Towards Carfree: From geeks to freaks, a look at Portland bicycle cultureSteven T. Jones reports from the Towards Carfree Cities conference
Pedaling past a reclaimed intersection.
Culture creates the conditions to develop carfree spaces, and the bicyclist culture in Portland is rich and varied, running from the grungy Zoobombers to bike geeks like Mia Birk, all of whom were on vivid display Friday for a scorching Summer Solstice.
The Towards Carfree Cities conference wrapped up with a choice of mobile workshops around town, including the Transportation Geeks Bike Ride put on by Birk’s company, Alta Planning & Design. We pedaled down special bicycle boulevards, past bike traffic signals, colored lanes, bike boxes (which Clarence Eckerson with Streetfilms was very excited about), contra-flow lanes, and other traffic engineering feats before ending where all journeys here seem to, at a brewpub.
But for all the traffic improvements, we were still faced with many car-clogged roadways and dangerous intersections, although made a bit less so by the tendency of most Portland motorists to yield to bicyclists with a friendly wave and smile.
As the shortest night of the year began, colorful cyclists seemed to take over the streets, pedaling in small groups and huge, slow-moving packs. Four different Pedalpalooza rides all started around 9 o’clock in the hip southeast section of the city: Sexy Cyclist Karaoke 2 Karaoke, Dropout Bike Club’s monthly ride, Bowie vs. Prince Mobile Dance Party, and Solstice Ride.
The rides converged into one as they ascended volcanic Mt. Tabor just after midnight, still several hundred strong and acting as if they owned the night, which they really seemed to. But not everyone agrees with that pecking order, as we learned when a motorist threw a box of tacks into the street, flattening several bike tires.
Bike geeks at the Steel Bridge, a railroad bridge with added bike path.
I’ve been listening to transportation geekspeak for the last week, and not just in the conference sessions. People such as Dave Snyder – the longtime San Francisco Bicycle Coalition director who then started Transportation for Livable City before landing at SPUR – and many others on this trip live and breathe this stuff, with even some drunken late night conversations descending into topics like LOS reform, separate bike lanes vs. simple lines, federal ISTEA laws, and the state of the political movement pushing these issues.
So the late night bike rides with young, carefree, carfree Portlanders was a welcome chance to just pedal, dance, and enjoy the city. Some of this is not about struggle, but about love. Atop Mt. Tabor, the Solstice Ride celebrated a couple of Portland crunchies who had met on this ride two years ago and gotten married on it a year ago was renewing their vows this year. Punks can be cute, too.
But the Dropout kids weren’t really having much of that, instead sectioned off for a photo shoot that involved the women being topless and many of the guys with pants down – with many of the private bits already adorned with painted messages and designs. It seems to be a thing here. Earlier in the week at the Mt. Tabor Saloon’s weekly tricycle races, there was also a young crowd of bike punks, with the winner of the races – beautiful young Lady G, who had also been on the more earnest Depaving Ride a few hours earlier – completing some of her laps sans shirt.
Portland doesn’t have the same level nightlife of San Francisco, so they tend to make their own fun here, and the result seems to be a large community of bicyclists that has become very engaged with the struggle for street equity. And there are enough of them to cover multiple events and fronts.
Today, even though much of the community is focused on the Ciclovia, which consists of a six-mile loop of roadways closed to cars, there’s also a Zoobomb Century ride, a tweak on the normal Sunday Zoobomb (in which groups of people bomb down the hill from the Zoo on little kids bikes, which they lock into big clunks) involving repeated trek up the light rail then down the mountain until they reach 100 miles.
Yeah, that’s just Portland.
A car burned in front of my hotel and we had nothing to do with it, really.
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Comments (9)
re: the tricycle races--the winner was lady JAY--and she totally whipped my ass!
Posted by Justa | June 23, 2008 02:54 PM
The Steel Bridge pictured in the article isn't just a "railroad bridge", it's completely multi-modal. The top deck carries cars, trucks, Tri-Met buses and the MAX light rail. The lower deck carries UP and BNSF freight trains and Amtrak passenger trains. A catwalk attached to the lower deck services bicycles and pedestrians (as do sidewalks on the upper deck), and the two decks lift independently of each other to accommodate river traffic, including US Navy ships during fleet week. (The only time both decks generally need to be raised) The bridge is unique, and carries nearly every type of surface traffic ever devised. It's even possible that the Portland Police have ridden their horses on it at some point.
-matt p
Portland resident
Posted by matt picio | June 24, 2008 03:09 PM
Check out Zoobomb.net people!
Posted by zoobomb | June 24, 2008 04:01 PM
Thanks for sharing in our love, but if there's one thing we're not, it's crunchy! We're definitely soft and chewy!
If you'd like to see some more bike love, check out bikeportland.org's coverage of the big event!
http://bikeportland.org/2007/06/22/congratulations-tiago-and-adriane/
Love, and be Ridiculous!
Drica DeJerk
Posted by Drica DeJerk | June 24, 2008 04:49 PM
great article. I'm slowly becoming more open and accepting to my neighbors in the south moving into my wonderful city. But for the love of humanity and the environment leave your bloody cars and suburbs in LA. And try not to drive our prices up too much. Ok. BIG HUG
Posted by nate | June 25, 2008 01:41 AM
Good stuff.
There are actually a few different types of bike cultures, the ones with the spandex suits, the bmx rides, mountain bikers, people who don't have/need/want a car and people that collect vintage bicycles. Probably some more I have missed too.
Posted by vintagebicycle.org | June 26, 2008 03:18 PM
Lovely article! I'm glad you enjoyed our bike love. Jay, our boobies are great...those photo's are hilarious! I'd also like to point out that this "night life" you speak of = too much money spent in dumb loud life sucking bars, while bikes + (store bought) booze= free (or inexpensive) new sceneries every night with entertaining friends, loved ones and no pressure! So Amazing!!!
Posted by Android | June 27, 2008 11:23 AM
Yes, I did enjoy your bike love, thanks for a great week, everyone. As for nightlife, I agree that DIY fun is great and better than "life sucking bars," but Portland does seem to go to sleep by 1 a.m., which is when SF really comes to life in some great after hours clubs and groovy underground parties that take place every weekend. Not a judgment, just an observation.
Posted by Steven T. Jones | June 27, 2008 11:54 AM
BMX upin PDX hit up your-inn.com
Posted by Brendan Vail | June 27, 2008 05:29 PM