People on Bikes – NE Broadway near Moda Center

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

7 years ago

Eager to ride after winter storms, yet still cold enough to have to bundle up. This us just a tiny slice of who’s riding bikes in Portland.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

How good does it feel to be able to pedal bikes again after all those snow and ice storms?

This is the first full week we’ve had since early December where the roads are dry and we can get back to a somewhat normal commute (yes, we know about all the gravel and we have a story about that coming up next). To kick off the return of fellow riders to the bike lanes, I thought it’d be fun to do a People on Bikes. This is a regular feature where I stand in one place and photographing people as they roll by. There are a lot of cool things we can learn from this. Here are some of the questions I have in my head as I look at the images:

– Who’s riding? And perhaps more importantly, who’s not riding?
– Are people riding fast (hunched-over) or slow (more upright)? And what does that say about our infrastructure?
– Do most people wear “cycling clothes” or just regular clothes?
– Does everyone wear a helmet?
– What type of bike set-ups do people prefer? Drop-bar road bikes? Racks or backpacks? Skinny tires or fat? Any e-bikes?

All these images were taken between 4:45 and 5:15 pm on Tuesday. I was standing on the grass to the south of the eastbound path of the Broadway Bridge as it comes to Larrabee (just before the Moda Center parking lot).

Have a look for yourself and let us know if you spot any trends or have interesting insights. Happy scrolling!