And also much too busy a time for me to spend even a moment writing an entry on this blog. In fact I think I can say that the past 2.5 weeks have been the busiest and most socially active such stretch of time in my entire life.
I'll try my best at a blow by blow recap:
Thursday 6/10: Pedalpalooza Kickoff parade, nice ride, lots of costumes and such, only a couple of traffic tickets handed out to participants.
Friday 6/11: Peninsula Park Pedal Picnic. "My" event. Got together last-minute items like cups and plates, painted a couple signs on reused vinyl banners, the Portland Transportation folks (Dat Nyguen and Barb Plummer) showed up at just past 5:00 and I helped them set up their helmet-giveaway hut just in time for the first family of helmet seekers to arrive. It was non-stop helmets, food, frisbees, triple-tandem riding and clowns from there on out.
Later that night: rode down to the Bar of the Gods on Hawthorne for the Midnight Mystery Ride led by Ben Salzburg. We ended up WAY down Southeast on the top of Kelly Butte. Didn't get home 'til 5:30 AM.
Saturday 6/12: slept awhile, then helped Babs (my housemate) prepare for the arrival of about 30 members of her family for a shin-dig, then meet-and-greeted most of them and tended the grill, then rode with friends Carye and Devon (me as "chaperone") down to the Pedalpalooza Dance Party at Center Space, 420 SE 6th. WOW what a great dance party! It was fun enough as it was, but at midnight over 100 of us disrobed and rode out on the World Naked Bike Ride. We rode all thru the Rose Fest area and past throngs of clubgoers in Oldtown and up Burnside, and let me tell ya it was the best public response of any ride I've ever been on. EVERYone loved it, male and female, young and old, even the police smiled and waved.
Sunday 6/13: Noon, went on the Radical History ride led by Kim from North Portland Bikeworks. Learned all sorts of fascinating history. Recounting it would be a small book and in fact you can buy it at Bikeworks.
Sun. Evening: went to a very enjoyable potluck party celebrating a wonderful person, Molly Sprengelmeyer, late of SCRAP and now much to many people's disappointment moved on to other adventures.
Monday 6/14: 11 am to 3pm, volunteered with SCRAP outreach team (led by Jess) at the Children's Museum. Led kids in Scrappy twister, tic-tac-toe and the concept of creative reuse.
Mon. night went to Eugene to spend a day taking care of material things and putting together a new issue of Perpetual Motion.
Tuesday 6/15: assembled the zine and then attended the open-house grand opening of Sue DeWhitt's big new super-duper place of business, the Active Life Wellness Center, a project by her and several other health/wellness practicioners. Great vibe, I'm sure they will all do great there.
Wednesday 6/16: back to Portland by 11:00 am for weekly gig volunteering at the SCRAP store.
Nothing that night: what did I do? I don't remember.
Thursday 6/17: Helped load the massive multi-bike electric generator onto Jeff Bernards' truck for transport to the Bike in Movie site.
SuperHero and Villian Ride. Departed from the Slammer Tavern, another crowd pleaser. I threw together a last-minute costume assortment that clashed so badly I instantly decided I was "The Clasher" or "Captain Clash" and so pasted a big "C" to my chest. Ended up winning one of two prizes for best costume.
Friday 6/18: 6 hours labor in the hot sun for Jeff Bernards, bikey and all-around great guy who runs a landscaping business. Got all scratched up but he pays fairly.
Amy Stork's Birthday: dinner at Cha Cha Cha's (better and more low-key than it sounds, a fairly basic Tacqueria) with cool folks, then rode down to the Bike-in Movie at the Hawthorne Hostel. I jumped in as an MC when various announcements had to be made. Sadly the bike-powered generator could not be made to function but the crowd was still treated to a showing of "The Triplets Of Bellville," about as bikey a movie as you could ever hope for.
After that, after-party at Ken's house. Good time.
Saturday 6/19: All afternoon attended the Kinetic Bike-mobile building party at Liberty Hall. Genius brainchild of uber-bikey person Sarah Stout, the giant (10 foot long?) paper mache kinetic bird. After being out all winter it needed all new paper mache over the wire super-structure. Plus I and several others built "baby Birds" (still each several feet long.)
