(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.
The weather doesn’t look too great this weekend… But we’ve the love to keep you warm! Whether you feel like activisming, socializing, racing, or shopping — there’s something for you this weekend.
What are your plans?
Here’s the forecast:
Friday, November 13th
Clinton Social Ride – 4:30 pm at PAZ (SE 16th and Woodward)
The ride that started it all! Join the group and roll together to “assert that Clinton is a Bike Greenway” and don’t forget to have fun while doing it. Ride will loop from SE 12th to 39th, picking up riders as it goes. Vibe is positive and non-confrontational. More info here (FB).
Saturday, November 14th
Cross Crusade #7 – All day at Portland International Raceway
No excuses to not race this weekend because the venue is as close as you’ll get all season. The seventh stop in the Crusade series promises all the wonderful riding and watching you’ve come to expect — all just a hop, skip, and jump away. More info here
Showers Pass Pop Up Store Celebration – 2:00 to 5:00 pm at Western Bikeworks Tigard (7295 SW Dartmouth)
You’re invited to check out Showers Pass’ new display of products. Western Bikeworks in Tigard is the only dealer in the world that carries all 68 Showers Pass products! Join a ride with the SP crew from their southeast Portland headquarters (2101 SE 6th Ave) at 12:30 pm. There will be drinks, a prize raffle, 15% off merchandise, and more. More info here.
Rush Hour Alleycat Race & Mob Ride – 6:00 pm at Terry Schrunk Plaza (SW Madison and 3rd)
Meet others who love riding in the city, grab a manifest, and head out for some fun. More info here
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Sunday, November 15th
Cross Crusade #8 – All day at Portland International Raceway
No excuses to not race this weekend because the venue is as close as you’ll get all season. The seventh stop in the Crusade series promises all the wonderful riding and watching you’ve come to expect — all just a hop, skip, and jump away. More info here
Canby Flats Ride – 10:00 am from Waite Park in Canby
Join the Portland Wheelmen Touring Club for a 34-mile jaunt from Canby to Molalla and back. Quintessential rural Oregon country roads and amazing scenery await you. More info here.
Bike Milwaukie Monthly Ride – 9:30 am at Milwaukie City Hall (10722 SE Main Street)
-205 path to Clackamas River (possibly farther south to the Oregon City Elevator depending on the group) and back via the Trolley Trail. More info here (FB).
Scale of the Solar System Ride – 11:00 am Japanese American Plaza (Waterfront Park at NW Couch)
Did you flunk astronomy? Or maybe just curious about the universe? Join this ride for a novel way to learn about planets and the solar system. “If the sun is as big as our bike wheel, how far is Neptune? Lets bike there and find out!” Astronauts and alients welcome. More info here
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – 12:00 pm at Oregon Walks/CCC office (1805 NE 2nd Ave_
A nationwide movement toward Vision Zero begins and Portland is one of several cities participating. Join families and friends of people who have been impacted by traffic collisions to place memorials at crash sites. Meet up and then split into carpools and bike trains. More info here.
Three Speeds Pub Crawl – 4:00 pm at Hedge House (3412 SE Division)
Join the Society of Three Speeds (yes, there is such a thing) for some fall merry-making. Ride will only be about five miles and will hit up at least three pubs. More info here.
A Birthday Zoobomb – 8:00 pm at Velo Cult (1969 NE 42nd Ave)
It’s Carl’s birthday and he wants to Zoobomb. You don’t even need to know Carl, just know that he’d be the perfect person to lead you up the West Hills for your first Zoobomb. If you’ve ever been curious what it’s all about, this would be a good time to give it a whirl. Bring MAX Fare, treats to share, friends and warm clothes. 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.
And for the 3 Speed Lovers and Riders out there…do not forget about the Society of 3 Speeds Pub Crawl Ride on Sunday.
15 November, 2015 at 4:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Hedge House, 3412 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202, United States
Hitting up at least 3 pubs. It’ll be dark and maybe wet, bring lights and rain cape. Bring cash for drinks. About 5 miles of riding, not a loop, ends near transit.
https://societyofthreespeeds.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/three-speed-pub-crawl-sunday-15-november/
Can’t believe I forgot that (sorry Shawn!, thanks for the postcard!). Added it to the post. Thanks Todd.
That’s OK, Jonathan. You can pay me back in a beer. 😉
And then I will get a beer from Shawn for posting! “Beer it forward!”
