Note: I'm currently on a family trip and not working normal hours. Email and message responses will be delayed and story and posting volumes here and on our social media accounts will not be at their usual levels until I return to Portland September 4th. Thanks for your patience and understanding. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
Dan Kaufman of CrankMyChain Cycle TV has put together this fun Mini Bike Winter promotional video. It includes footage from last night’s Zoobomb (can you say cold and gravelly?), deep thoughts from Zoobombers, and narration from a strange-sounding Reverend Phil.
New to Zoobomb’s Mini-Bike Winter this year are the much-anticipated Chariot Wars (yes chariots, as in Ben Hur). To help ready the masses for this series of competitions a chariot building workshop was held over the weekend. Attendees were given a handout that covered all the various design and welding issues one might face when … Read more
[The Chariot Wars are coming.] Portland’s mini-bike enthusiasts (a.k.a. the Zoobombers) are busy planning their biggest and baddest ever Mini Bike Winter. The event, a “bike-centric series of events celebrating human powered culture,” will take place February 17-19th. I attended a recent planning meeting to get the lowdown and now I understand what one Zoobomber … Read more
[Photo by Felix] Last week, a group of Zoobombers met with with Portland’s art rack coordinator and Transportation Options manager Linda Ginenthal in a conference room at PDOT headquarters. The meeting was called to garner feedback from Ginenthal on potential designs (see below) and locations for a new Zoobomb bike rack. Next week, Ginenthal will … Read more
[Zoobomber “Handsome” Dave] Acclaimed movie director Gus Vant Sant — who won was nominated for an Academy Award for Good Will Hunting — has tapped the Zoobombers for an upcoming performance piece with the BodyVox dance company. Van Sant and the Zoobombers will be guest artists at First Impressions V. 5, a show that runs … Read more
[One idea for newZoobomb bike rack] The iconic Zoobomb Pile (a.k.a. the “Holy Rack” or the “People’s Bike Library of Greater Portland”) is in for a major change. Tuesday night, in a rare showing of cohesion, 20 Zoobombers met in a downtown restaurant to discuss potential new locations for the pile and share design ideas … Read more
[The Zoobomb Pyle] The Zoobomb Pyle—which Zoobombers call the “People’s Bike Library of Greater Portland”—is much more than a bunch of mini-bikes, it’s an icon that symbolizes one of Portland’s proud traditions. It’s also an important part of the weekly ride that zooms from the Zoo into downtown. The bikes in the Pyle are loaners … Read more
[Ready, set, Zoobomb] This weekend Zoobombers celebrate their fourth anniversary with two days of mini-bike madness known as the BIFFday Summer Olympics. On Saturday they’ll assemble at Colonel Summers Park (SE 20th and Belmont) at 2:00 for events like mini-bike polo, chicken races (where mini-bikers duel with someone riding on their shoulders), and the ominous-sounding … Read more
[See the interviewon CrankMyChain! TV] Filmmaker Dan Kaufman visited injured Zoobomber Reverend Phil in the hospital last night. Rev Phil suffered a “spiral fracture” of two bones in his leg after crashing on Sunday’s Zoobomb run. Kaufman has posted the video interview on his website. When asked about the alleged ice-throwing that led to his … Read more
[Rev Phil on a recent Zoobomb] Last night’s weekly Zoobomb run turned ugly when someone hurled ice at approaching riders. The ice cause several major crashes, including a “nasty” compound leg fracture to local cycling personality and film promoter Reverend Phil. Here’s the word I got from a Zoobomber who was on the ride: “Last … Read more
[Zoobombers on Burnside.] Highway 26 leading into downtown Portland is a traditional route sometimes used by Zoobombers. They call it “the Hellway” and it is simultaneously feared and revered by many. While it’s usually legal to ride bikes on Highway 26, because of a sewer construction project, currently the Hellway route is off-limts. In early … Read more
[You gotta love her committment.] Yesterday I finally got around to checking out the Zoobomb crew. I’d just finished grooving with Mobile Mystery Dance Party and headed up the hill to Washington Park to see what they were up to. I wasn’t on a mini-bike like last time, but it was fun just being up … Read more
Comment of the Week: Gratitude for N/NE Broadway project