Lulu Johnson knows how important it is to vote. (Photo: Kiel Johnson)
This election has many of us on edge. And what better activity to help our moods than a bike ride? Especially one that combines our election enthusiasm with cycling.
Portlander and creative bike activist extraordinaire Kiel Johnson is organizing a ‘Bike the Vote’ ride that will be a combination get-out-the-vote and political advertising campaign. Riders will slow-roll through neighborhoods to remind folks to vote while their bicycles will be adorned with political signs of all stripes.
“While the ride is non-political,” Johnson shared with us, “you are welcome to decorate your bike with signs of campaigns you support and we will have some signs on hand as well.”[Read more…]
The finish line, usually at Holladay Park in northeast Portland, will be wherever you want it to be this year. (Photo: Cascade Bicycle Club)
One of the largest and most well-known group bike rides in the Pacific Northwest won’t let Covid-19 get in the way of its 41st year.
Cascade Bicycle Club announced today that the 200-mile Seattle-to-Portland (STP) ride will be a “virtual challenge” this year. 2020 will be only the second year the ride has been cancelled, with the other time being the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980.
This year’s STP will begin on July 18th and you’ll have until August 5th to complete the ride. Registered participants will create their own challenge — like 200 miles in 1 day or 10 miles a day for 20 days — and then log miles online and watch a “virtual challenge unfold” as they earn badges for reaching the traditional food stops along the route. The virtual journey will share bits about the history of STP and the places it rolls through.[Read more…]
Climate change activism group Sunrise PDX is hosting an info session tomorrow (6/17) on Metro’s Get Moving 2020 transportation funding bond measure.
It’s been easy to forget with the pandemic and protests dominating the news since March, but Metro still hopes to put this measure on the ballot in November. If all goes according to plan it will raise $3.1 billion for infrastructure projects, including $975 million for the new SW Corridor MAX light rail line.
“Now more than ever the intersectionality of environmental justice, racial justice and transportation justice is a major key in how our city proceeds with its priorities,” reads a description of the event. “Feedback about the anti-oppression and community engagement portions of this bond will be an especially important part of how we move forward.” [Read more…]
Pedalpalooza will look and feel a lot different this year, but organizers have done an amazing job putting together something that could be every bit as memorable.
Because Covid-19 is still very much a concern and riding in groups is still a bad idea, the name of the game this year is that daily themes and sharing rides digitally will create some of the community connections we so badly crave. The official Pedalpalooza calendar is full with a different theme for each day of the five week, 35-day festival and it all begins this Monday, June 1st.
Lead organizer Meghan Sinnott says only one of the days is Portland-specific, which means people from anywhere around the region (or globe!) can join in the fun. “The theme days are meant to inspire cyclists everywhere. This year, for instance, we’ve had a spike of interest from the west side (Tualatin mostly), Vancouver and Clackamas,” she said. [Read more…]
