PDX Files: Multnomah County Bike Fair

As a public service, let us alert you first that traveling by Amtrak in the summer is different than other times. The trains get full up days in advance, as do the bike racks in the baggage car. (You can take your bike on the train for just $5 each way.) Then, because Amtrak is understaffed, all sorts of things begin to break down -- if you're us, the wrong part of your ticket gets ripped checking in and then the ticket-taker stops the whole boarding line to berate "that clown" who did it wrong and people stare at you with ill-disguised hatred.

Anyhoo, from June 7-23, Portland was enjoying Pedalpalooza 2007, sponsored by S H I F T. We caught the tail end, the Multnomah County Bike Fair, which was less a traditional fair (prizes, displays, judges) than a party in a park that everyone biked to. Most of the action was centered around the beer garden and a "center ring" in which you could watch Tall Bike Jousting, Eating by Bike, Skid Competition, and Bike the Bag, among other non-sanctioned bike sports. We were hoping for more from the booths (bikes supplies, repairs), though there was one with a bike-powered blender that offered smoothies and you don't see that every day. Admit it, you don't. When they began a competition called Chariot Whiplash -- which seemed to involve tying two bikes together and riding off in opposite directions -- we became alarmed and pedaled off. Portlanders are crazy.