June 8, 2009

Kids' Ride!

Cirque du Cycling, June 13th, is a full day of bike fair action along Mississippi Avenue. The Family Ride is a 3.2 mile course starts at Self Enhancement, Inc. (SEI) and is perfect for all ages and abilities. The course will wind through the residential streets of Boise-Elliot up to Peninsula Park for a fun rest stop, then loops back to SEI.

The ride is free and it's a great warm-up for Sunday Parkways. It's free! From 12-3 there is a Fun Zone hosted at Grand Central Baking on Fremont, so kids can deck out their bikes in style. The Family Ride will make a stop at the Fun Zone on the way to the parade, for people who are interested in continuing the biking fun and riding in the Art Bike Parade. Register for all this fun today >>

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June 1, 2009

All Ladies Tall Bike Troupe

Get ready to see the amazing feats of the Irondelles, the all-ladies tall bike troupe that's getting ready to strut their stuff as they roll along Mississippi Ave. as a part of the Cirque du Cycling Art Bike Parade on June 13th. The parade features all sorts of amazing art and freak bikes: bikes that swing side to side, bikes that look like sculpture, and bikes so tall they look like they'd be impossible to ride.

The Irondelles will be riding those tall bikes in their impressive costumery. (pictured here is Irondelle Tia welding her tall bike). This group of women has been honing their tall bike riding skills and will roll in style. Come out to participate or just to watch. You don't need to be an official club or group, you just need to have the gumption to organize a coordinated group of bikers, even if you're just riding those normal two-wheeled commuters that most of us have.

MORE INFO >>

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June 13, 2008

Here Come the Freak Bikes

The freak bikes are coming out on Saturday (June 14) for Cirque du Cycling, a bicycle street fair. Tall bikes, swing bikes, choppers and more will be out in force to parade down Mississippi Avenue and strut their stuff.

One of Portland's longest-standing bike clubs, the venerable Belligerantes, spent the last two weeks shining up their vintage Schwinn Sting-Ray for the affair. I spent some time catching up with Craig Babb, one of the founding members of the 12 yr. old club.

Where'd the name come from?
Belligerantes is sort of a mix of Belligerent Vigilantes. We are Portland's only all Schwinn bike club.

Tell us more about your rides
We roll on customized vintage Schwinn's. Our motto is 'If it ain't Schwinn, don't bring it in. Mike "The Commander" developed what we call the Mega-Ray, reproducing the look and feel of the classic Sting-Ray on full sized adult frames.

What do you have planned for the parade?
As parade veterans, we have a well rounded, crowd pleasing display of stunts, tricks and maneuvers. At the very least, our classic American steel and chrome wows the crowd every time. By the way, we proudly took home a first place ribbon in the St. Johns Parade this year.

So why Schwinns?
It is our unending goal to promote the Mega-Ray as the most desirable mode of urban transport, maintaining the preferred style of the vintage Schwinn, as well as celebrating the overall joy and festiveness of bicycle riding.

We look forward to seeing you out there!

The Cirque du Cycling parade takes place at 5:00 on Mississippi Avenue in North Portland. A full day of festivities is planned. See the website for details.

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June 10, 2008

Racer Profile: Mark Ginsberg

Mark Ginsberg is a bike lawyer, a dad and a racer who loves it all: "The competition, the speed, pushing myself to develop further as an athlete and mainly I love riding my bicycle. Racing gives me one great opportunity to do that."

In 2007 Mark won the Health Net Portland Twilight Crit for cat 3. So how did it feel to win that prestigious race? "I was very happy to win that race," Mark says. "I love that course. My first ever cat 3 race was on a different version of that course, and in 1994 I won the Mayor's Cup as a cat 3 on yet another version of the same course. I've also crashed coming out of what was last year's final corners, so I have a lot of history on that course.

"I was a cat 2 from 1996-2006," Mark says, "but they let me downgrade because of being a busy dad. Because I won the Twilight Crit, I was sent back up to the big show." Which means that Mark will be racing as a cat 2 at the Cirque du Cycling criterium, a bicycle street fair on North Mississippi, this Saturday. And Mark is ready for the challenge, "I hope to have a good placing. Top 10 would be good. Top 5 would be great!"

Mark says he's confident he'll do well, but admits a little rain wouldn't hurt:

"I race well in wet conditions. But if I were a horse I don't know that I'd be a mudder because I am pretty bad at cyclocross." Mark likes the looks of the course for Cirque and loves any race where there is a big crowd. "As a racer, while you might not hear a particular person cheering for you, you do hear the crowd as a whole, and it adds a lot of excitement.

