(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
There’s so much to choose from this weekend it’s hard to decide! Hopefully you have time to attend at least one of the events in this week’s guide.
We’ve got a great slate that includes everything from a bonus Park(ing) Day to the infamous Ladd’s 500 relay, and even a chance to help tidy up the carfree Bryant Bridge.
Have fun out there…
Friday, April 13th
State of the City – The Conversation – 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm at The Sentinel Hotel (downtown)
This looks like an interesting event that will follow Mayor Wheeler’s scripted State of the City address (happening today). He’ll sit down for an interview with Chief Investment Officer at Meyer Memorial Trust Rukaiyah Adams (she’s also one of the main leaders of the Albina Vision project) and will take questions from the audience. Would not be surprised if the I-5 Rose Quarter project and/or Vision Zero come up. More info here.
Gold Sprints Benefit for Junior Track Racers – 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Velo Cult
Help raise money for local racers headed to Track National Championships by spinning some pedals, get inspired for the upcoming track season, cheer on your friends, and enjoy the wonderful vibe at Velo Cult Bike Shop and Tavern. More info here.
Midnight Mystery Ride – “At midnight we ride” – Location TBA
Come out and meet and/or make friends at the traditional “MMR”. Start location posted to the official website on Friday. More info here.
Saturday, April 14th
Portland Park(ing) Day – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm in the Central Eastside Industrial District
PBOT has teamed up with Design Week Portland and they’re kicking off the event by allowing people to take over public spaces (aka parking spaces) with creative installations. More info here.
The Ladd’s 500 – 10:00 am at Ladd’s Circle
With its official motto of, “It’s spring, let’s do something stupid” this 500-lap fun relay has become a much-anticipated tradition. Open to everyone crazy enough to ride 100 miles around Ladd’s Circle — or do it as part of a team. Relay in the street, party in the circle! More info here (and don’t miss great live bands at the after-party hosted by PAZ PDX).
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Sunday, April 15th
Coast Hills Classic MTB Race – All day in Newport, Oregon
This event combines great ocean views and gnarly off-road trail-riding for a fun day of racing. Proceeds from the event support youth programs at Newport Recreation Center. Make a weekend out of it! More info here.
Friends on Bikes Donut Ride – 9:00 am to 11:30 am at Laurelhurst Park
This is a ride for women and trans/non-conforming people of color that will start with a feast of donuts and (Ristretto Roasters) coffee, then ride to the top of Mt. Tabor and loop back via the Esplanade to Irving Park. Everyone who completes the ride gets a free dozen from Pip’s Original! More info here.
Bryant Pedestrian Bridge Cleanup – 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
The Piedmont Neighborhood is hosting a clean-up effort to show some love for this carfree I-5 bridge. Bring shovels and work gloves if you have them and be ready for the trash-picking, mulching, and graffiti scrubbing! More info here.
River City Bicycles Free E-Bike Group Ride – 9:30 am to 11:30 am
E-bike curious? You should be because motorized bikes are slowly but surely taking their place one our streets. If you’ve been wanting to try them out, this is a great opportunity. River City is giving free rentals of the latest and greatest models. Hit the link for an RSVP email so they can get your bike charged and ready. More info here.
Stay plugged into all the bike and transportation-related events around the region via our comprehensive event calendar.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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How many people actually use the Bryant bridge? I consider it an well-intentioned example of exactly how not to do bike infrastructure.
It’s desolate, sight lines are terrible so you can’t see who else is around, and there’s no viable escape if the need arises — something which seems pretty likely for those who are out regularly at night. I refuse to ride it and take Lombard (which is pretty miserable) if Rosa or one of the other bridges is too far out of the way.
The bridge over Going suffers from similar issues.
