance as part of their Women Bike initiative and is open to “all women, female-identifying, trans, and gender-nonconforming people who enjoy biking (or think that they might.)” More info here.
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Sunday, October 18th
Cross Crusade #3 at Cascade Locks – All Day
Get out to beautiful Cascade Locks and race or watch at a brand new venue for the Crusade series. They’ll use trails that weave right along the Columbia River and set against a backdrop of the forested cliffs the Gorge is known for. More info here.
Six City Tilikum Crossing – 9:30 am at Woodstock Park (SE 47th and Steele)
Pedal about 35 miles through six cities and loop around the new Tilikum Crossing Bridge. You’ll be led by the fine folks at the Portland Wheelmen (and Wheelwomen) Touring Club. More info here.
Forest For The Trees Mural Bike Tour – 2:00 pm at Pod 28 (113 SE 28th)
Join the always friendly guide and host Meghan Sinnott for a tour of 10 brand new murals that have popped up around Portland thanks to the Forest For The Trees project. More info here.
— Did we miss anything? Let us know via the comments and make sure to drop us a line if you have an upcoming event you’d like us to feature next week.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
Thanks for reading.
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Regarding the celebration of fall ride – i wonder why, today, Portlanders believe that a women-only riding event is necessary to provide a safe environment for women?
Maybe because i am from Detroit i am missing something? Does Portland have a history of not allowing women to ride here? Has the City been unsafe for women to ride? Do men pose a safety hazard to women riders? Are women unable to find interest and joy in riding if men are around?
I ask in good faith here because i don’t really understand the persistent need for women-only or woman-specific riding events.
Just curious, which box do you tick, M or F?
Male. And I am white. I guess now you know everything about me. Sheesh, what does it matter which box I check?
I get why we have women-in-engineering events, for example, but don’t similar basis for women-specific riding events. Especially when couched in terms like “safe” as though the absence of men makes the riding “safer”. Hence, my legitimate questions above.
Just asked so I wouldn’t assume. You’re welcome for the enjoyment you seem to take, but no offense was intended. BTW, I’m white male, too. Maybe we’re the same person?
The mention of “safe” on the Shift calendar is in this context:
“All Women Bike Rides aim to provide a safe place for women to challenge themselves, ride somewhere new & meet new women who also enjoy riding.
This ride is open to all women, female-identifying, trans, and gender-nonconforming people who enjoy biking (or think that they might.)”
So, there’s something about gender concerns there, and that often relates to sexual preferences, and men as a class have been known to be more sexually aggressive than women in our culture, and maybe for this ride the leader wants to get away from those sexual overtones. Or maybe she just wants what you and I might call a “night out with the boys.” I don’t see anything in that post which calls guys unsafe, just that they want a ride which feels safe to all the invitees…could be road conditions, pace, route, nothing that feels dangerous. Fear of men in general does happen in enough female-identifying people that a group like that could have such a concern.
I think women can feel intimidated by the speed men can go and want to go or possibly a more macho approach to following rules of the road. I don’t mean “macho” to be necessarily bad. I know that parenting boys can be different than parenting girls and some boys are taught by their fathers (and maybe mothers) to be a bit on the tough side. This is not a bad thing. Boys grow up to be men, men go to war and historically have had to deal with the more dangerous aspects of life than women. I think it may be easier for women to admit to their insecurity on a bike in traffic than a man. Maybe also, women have less experience than men with mechanical things so the time needed to learn may be longer. I realise that this may sound sexist on my part to people of younger generations than mine. I have young friends, but we have not discussed this topic.
I’m pretty sure my grandma could point out the internalized sexism in blaming how different genders act on how they were parented, not on how society conditions them. So, no, it’s not an age thing.
I am noticing a pattern here. Over in the comments to the Hillsboro tazing story you showed yourself incredulous at the possibility that Robinson (as a black man) might have had reasons to wonder about his chances of being treated fairly by the police.
As white men we are prone to missing the cues, which is why it can be helpful when someone points them out.
I doubt we’re talking about anything as egregious as Portland hav[ing] a history of not allowing women to ride here but that doesn’t mean that there is no meaningful difference in the experience of women and men when it comes to bicycling here, or that we can’t learn from this. If I were better at making the search function for bikeportland work I’d dig up some posts on the subject for your edification. Perhaps someone else can help in the meantime.
9watts, you said that I “showed yourself incredulous at the possibility that Robinson (as a black man) might have had reasons to wonder about his chances of being treated fairly by the police.”
Well, no, I don’t believe I indicated incredulity at such a possibility. I was expressing my opinion that compliance with reasonable instructions issued by an officer would likely result in fair treatment. The response I got from you that I must have been under a rock that last decade, even centuries. The implication bring that there is such a high incidence of excessive force by white officers against black people that I shouldn’t doubt that in this instance the person would not be treated fairly because of his race. That was the discussion. It was not about Robinson’s state of mind which is irrelevant anyway, even if we knew all the facts, which we don’t.
You say, “As white men we are prone to missing the cues, which is why it can be helpful when someone points them out.”
Uh oh, another version of the privilege nonsense.
What “cues” are you referring to?