Through his many years in racing, Mark has seen quite a change in the sport. "The number of races and the number of racers has grown very dramatically through the years, which is great to see. People who are 'weekend warriors' are trying different types of bicycle racing from road bikes to cyclocross to track."

You can catch Mark later this summer at the State Track Championships and the State Master Track Championship.

And be sure to head out to Cirque du Cycling, taking place on North Mississippi Avenue this Saturday, June 14th. The day begins with a free family ride at 4pm, there's a freak bike parade at 5pm and the racing starts at 6:30pm. There is also entertainment by the Sprockettes bicycle dance troupe and the SEI Soul Choir and Drum Corps. The exhibitor area features bike art, custom-made bike apparel like cycling hats from Shaun Deller and much more. Best of all, it's free.

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June 9, 2008

The Circus is Coming to Town

The circus is coming to Mississippi Avenue and you definitely don't want to miss the fun at Cirque du Cycling on June 14, a wild bicycle street festival. Whether you like racing, freak bikes, riding your bike with the kids, listening to music or the intense beat of a drum corps, there is plenty to do and see all day. The evening event kicks off with a free three-mile family ride that takes kids and parents on a leisurely, safe, residential course to Peninsula Park and back. This escorted ride is a great way to kick off a summer of family riding and there is a rest stop at the park.

Later on, the freak bikes come out as the Last Regiment drummers and bike clubs parade down Mississippi. This is your chance to see some of the wackiest bikes imaginable: like looming high tall bikes, choppers and swing bikes. There is still room in the parade, so if you and your biking friends want to march as a team, club, or just as a group of people who love riding bikes together, see the website for details and sign up before midnight on the 12th.

In the evening, the street shuts down to all but the fastest racers as they zoom by in both directions on Mississippi for a super fast criterium street race. The course features tight turns and plenty of solid racing action with some of the area's most skillful racers competing for cash and prizes.

There will also be performances all day by the Sprockettes bicycle dance troupe, the SEI Soul Choir and the SEI Drum Corps. Exhibitors, food vendors and a beer garden will line the streets. Bring the whole family, bring your friends, head to the beer garden and get ready for a full evening of bicycle fun in the sun on Mississippi Avenue!

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May 27, 2008

Free Family Ride

Nothin' says summer quite like a leisurely ride with your kids... or maybe a ride with your kids and 200 of other people's kids. That's what the folks at Cirque du Cycling have planned for June 14th and it looks like it's going to be a hoot. The family ride starts out from Self Enhancement, Inc. in North Portland and heads up residential streets to Peninsula Park for a Cherry Pit (rest) Stop hosted by spud! organic delivery. After that the ride returns back to SEI where kids and parents will hustle over to North Mississippi Ave. to watch the nation's largest parade of freak bikes galore.

It's all part of a day of fun that culminates in a criterium street race at night with pro racers going at top speeds in both directions right down the middle of Mississippi Ave. It's sure to be a TON of fun, so don't miss out.

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May 21, 2008

Easy Bike Work Available

Good Sport Promotion is looking for people to bike around the city and help distribute materials for bike events. We call that easy bikey work - and on a nice day it can be really fun. They have distribution work available to drop off posters and flyers for two really cool benefit events: Cirque du Cycling and The Night Ride. If you're interested, get in touch via e-mail: Distro [at] GoodSportPromotion.com

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April 24, 2008

Calling all bike clubs

Oregon has a wealth of totally awesome bike clubs doing all sorts of neat tricks, and Cirque du Cycling on June 14th will bring them all together for the nation's largest bike pride parade. The parade takes place on Mississippi Avenue in Portland.

Cirque du Cycling, a Mississippi bike fair in support of Self Enhancement Inc., features a family ride, the parade and criterium with two-way racing.

For more info, to register to race or for the parade, see their website

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December 22, 2006

Poster Contest

There are just a few days left in the Cirque du Cycling poster contest. See full details here.

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November 9, 2006

Cirque du Cycling Poster Contest

What would the poster for a cycling street circus look like? That's what the organizers of Cirque du Cycling want to know - and they want to see your designs. Cirque du Cycling, presented by Laughing Planet, is a bike street fair and criterium June 16th on Mississippi Avenue in Portland. All contest entrants will receive a free pass to the Worst Day of the Year Ride on February 11th. The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to Laughing Planet, a $50 gift certificate to Missing Link Toys and two free passes to the Worst Day of the Year Ride.

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