Turns out if you just go up and over the hills west of Portland and into Washington County, enthusiasm for better bicycling is bubbling up everywhere you look. That energy was on full display last night at the inaugural Westside Bike Happy Hour that took place across the street from Beaverton City Hall.
I’ve been poking at Washington County bike people for a while now to start a Bike Happy Hour (BHH) on the west side. With at least two solid groups hosting rides on a regular basis — Ride Westside (advocacy-oriented, slow-pace explorations of routes and infrastructure) and Westside Wednesday (fast and fun urban assaults that often go into the night) — and lots of advocates doing hard work in and out of government, I knew the necessary catalysts were in place.
But great things often require one person to stand up and commit. That person was Rob Lewis (@cyclorob on Instagram). Late last month he messaged me about wanting to make it happen, then he connected with folks from those two riding groups and set a time, date, and location.
Last night I rolled out from north Portland and about 50 minutes later I was locking up at BG’s Food Cartel, an excellent food cart and quintessential “third place” a short walk from the Beaverton Central MAX station, for the first ever gathering.
Within a few minutes the first person rolled up. Then another. Then another. The crowd ultimately grew to several dozen. As picnic benches were pushed together to form a larger table, people were connected to form a larger community. Rob’s vision of creating a centralized space to unite and amplify bike lovers on the west side was coming true right before our eyes!
I met all types of great folks, from many different parts of the cycling life: an older couple on e-bikes, a 16-year old urbanism whiz kid who regaled me with stories about getting a new rapid flashing beacon near his Bethany home, a City of Beaverton planner armed with free bike maps and eager to sign up volunteers for an upcoming bike count, ride organizers looking for new recruits, someone with a story pitch for BikePortland, and folks who showed up because they simply wanted to meet other people into cycling.
And thanks to the generosity of Shawne Martinez (@tigard_stripes on IG), we even borrowed the eastside BHH tradition of free fries for everyone!
The event was a big success and is now officially scheduled for every-other-week at the same time and place. Well done west siders! I can’t wait to see how this evolves.
Westside Bike Happy Hour
Every Other Monday
4:00 to 6:00 pm
BG’s Food Cartel (4250 SW Rose Biggi Ave)
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Westside Bike Happy Hour is now scheduled on Shift2Bikes through the end of September!
July 29
Aug 12
Aug 26
Sep 9
Sep 23
4-6 p.m., BG Food Cartel, 4250 SW Rose Biggi Ave, near the Beaverton Central MAX stop. See you there!
Hooray! I’m so excited for a Westside bike happy hour. Sorry I missed the first one. Multiple of my kiddos had a nasty case of pink eye that has been working its way through the family. I hope we can make it next time. Cheers!
Love this but I would advocate for more Hillsboro rides. Some of the rides in Beaverton are tough to get to by bike or transit from anywhere west of Beaverton!
Hey George! go check out ridewestside.org, and if you’re interested, volunteer to lead a ride with us! We would love ride leaders to volunteer anywhere in Washington County. Most of our rides start/end near MAX stations so folks can join us from anywhere. You can email at ridewestside2023 (at) gmail.