I’m just wondering why, in a very liberal and wanting-to-be-inclusive city like Portland, we have so many events that are exclusive? So, I thought maybe I am missing something in the history here.
Maybe my male, white privilege is blinding me to the reasons that would explain or illustrate these “differences” you seem to think exist in the experiences of men and women cyclists.
I’m still curious why a ride without men would be a safe environment for women…
I share your curiosity about why women feel this way, BeavertonRider. My point in the previous response was just that the tone of many of your posts here suggests that you aren’t really curious to learn what you (we) may have been oblivious to all this time, but rather that you know that this racism or sexism thing is poppycock.
Hmmm, I think you’re unfairly attributing to me something that I do not think or feel. I am interested, which explains my participation in my employer’s inclusion and diversity plan and activities. But those efforts are typically addressing either overt discrimination or instances where specific groups lagged well behind in participation or selection.
And the really odd part is the absence of male riders making the riding event safe for women.
You’re missing the whole point in feeling “excluded” by a group of people (women) who don’t have any unearned social power over you. You might think of that as privilege nonsense, but that’s precisely why I, as a young adult woman, would choose a ride that excluded you.
I see, now I get it….unearned social power = privilege. Privilege such as the power you get from your gender, race, social status, (and here’s where we get to the crux of it all), what you’ve inherited and what’s been handed to you.
I get it now…all this business about privilege is really just a disguise for envy – envy of what other people have whether they’ve earned it or inherited it.
I wonder what, as a white dude, I have been handed. Maybe it was the 4-year degree that I didn’t earn, nope, it was merely handed to me. In exchange for the degree handed to me, I incurred, errr, someone handed me nearly $20k in debt. I have not earned the position I have now with my employer by working my butt of for 10 years, nope, that was handed to me, too…because I am white. Wait, though, my boss is a black woman, but, she reports to a white dude, though, he reports to a black man…
My goodness…who can keep up with this stuff???
I think you and I should hang out some time…..!
Not sure what I’m more surprised/disappointed in, the fact that this has been recommended 4 times or that it was approved in the first place.
The question of “why is it necessary to provide a safe environment for women?” can be answered by simply re-reading this entire comment thread.
It’s like a mobius strip of obliviousness and ignorance.
Hi Paul,
I know some people don’t appreciate or particularly like reading some of the comments that appear here on BikePortland. However, it has never been my intention to prevent people from sharing their perspectives on sensitive or complex issues like this one. As long as a commenter is not being intentionally mean, hurtful, inappropriate, and so on, I’m very likely to approve what they write.
I guess my theory is that until we hear everyone out — even people who hold views not popular or in line with the majority — we’ll never be able to make real progress on this stuff.
Not saying I have this figured out at all and I’m very open to feedback. Thanks.
I’ve gotta say… What one older white male might consider an unpopular view “not in line with the majority” might, to me, look line harassment or provocation. What BeavertonRuder claims to wonder out of open curiosity—why women feel the need to make a ride exclusive to men—has actually revealed itself as unabashed men’s rights activism! I mention only that unearned social power exists and suddenly, my opinion has been reduced to “grump who thinks men don’t earn anything they have.”
It feels like enough people here agree that sexism it’s still a thing, so *gasp* I actually feel SAFE saying this: opening a dialogue about spaces women and gender-non-conforming folks feel safe in to the criticism of those excluded doesn’t “make real progress on this stuff.” It actually just invites sexism to play itself out: older white men using how their experiences have worked out for them (big surprise?) to disprove “privilege nonsense.”
“Not sure what I’m more surprised/disappointed in, the fact that this has been recommended 4 times…”
My takeaway is that sometimes comment(er)s speak for themselves.
It seems that BR is not familiar with this adage:
‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_holes
Or maybe it was just a sense of belonging/safety without begging for additional accommodations and sense of entilement to ride on WHATEVER- themed bike ride you please that you didn’t earn.
Portland male cyclists like to SHRED! That can be a little intimidating.
What is “shred”?
A tofu topping we put on organic native greens.
i prefer soy curls.
SHRED HEGEMONY!
Who’da thunk the WEG would be such a hotbed? This has got to some kind of record for the WEG comments.
Reasons Why A Woman Might Prefer An All Women Ride
-Because we live in a sexist society that does not treat us as equals
-Because the cycling world is still quite sexist and we are not treated as equals
-Because if my partner and I go to the same bike shop with the same problem he will get treated as a competent biker and I will be talked down to
-Because sometimes it’s fun to ride with a bunch of women
-Because the selection of women’s gear at a lot of shops is dwarfed by the men’s gear
-Because if you’re a woman learning to ride in the city it can be more comfortable to ask fellow females questions and not have to worry about getting mansplained to. Becasuse you will get mansplained.
-Because there are an average of 293,066 victims of sexual assault every year. The world can feel like a very unsafe place for women.
-Because it’s really damn awesome to be in a big group of female bikers rolling along
-Because you’re a feminist and like to help other women feel comfortable on their bikes
-Because sisterhood is powerful
-Because mixed gender spaces aren’t always safe for women and it’s great to have a place that explicitly states that you are welcome
It’s really unfortunate that you feel this way but I think your discontent is misdirected. I don’t see how excluding yourself from the cycling community as a whole is going to help you feel more included in the cycling community.
