Dispatch from Beaverton’s inaugural Farmers Market Ride

— This story is from our Washington County correspondent Tina Ricks. Your monthly subscriptions and other financial support help make Tina’s work possible. Thank you!

Sometimes leading a short ride is a great way build a bike community and get people excited about riding. On Saturday July 27, Beaverton resident Rachel Philip in Beaverton did just that. To encourage her neighbors and friends to use bicycles for more for short trips, she organized a ride from Highland Park Middle School to the Beaverton Farmers Market in Central Beaverton – a ride of about two miles. 

For several years, Portland’s Hami Ramani has organized community bike rides every Saturday morning to the Portland Farmers Market at the South Park Blocks on the Portland State University campus. But that’s a long way by bike from Washington County and folks would have to ride and/or hop on MAX light rail to participate.

Now, with inspiration from Ramani, Beaverton has a market ride of their own!

“I feel like people might not want to go ride for an hour or so. But it’s easy to get from the Highland neighborhood to Central Beaverton,” Philip, the ride organizer, said when I met up with her at Saturday’s inaugural ride. Philip wanted to lead a short ride to show neighbors how to get around by bike for short trips, and to encourage biking for everyday life.

Philip has an Urban Arrow cargo bike that she uses most weekdays to take her children to preschool. “It’s either a really expensive bike, or it’s a really cheap car,” she said with a smile. Her family made the decision to buy a cargo bike instead of a second car about a year ago and her daily ride to preschool takes her from her home in central Beaverton through the Highland neighborhood, where there are a lot of low-stress streets and shade.

Neighbors Ryan and Kathleen Simpson and their daughter Reese arrived by bike, Burley trailer, and on foot (Kathleen is a runner who doesn’t have a bike yet). Ryan works at home, but he rides his daughter Reese to her daycare every morning and evening. “It’s a great way to start the day and end the day,” Ryan said. He’s an active road cyclist, but also interested in family biking and making cycling a part of everyday life.

Steinar and Angela Neidig also arrived with their family, ready to ride to the market. They moved to Beaverton from Portland in the last few years, and used to ride frequently in Portland. “We did all the rides in Portland,” Angela said. “But we’re still getting used to riding out here.”

The route took us on a ramble through mostly quiet neighborhood streets, some bike paths through a park, a few crossings of major roads, and to the farmers market. We stopped in front of Beaverton Library as our final destination, only because the bike parking shed at the market was overflowing. A good problem to have.

Philip has advice for others in Beaverton, Hillsboro, or Washington County who want to start a community bike ride: “Pick a place where people are excited to go.” For her, the obvious choice was the farmers market because, “everyone loves the market.” In addition, the Beaverton Farmers Market organizers are trying to encourage no-car transport to cut down on parking hassles in the neighborhood. The market even promoted this ride (and the rest in the series) in their newsletter. She suggested other events like neighborhood concerts or gatherings that are happening throughout the summer. She scouted out the route ahead of time, planning where a large group could ride together without getting separated, and where they could cross major streets safely. Philip also recruited a few volunteers from Ride Westside to do corking and sweeping.

Philip took care of all these details so that the ride was as smooth as possible. “Getting people to consider leaving the car behind means showing them how easy it can be to do,” she said.

There are three more rides in this series, all beginning at Highland Park Middle School (7000 SW Wilson Avenue in Beaverton) and ending at Beaverton Farmers Market. The rides are on August 10, August 31, and September 14, meeting at 9:45 a.m. Follow Ride Westside on Instagram for updates and more information.