I hadn’t really heard about alleycat races until recently, but given my (limited) understanding of them, I can’t help but wonder about their legality – and, correspondingly, the wisdom of promoting them here. I’m sure the event organizers don’t openly support unlawful riding, but it’s not hard to find videos like this one of last month’s event (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUn0J6cj0hQ), evidently posted by the event organizers, that seem to glorify the sort of reckless and illegal riding that reinforces drivers’ negative attitudes toward cyclists. If we as the cycling community want to work to address the toxic drivers-vs-cyclists atmosphere in Portland, why not start by denouncing (or at least refusing to publicize) these celebrations of dangerous and unlawful riding?
Unlawful? Yes.
Dangerous? Meh.
You don’t think “dangerous” is an appropriate label for blowing through red lights and squeezing between buses on a rainy day? Ok, I’ll grant you that these guys seem perfectly skilled at riding so aggressively, but does that make it ok? Can we justify spending so much energy loudly demanding that drivers obey traffic laws if we’re unwilling to hold our own community to the same standards?
I’m guessing that you or somebody else may counter with the argument that a cyclist who breaks the law and hits someone will do far less damage than a driver who breaks the law and hits someone. Leaving aside the objections that Carole Barkley might have to that argument, I’d argue that this is about more than those cyclists risking their own health. By blatantly disregarding traffic laws, these cyclists are actively engendering the negative anti-cyclist attitudes we all suffer through. And a driver who hits a reckless cyclist through no fault of their (the driver’s) own may be scarred for life by the experience, even though they weren’t at fault. My point is, these alleycat racers are risking a lot more than their own skin by proudly flouting traffic laws and risking collisions.
(Edit: I’m re-posting this comment without the word that I’m guessing got it flagged for moderation originally. Jonathan, feel free to delete that first comment or this disclaimer as you see fit.)
Thanks Ian. I had already deleted that other comment because I didn’t like that you used that word. 😉
Duly noted 🙂
Thanks for your comment Ian.
I have no problem promoting Alley Cat races for the same reason I have no problem promoting pub crawls. It’s entirely possible to do an alley cat in a safe and legal way. If people choose to do otherwise, that’s their choice. Just like it’s entirely possible to have a beer or two on a bike ride and not become dangerously intoxicated.
And as for Zoobomb, everyone knows that there is law-breaking that happens during that event. And that’s OK. I like living in a city where we have the ability to use our discretion about what type of law-breaking is acceptable and what type of law-breaking is not. In the case of Zoobomb, the police and this city in general tend to look the other way.. And I think that’s a good thing!
People break traffic laws all over the city every single minute of every single day. Drivers, riders, everyone is guilty… As a society and as a city our job is to focus on the things doing the most harm and come up with some sort of generally agreed upon priority for where to assign our very limited enforcement resources.
You should consider coming to one of the races and meeting the people who actually do them and see how they work to get a better understanding rather than just going off over one of my crudely edited videos. Knowledge is power, assumptions just make people ignorant
And a lot of riders call me aggressive! Just about everything I saw here is very illegal and quite suicidal. I ride fairly fast when I am merged with traffic and I sometimes fishtail when slowing especially on wet pavement. I , under no circumstances blow, through red lights. I do not split lanes unless traffic is stopped waiting for a red light and then only for 1-2 car lengths between a through lane and a right turn lane.
Methinks riders like these are why motorists harass cyclists.
i saw someone riding relatively slowly with a wide angle lens that made things look closer than they were. the splitting was restricted to a small number of stationary vehicles which is relatively low risk. i did not see a single light being “blown”. in fact, the videographer waited for oncoming traffic to clear the intersection on several occasions and cycled through them at an achingly slow speed.
“Methinks riders like these are why motorists harass cyclists.”
people who ride like this are a fraction of a fraction of a percent of people who cycle in portland. there is no excuse for harassing someone. a perceived wrong does not make a right.
You have got to be kidding me. Are we watching the same video here? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUn0J6cj0hQ, just to be sure.) First of all, it’s not a wide-angle lens, as made evident by the comments suggesting that the “videographer” use a wide-angle lens instead. And he rode through too many red lights for me to count—though, sure, in some cases he waited for a gap in the cross traffic before running the red light (as if that makes it any better). If you’re honestly suggesting that the riding displayed in this video is remotely appropriate or responsible, you’ve officially lost all credibility in my eyes.
