‘Grilled by Bike’ embraces BBQ season, Portland-style

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

5 years ago

Pedapalooza might be officially over, but memories live on (and we’ve still got photos to share!).
(Photos: Eric Thornburg/no.lens.cap on IG)

There are many aspects of living in a bike-friendly city that are never captured in myriad annual lists and rankings.

One example is the number of people who can cook a meal on their bike and/or have a fresh-cooked meal anywhere they park it. In Portland that number is growing thanks to the popularity of Grilled by Bike.

We first shared word of this fun trend in 2015. Since then, interest in taking grills from the backyard to the bike lane has only gotten stronger.

This year’s sixth annual Grilled by Bike Pedalpalooza Ride once again saw a healthy turnout.

People showed up with a number of set-ups. There was a grill in back of a tricycle under an umbrellaj, a ‘BBQ Battle Cart’ in a trailer pulled behind a Surly, and a basic fold-out table with a hibachi on top, just to name a few. And while burgers and brats were popular grill items, there was also vegan pigs in a blanket, Dutch oven brownies, pineapple, and more.

Local bike club The Belligerantes are the pioneers of Portland’s grill-by-bike scene, having started the trend in the mid 1990s.