Kyle.. It’s soooo easy to be critical of everything! Yes, this ODOT bridge is very very far from ideal. But as someone who lives 2 blocks from it and rides my 7-yr-old to school on it every day, I can tell you that it is absolutely a crucial and beloved alternative to any other route nearby. And I don’t know anyone in the neighborhood – or anyone else besides you for that matter – who has ever crossed I-5 on a bicycle using Lombard. I would personally never do that and I think Bryant Bridge is 1000X preferable to that.
We could make this bridge a whole lot better with some partnerships with ODOT. It needs some sort of large-scale mural/sign that encourages use and it needs to have the corners widened. And yes, some features to improve safety would be fantastic.
But I’m grateful for what it is right now.
I’m 5 blocks north of Lombard and use this bridge all the time to get to the fred Meyers or to dtn Kenton. Biking on Lombard sucks even for a confident rider, just because you don’t use it, doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable to others.
Kyle, I will second what Jonathan says, but for the Going Bridge. It is FAR from perfect, but my 5th grade daughter started walking over that bridge twice a day for preschool and continues to do so twice a day, now on her own. It is pretty easy to find fault with these bridges, you can add Failing to the list of bridges that kind of suck but would be very hard to live without. On that note, good on the neighborhood for showing up to take care of it! I know that I am not the only neighbor who occasionally sweeps and rakes the Going Bridge and regularly picks up litter, but I may be the only one to bust out a corner of the sidewalk and dig a drainage channel to get get rid of the permanent puddle at the northern foot of the bridge!
I’m glad there is some time when people can use it. Clearly there are enough people moving around during school transport hours that they feel safe doing so. When I pass through these areas, there is typically no motor, cycle, or ped traffic on the streets surrounding these bridges, so my experiences are based on a different frame of reference.
While I agree that these uses are important, one reason I am so critical of some bike infrastructure is because I often find it unusable. Scary people high on god knows what are a serious issue in some areas except at peak times.
I don’t like riding in heavy fast traffic — especially when bail options are lousy (as is the case on Lombard). But I’ll take cars I can see/dodge over setting myself up for an ambush that I can’t prevent. This is not me just being paranoid. I’ve had people mess with me enough times I’ve seriously contemplated carrying bear spray, though I don’t for a number of reasons.
I am glad they are cleaning it up. I believe allowing blight encourages it to expand — I frequently see evidence of this dynamic.
It seems odd to be more concerned about tweaker assaults (extremely rare) that vehicular carnage (somewhat common). How many cyclists are killed by tweakers every year? How many are injured?
Disclaimer: ambushes weren’t in PDX. But that’s because I learned from my experiences and won’t pretend it’s not dangerous to be out of view by yourself with the desperate and drug addled. I feel (and am) safer on roads where I can see what’s going on and there are witnesses.
If these places are so safe, why are they empty so much of the time in a major metropolitan area? If no one is there, that of course will reduce statistics. BTW, many people don’t report problems for a variety of reasons.
Numbers are deceptive. There are very few fatal crashes on ice and many on dry pavement. You conclusions based on those facts?
Good point.
And some of the fastest and busiest sections of road in the entire city have zero cyclist fatalities. I’m sure it’s because they’re perfectly safe and has nothing to do with the lack of riders.
What is this magical bridge over I-5 at Going that people keep talking about? I keep looking at satellite maps and see nothing for peds/bikes only over the freeway between Failing and Bryant.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.556258,-122.6783793,178m/data=!3m1!1e3
It’s over Going and connects Concord a block off Interstate. https://goo.gl/maps/NHhC8J8DMQT2
I made compared the two because they’re relatively close to each other, cross busy fast roads, and have narrow obscured approaches where I had trouble imagining anyone being comfortable traveling by themselves.
The bridge is over Going along Concord
Ah-ha. Here: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5559893,-122.6848602,197m/data=!3m1!1e3
Yeah, I’ve never been out that way on a bike. Thanks.
Portland Park(ing) Day’s more info link is a bit borked.
Portland Wheelmen Touring club has a great selection of rides this weekend, including a Reach the Beach and MS Training ride. Check it out at http://www.pwtc.com