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…]

A Reed College graduate who has gone on to be a leading voice on the intersection of racism and transportation reform advocacy will join Portland-based Microcosm Publishing for a live event on YouTube later today (5/28).

Adonia Lugo earned a degree from Reed in 2005 then went on to earn a Masters Degree and PhD in anthropology from UC Irvine. She spent two years as manager of the equity initiative at the League of American Bicyclists. Her book, Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, & Resistance was published by Microcosm in 2018.

Lugo is also one of the organizers behind Untokening, a group that has risen to prominence in transportation reform circles for work that, “Centers the lived experiences of marginalized communities to address mobility justice and equity.”[Read more…]

A few recent “tags” uploaded to BikeTag.org.

A fun game that encourages people to get out and ride bikes might help cure your cooped-up coronavirus blues. And two Portlanders are leading the charge to introduce it to more players.

Bike Tag is a simple game where one person (who’s “it”) posts an image of their bike at a mystery location. Then another player must find the location, bike there, and take a picture of their own bike in the same spot. The player then rides to a new location, takes a photo and uploads both photos (the location they found, and the new one) to a website and the fun starts all over again. [Read more…]

“We’re facing challenges unlike any we’ve ever felt before.”
— Steve Schulz, Cycle Oregon executive director

Photo: Cycle Oregon riders near Farewell Bend State Park in 2015. (J. Maus/BikePortland)

If you were holding out hope that Cycle Oregon would somehow be the savior of your 2020 riding season, I have some bad news.[Read more…]

In very unsurprising news, the Portland Bureau of Transportation announced yesterday that the May and June editions of Sunday Parkways will not take place. At least not in their usual, party-in-the-streets format.

“We cannot gather on our streets right now, but we’re not giving up on this tradition!” Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said in a statement. The plan is to experiment with an all-digital event that, “maintains the community connection and active spirit that defines Sunday Parkways.”[Read more…]

Midnight streets are special streets.

The Midnight Mystery Ride is one of many Portland bike culture traditions that is being forced to reconcile with social distancing requirements during the Covid-19 outbreak.[Read more…]

“When shit goes down, bikes rise up.”

That’s the rally cry from Ayleen Crotty, one of Portland’s most dedicated and prolific purveyors of bike culture. Crotty’s Filmed by Bike started as a local event but has grown significantly in the past 18 years and now includes tour stops nationwide and an impressive list of submissions from around the world.

Originally scheduled for May 15-17th at the Hollywood Theater, the coronavirus pandemic has forced Crotty to postpone the event until September. But the world needs bike films now more than ever, so Crotty announced today she’ll host the Global Bike Festival on April 4th.

“I’m doing what I know how to do best in times of adversity,” she shared with me today. “Digging in on a new project, challenging myself to the max, and innovating. Here we go!”
[Read more…]