As for your last point, you’re right, there’s no excuse for harassing people, but let’s not turn a blind eye to the behavior of cyclists who give the rest of us a bad name. You don’t have to spend a lot of time on any forum other than this one before hearing the mantra that Portland cyclists never stop for stop lights and think they’re above the law. I’d say this video makes it pretty clear why drivers would feel that way, and as a commuting cyclist who is actively trying to fight the stereotype of the reckless Portland cyclist, videos like this are very upsetting.
Ian, Do you get this upset about jaywalking? The idea that the actions of individual bike scofflaws “make us all look bad” is just as absurd as the idea that individual jaywalkers make all walkers look bad. I’m also not sure what you are trying to achieve via this outrage. Do you really think your words here will have any impact on bike scofflaw behavior in this city? Scofflaws are not going away, Ian.
“And he rode through too many red lights for me to count—though, sure, in some cases he waited for a gap in the cross traffic before running the red light (as if that makes it any better).”
I’m a dedicated proponent of an “Idaho stop law” so I intentionally treat red lights as yields. From my perspective red light running that does not endanger others is not a big deal.
And what do you intend to achieve by your outrage at drivers who run red lights? At least on this forum I have the opportunity to directly communicate with cyclists who have different attitudes than I do.
I know cycling scofflaws aren’t going away, Soren. And if this were an isolated case of a couple of riders disregarding traffic laws and putting videos on YouTube, I might not be so persistent about the issue here. But recall that I raised this point in the context of questioning the wisdom of advertising a event that’s more or less dedicated to celebrating this kind of riding. If a driver safety advocacy blog was advertising an illegal street racing event, wouldn’t that be objectionable too?
Anyway, I’ll take note of your position that traffic laws are optional as long as you don’t think you’re endangering others. (Again, though, I’ll note that I think it’s exactly this sort of attitude that engenders disdain of cyclists among drivers. In my mind, sharing the road means following the same laws.)
Oh, and as an aside, the Idaho Stop Law treats stop signs as yield signs and red lights as stop signs.
You have an eye for detail.
One does not have to break laws to participate in this event, a lot of people do, but that’s no different from the rest of the week. There is an emphasis on friendship and participation, plus this ride and the one before Christmas are canned food drives too.
All in all, starting the race across the street from the central precinct, sends a pretty vlear message that we are not doing anything too ridiculous, one of our races involved getting a selfie with a cop.. Its just not that big of a deal.
As for the notion that our confident riding will incite drivers to take out rage on other cyclists. I would respond that we are carving out space for the rest of you, letting motorists know we won’t be pushed around.
The reason they are fish tailing is they are on fixies and whip skidding to slow down. Not sure why that is a complaint of other bikers
I don’t demand that cars obey arbitrary traffic laws. I do deman cars don’t injure or kill me. For that, no traffic laws are really needed.
To truly understand cycling is to understand that car laws are for cars. Without cars we would need no laws for streets. See how that works? Don’t let the man get ya down.
Here is one with people and cars during the day. Pretty sure no innocents were killed or maimed.
I don’t think the picture of the person on a recumbent is technically on a bicycle. In Oregon the wheels need to be 14 inches or larger, and those APPEAR to be 12 inch wheels. Please notice the “AND” between 4 +5, that means ALL of the items are required.
to wit: 801.150 “Bicycle.” “Bicycle” means a vehicle that:
(1) Is designed to be operated on the ground on wheels;
(2) Has a seat or saddle for use of the rider;
(3) Is designed to travel with not more than three wheels in contact with the ground;
(4) Is propelled exclusively by human power; and
(5) Has every wheel more than 14 inches in diameter or two tandem wheels either of which is more than 14 inches in diameter.
those are indeed 12 inch wheels I am rocking on that recumbent, mark.if that law definition is correct, then there is no such thing as a children’s bike?my god, what have we been bombing down hills all these many years on then?this may be an unprecedented case for all of us bombers who have been and will be pulled over for blowing through stop signs on children’s bikes.by that definition, no zoo bomberhas ever broken a law. for the record, I don’t follow any laws that are stupid and dangerous to me.happy birthday Carl!!! I do believe I will be able to make it 2 your birthday.I miss committing crimes with you in the middle of the night. oh wait, I guess they aren’t actually crimes. Hahahahaha
Jonathan, I love the quote under the picture stating that this man is a professional. damn right I am. Suck it Zane.