This is where I am from…

Each year Portland, Oregon celebrates Pedalpalooza to celebrate cyclists, their right to share the road and for that road to be safe and simply for people’s love of bikes in Portland. Or in their own words, the event “highlights the vulnerability of cyclists everywhere and decries society’s dependence on pollution-based transport.”After all, Portlanders love their bikes. In fact the city is considered the most bike-to-work friendly city in the US.In fact, “Portland is No. 1 for bike commuting in the United States, according to 2010 Census figures for cities with more than 250,000 workers. A study of the data by Bloomberg Rankings shows that bicycles carry 5.4 percent of workers in Portland, ahead of second-place San Francisco, at 3 percent. Seattle is third at 2.8 percent, and Washington, D.C., is fourth, with 2.2 percent.” (St. Augustine.com) The only city that has more bike commuters in the US than Portland, is New York City!

Pedalpalooza has grown each year since its inception in 2002 as “Bike Summer“. This years events have over 295 different events packed into three weeks (give or take a few days). One of the most popular events is World Naked Bike Ride Portland. Portland has held a World Naked Bike Ride since 2004 (DigitalJournal). Here is a video from the last year that I was in Portland…

Each year it grows and it is arguably the largest gathering of its kind in the world. I participated one year, albeit not entirely naked because a) it was very cold that June night, and b) because I didn’t want to even potentially threaten future job prospects as a future k-12 educator. It was a lot of fun and I really loved the community and comradery that I felt that night. It was also invigorating to take over the streets being naked or near naked and on two wheels. I used to participate in the monthly Critical Mass bike rides in 2003, which also felt like we were taking back the streets, which was amazing.

I miss the annual bike events in Portland. I miss riding my bike in Portland. Summers in Portland are pretty amazing and for the most part free with tons of superb activities for everyone…I miss that too.

Here is an excellent account of the most recent World Naked Bike Ride (2012) so you can better understand where I come from, which inspired me to write these words now…so you should check out the article!

❤ Bike Love! ❤

❤ Portland ❤