Ride Report: Pedalpalooza Kickoff Ride 2015
Pedalpalooza season has started! This glorious season of June includes over 250 cycling events and rides beginning with the Kickoff Ride on Thursday June 4th of which I am writing about and culminating with the Multnomah County Bike Fair in the afternoon and World Naked Bike Ride on the evening of June 27th.
To put it in short, and I would be hard pressed to find anyone that would disagree with me – it was, as usual, a great experience to be out on that gorgeously warm June evening with what was estimated as around 1,000 cyclists from all walks of life, communities, ethnicity (though mostly white, because you know. . . Portland.) As many describe, the Kickoff Ride is like the “coming together of the tribes” though when I say that, it makes me think of that scene in “The Warriors” when all the gangs come together and you have The Orphans that are all wearing jeans and filthy, dirty [what used to be] white shirts; the Baseball Furries in their NY Yankee inspired uniforms; the Boppers, the Lizzies, the Jones Street Boys. . . ugggghh. . . I guess it is EXACTLY like the coming together of the tribes.
It was great to see so many members of the PDX Cargo Bike Gang there, the Dropout Bike Club, Ride Yr Bike, (who hosted the event) and many, many others. Especially since I have been dealing with a lot of chronic pain and illness for the last several months and haven’t been doing a lot of social activities or riding; this was not only my summer debut, but my Kinn’s debut, which we had just finished putting together a couple days prior. (But more on that later.)
I want to share this video of our shear force that was added to the event page post-ride excitement by Andrew Havas. I have no idea who he is but did have a chance to talk to him for a moment on the ride. If he sees this and wants to send me a ping, I’ll mail him some stickers if he’s interested. Thanks for taking this video!
For the most part, with so many people, as far as I could tell it went off without too much of a hitch. We started at Salmon St Fountain at Waterfront Park, got a chance to check out the “Better Naito” wider bike lane downtown before heading across the Burnside Bridge. There was one driver that got a little aggro and tried to go through us all, despite the fact there were a thousand of us and one of him.
This is where it gets weird. Technically he did have the light. However, there was nowhere for him to go. I hesitate to use the phrase “critical mass” because we don’t do that here in Portland, but as far as the reality of this situation; the artery was clogged. Unless he wanted to plow through a thousand people, he was dead in the water. Utilitarianism, G.F. Hegel, and you know. . . Spock would agree that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. This has nothing to do with being a liberal douchebag and everything to do with transporting 1,000 people over a bridge efficiently without someone getting their dick in a twist. Plus, there are like nine other bridges in Portland. If you are really, really in a hurry, detour. Trust me, not everyone is as thrilled about Fleet Week, the Rose Festival, and the thousands of dollars the city spends on the cluster fuck of festivals and commuting nightmares that aren’t bike related. You move here because it’s a community-oriented town/city. Small-friendly feeling and then complain when quirky things happen? Leave. That simple. (Thank you to the corker, a good friend of mine, who took the time to calmly explain what was going on and why he was blocking the truck. Thanks for your patience in a stressful situation)
Shake it off Halley. Breathe.
Anyway, the rest of the ride was epic. People were high-fiving us from their cars. Coming out of stores and restaurants waving at us. What I particularly liked was that one store owner was dragging out a mannequin and draping it with lovely scarves and trinkets as we were riding by. Impromptu marketing opportunity! Rocking it!
Since we became so spread out on the route, we took a spin through Lone Fire Cemetery which was a great way to get out of traffic and regroup, slow down, find our friends again and take a moment before venturing on to Base Camp Brewing. A lot of people stopped there for food, drink and friends. After a minute the ride continued on for another massive trip. (I did not go on that portion of the journey but heard that it was also stellar and ended in grilling, fire pits and fun.)
All in all, a great beginning to Pedalpalooza! This year’s kickoff was a success!