It isn’t my ‘discontent’. Sexism in the cycling industry and community is a fact that affects many women and can make the atmosphere unwelcoming. Women taking part in a women only ride aren’t excluding themselves from anything. But it sure is nice to be told up front that you won’t have to listen to some sorry ass jokes about how the ladies need their men to fix their flat tires for them because we don’t want to break our nails.
I will readily agree that sexism is a part of life within and outside the cycling industry. However, I hope you recognize how organizing and participating in an event where only one group of people are invited is the definition of exclusionary.
Welp, it only took 3+ hours for the mansplaining to begin!
Hah! Haha! 🙂
Well said, panda!
I’m just bummed that everything fun always happens on Saturday. Sunday & Monday need more love. Having never worked a M-F 9-5 I really appreciate pedalpalooza every year.
Would the women’s only ride allow my wife to ride our tandem with a male (me) stoker, or would my presence make her unwelcome?
I’m just curious how far the male-exclusion goes; we will not be showing up since we reserve our weekends for joyous tandem rides in the hills (plus the unfortunate city portion that lies between our door and those beautiful hills).
I’d ask Nicole (the ride organizer). But I’ll say that my [male] spouse joins me on some of my women-focused group rides and he’s always been welcome. He also knows better than to mansplain, and just enjoys the ride and the company.
To address BeavertonRider — safe in this context is not safe as in a MUP or fully protected bike lane. Safe is the context in which to ask questions in an environment where you won’t be made to feel inferior or ‘stupid’ for asking. Where any question is treated with respect — from what shoes to wear to how to make your hair look good after commuting to what to do when someone is drafting off of you on your commute home. Where people are treated as intelligent competent peers who just don’t know the answers to some things. Panda gave great examples of what happens to most of us a significant portion of the time as part of the bike community and sometimes we get tired of it.
The goal of the Women Bike group is to significantly increase the number of women bike commuters. And that means giving many of the new gals a space to figure it out without being demeaned, even by the WMDs (Well Meaning Dudes).
Thanks for the courteous reply. What examples provided by Panda do you think happen a significant portion of the time? I really am curious. I’m a married dude and I see wifey’s eye rolling when I shift into Mr. Fixer mode when she’s really just venting and doesn’t require my problem solving skills. So I get that. What I don’t get is why so many female riders feel that so many men are beung disrespectful toward them. I ride regularly with men and women, veteran riders and newbies and just haven’t seen this behavior.
Others here, is this behavior that you see on a regular basis that would lead you to believe that the Portland cycling environment is harmful and unsafe for women? This sounds like a great story to pursue for this blog.
Well, this happens to me All The Time (and no, I don’t have the numbers or exact percentages and yes I’m only one person but I do think you can extrapolate because I know I’m not alone):
-Because if my partner and I go to the same bike shop with the same problem he will get treated as a competent biker and I will be talked down to
–Because the selection of women’s gear at a lot of shops is dwarfed by the men’s gear
If it happens just once, it’s really not a big deal. But when it happens frequently (the women’s gear one is EVERYWHERE except Gladys Bikes), you get the sense that you’re not part of the club. Even though you’ve been riding a bike for 30 years. So imagine if you’re just trying to figure out this whole riding to work thing, and you go places, and it’s clear through many signals that you’re not part of ‘it’. There’s a sociological term for this called “micro-inequities”.
Hear, hear, Carrie and panda! It’s really painful in music stores, too. It’s like you need a male escort to get anywhere. I’ve had clerks stare at me blankly, like I just spoke gibberish, and pointedly turn to the man next to me (my escort–a friend) for translation, for apparently only HE can speak the magic words that will connect with the sad control freak before me. It doesn’t matter that I know what I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter if my friend points this out, or directs the guy’s attention back to me, or if I talk really loud and lean into his face seeking eye contact (in vain). This kind of thing is a common experience for women, yes. Usually less overt, but you’d be surprised at how often it is quite overt, commonplace. It’s woven into daily life. It’s hard to explain the “not part of the club” thing, but I feel it in my male-heavy avocation (where men always talk to the nearest male and never assume I’m the boss). I reckon most women can tell if a man’s gonna spiral into staring-past-your-head know-it-all within a few seconds of meeting him. I do my best to exhibit the appropriate awe and wonder. 😉
I’ve never been much of a joiner and hadn’t planned to get involved in Women Bike, but maybe I will after all.
Just chiming in on perhaps one of the more minor issues broached, but if you are looking for women’s riding gear, the selection of women’s clothing at River City is pretty close to equal to the men’s section.
Just a quick note. I included the wrong date for the Celebration of Fall ride. It will actually take place on Saturday 10/17, leaving from Col. Summers Park at 2:15. We will end at Green Dragon around 5:15.
Bike Milwaukie is also leading a ride to see some of the art along the Max Orange line combined with our 3rd annual look at some of the Forrest For The Trees Murals on Sunday. https://www.facebook.com/events/1468884310075077/