We rode Broadway. And it felt good!

Rolling on NW Broadway. (Photos and video: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Thanks to everyone who heeded our last-minute call on Friday to ride Broadway together!

After two weeks of drama where we faced losing the protected bike lane on Broadway, were then misled by city officials about it, and then rose up to make our voices heard and ultimately thwarted their misguided plans — it was time to come together and ride Broadway. And boy, did we ever!

About 50 or so wonderful folks met up on North Broadway and Wheeler. We did some quick speeches and rabble-rousing, then we rode into downtown to reflect on how important this protected bike lane is. It felt so good to ride as a community and know that we are stronger together after the past two weeks It was especially sweet to ride in front of the Benson hotel and wave and ring our bells at the valets who watched us roll by.

Special thanks to BikeLoud PDX for helping organize and spread the word about the ride. If you missed this, BikeLoud is doing a BikeBROADWAY Day event on Friday, October 13th.

Check out a short video and full photo gallery below…

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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Charley
Charley
1 year ago

From 2007 to 2013 I commuted on Broadway from the bridge as far as PSU. That old doorzone bike lane was a constant circus of near calamities. Good riddance to that trash, and long live the protected bike lane!!!

Steven Smith
Steven Smith
1 year ago

Millicent Williams: “Thanks for your continued attention to this issue and for offering alternatives for consideration. After reviewing all of the information and consulting with the Commissioner, I would like to ask the team to do the following”…

David Hampsten
David Hampsten
1 year ago
Reply to  Steven Smith

Replace all the temporary plastic candlesticks and white paint with curbed barriersEncourage users of different races, ages, and income levels who may often ride $99 Walmart specials, rather than the usual nearly-all-white and well-to-do BP crowd on a symbolic evening ride on their fancy steeds

Aaron
1 year ago
Reply to  David Hampsten

How dare they celebrate the success of their collective organizing to keep a piece of safety infrastructure in place in their city, their bikes are too nice! /s

John V
John V
1 year ago

Well done on getting this ride organized (whoever did it, or if it was collaborative)! Looks like it had a pretty good turnout! It’s a nice statement after the scandal that has been ongoing about this and other bike lanes.

Gregg Dal Ponte
Gregg Dal Ponte
1 year ago

neener, neener
exclamation US informal humorousUS  /ˌniː.nɚ ˈniː.nɚ/ UK  /ˌniː.nə ˈniː.nər/(also neenerneener, neener, neener)

used for intentionally annoying or upsetting someone, especially when something bad has happened to them or when you have been proven right about something :

It was especially sweet to ride in front of the Benson hotel and wave and ring our bells at the valets who watched us roll by.”

Building consensus?

Jelque Monclair
Jelque Monclair
1 year ago

Yep the divisive nature of bike activism continues to undermine their own goals.

It’s time to reject the smug, self-righteous and largely insincere attitudes promoted by Bikeportland. It is harming our community. We need to forge our own road and leave the negative doom pedalers in the dust.

I’d love to spearhead a new bicycle movement in this city because the old one is rotten from the inside and more desperate by the hour.

Free-agent
Free-agent
1 year ago

The long history of mountain bike access in Portland is, unfortunately, proof positive to what Jonathan is writing.

BB
BB
1 year ago

When the power imbalance is 95%-5%, the 5% do not get to make the rules… You can scream and yell all you want about it.
Cyclists need to play nice to move the needle.
Critical Mass was abandoned because it harmed more than helped, there is a reason it disappeared.
The most positive bike event and actions are the bike to school movement and things like that which do not in any way pit anyone against anyone.
The immediate aftermath of the George Floyd event was a positive mass protest which made good points and was supported by the general public and could have moved the needle.
You are the guy in the analogy that supports the 100 people that broke windows for 6 months and thinks it moves the needle…..

BB
BB
1 year ago

I stated “in the analogy” you were the supporter of the 100 window breakers…
You would think a guy who runs blog for a living could read and comprehend….
tells me a lot about you though!

Fred
Fred
1 year ago
Reply to  BB

Well, BB, I have to say I don’t understand your analogy, either. Supporting a protected bike lane is NOTHING like supporting people who inflict criminal damage.

I also disagree with your claim that 5% of people shouldn’t tell the other 95% what to do. That claim may be true for voluntary kinds of actions – like if 5% of the population likes cherry pie, we all have to eat cherry pie.

But transportation is a necessity, and if only 5% of people ride a bike for transportation, we all should absolutely support them in riding bikes. Not only that – we should all WANT to support cycling b/c it is climate action. The city even has a stated goal of 25% of trips made by bike. I’m personally at 90% of my Portland trips by bike, so it’s possible to do.

Your claim about the 5%-95% just doesn’t hold up in a democracy where we all agree that it’s important to protect minority rights. If your rule really held, we’d not prioritize access for disabled people b/c it would be seen as “telling the other 95% what to do.”

John V
John V
1 year ago

Lol, they rode their bikes on a piece of infrastructure made for riding bikes. You are losing your mind over cyclists being happy to have saved a piece of bicycling infrastructure and I think it shows you have lost your way. If you think being happy to have saved a piece of infrastructure is insincere, I don’t know what to tell you. Something is twisting your perspective and I don’t know what it is.

Fred
Fred
1 year ago
Reply to  John V

You are *really* overthinking this situation, John. I was not able to join the ride up SW Broadway, but I am sincerely glad that the group did it – just to show it can be done. And JM deserves *HUGE* kudos for covering the scandal and effectively saving the protected bike lane.

You must not ride a bike, cuz if you did you would know that cyclists *HAVE* to fight for every inch of riding room – and that inch is often the difference between life and death. It is completely appropriate for cyclists to celebrate any dedicated riding room we are able to conjure up.

John V
John V
1 year ago
Reply to  Fred

I think you might be responding to another comment. Or maybe I wasn’t clear. Jelque and Gregg are characterizing this ride as somehow divisive, self righteous, smug, etc. Complete nonsense.

I’m saying they’re being weirdos, completely overreacting to a nice peaceful ride showing support for the bike lane.

And of course I ride, it would be extremely weird to be on here all the time commenting about bike stuff, reading the articles, asking for info about rides, etc. But I don’t expect you to know my full history. Just saying.

Fred
Fred
1 year ago
Reply to  John V

I get it, John. Sorry if I misread your posting.

See you on the street.

socially engineered
socially engineered
1 year ago

Distracted driving kills thousands of people per year. On the other hand, some sassy cyclists waved at a few hotel employees. These things are equally bad, to me.

qqq
qqq
1 year ago

But did people actually stoop to using “Neener, neener”? The video has no sound. The article only mentions waving and ringing bells.

Calling out people for saying “neener, neener” has got to be one of the lamest complaints ever lodged against a group celebrating or protesting anything. And what people actually did (based on the video and article) doesn’t even rise to that silly level.

But then I guess if you’d cited the definitions for “waving” and “ringing (bells)” your comment wouldn’t have the hard-hitting impact of citing the definition of “neener, neener”.