Sat. night: mega Quadruple birthday party! Amy Stork, Ayleen Crotty, Elicia Cardenas and Ian Stude (hope I spelled that right!) , at Ian's house. GREAT party. I LOVE Geminis!
Sunday 6/20: Afternoon birthday brunch at Elicia's: highlights included a dress-rehearsal performance by the Sprockettes. WOW!
Monday 6/21: helped out with Mocktails on the Bridge (hauled bags of ice and a watermelon on my trailer) on the Hawthorne Bridge. We made lots of people happy with cold drinks and treats on a hot afternoon!
Tuesday 6/22: helped out at T-shirt printing party, silkscreening dozens of shirts for the Bike Fair on saturday. Fun time with good folks.
Tues. night: last minute putting together of my new zine issue so i can print, fold, staple tomorrow.
Wedneday 6/23: printed up zine at Documart, then midday volunteer gig at SCRAP, then went to the KNOW (on Alberta) to help Shawn Granton assemble copies of the Zinesters' Guide to Portland, then over the the CCC to ride down to Liberty Hall with Sarah Stout and a group of CCC bike-class kids led by Amy and Carlos of the CCC staff to decorate and put finishing touches on the Kinetic Bird, in preparation for the Kinetic parade thursday.
Wed. Evening: Alameda Ridge Cruise led by Shawn Granton, he did a fine job of pointing out interesting historical spots and ending up at the donut shop at 72nd and Sandy. Shawn and several others continued from there to the top of Rocky Butte to inaugarate the Urban Adventure League.
Thursday 6/24: Assembled with others at Liberty Hall for the Kinetic Bird scupture parade, all the big birds mounted up on bikes and paraded up and down Alberta past the last-thursday throngs. People LOVED it!
Friday 6/25: Stopped by the Portland Zine Symposium (Bird still attached to my bike on Bamboo Poles) to say hi to zinesters and drop off copies of Perpetual motion #2 at Shawn's table (thanks Shawn!)
Then Critical Mass, which i left after several blocks because the cops were making it no fun as usual and i just didn't feel like enduring them. I did show up later at the Memorial Ride gathering place at 39th and Belmont, 1 year anniversary of the fatal hit-and-run of bicyclists there.
Then attended with Carye, Devon, and visiting Santa Cruzian Jeff a wild sort of play in the park on 25th in Northwest. "Billy Blue and His Healing Hands." Hard to describe, sort of about a medicine show fraudster who undergoes an unwilling odyssey amongst ghosts, demons, and bears.
After that (still friday night) we put on striped clothes (I already had them on) and attended a Stripe party. Highlight though was crashing the more normal non-striped party next door to the Stripe party.
Saturday 6/26: Multnomah County Bike Fair!! Final and biggest Pedalpalooza event, got there by 7:45 AM to help with setup, it was nonstop from then till after midnight when i finally got home. Highlights included performances by the Radical Cheerleaders (including my workmate Chris New and several other friends both female and male,) the Sprockettes (hot hot HOT) and the Pheramones. I spontaneously entered the Bike Fashion Show, as I was wearing a fetching (or ridiculous) getup.
That was my Pedalpalooza, more or less. Pretty totally exhausted by the end of it, but it was all a total blast.
Now hard at work in Unit 5 of Peninsula Park Commons.
Is 2+ weeks of fun bike events, just kicked off. I organized the Peninsula Park Pedal Picnic this last Friday and it turned out great. Lots of kids got free bike helmets, there was good potluck food, the Brewzirkus Clowns rolled in on their tall bikes, people took test rides on a triple-tandem, frisbees flew, bocce balls rolled, it was a hoot.
After that I went on a Midnight Mystery Ride that ended up way down on Kelly Butte, up top where there's a tower and a strange concrete structure. Didn"t get home till 5:30 Am.
Saturday Night was the Pedalpalooza dance party and at midnight was the World Naked Ride. About 100 or more of us departed the dance party (at Center Space, 420 SE 6th) more or less entirely in the buff and rode across the river and past throngs of highly amused Rose Fest and club goers. Best public response of any ride I've ever been on.