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Happy Holidays!

This year is flying by faster than Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! You know what they say; time flies when you’re delivering sustainably! Here at Portland Pedal Power we’re gearing up for winter weather and getting ready for the holidays. As we get closer to the end of the year, we are serving up the best winter comfort foods Portland has to offer, to warm your bellies and make your day extra jolly.

Pacific Pie Co

 

Wintertime Winners:

  • Soup is the classic comfort food. Our friends at Supa have a mean Thai Ginger Chicken that is perfect for a cold winter day, along with plenty of other great flavors. 
  • Pacific pie has some amazing pies, both sweet and savory, that will make you feel like you’re back at your grandma’s on Christmas Eve!

    Supa

  • Any time of the year is a good time for sandwiches, but with the cold winds a blowin’, let a hot sandwich warm you up. Charlie’s Deli and Theo’s have what you need!
  • Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say… bring some sunshine to these cold winter days by ordering Ate-Oh-Ate Hawaiian Favorites!
  • Hot tamales! Be a holiday hero by ordering the office Tamale Boy or Mi Mero Mole.

 

Happy Holidays from Buddy!

There are plenty more great foods out there to warm you up this winter. Feel free to reach out for suggestions if you are stumped on what to serve for your holiday celebrations. We are happy to help you select the perfect meals to suit your specific situation. All you have to do is fill out a catering request form and the PPP team will make sure your team is elated with the holiday spread. Just let us know!

We hope these suggestions are helpful to maximize feel-goodness for your holiday feasting, and we at PPP wish you all very happy holidays! Be safe, have fun, and share lots of good soul-warming comfort food!


We Are the Champions!

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Aidan and Brook are so happy!

Cue your favorite celebratory Queen song, because we won the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) Bike More Challenge for our division this year! We were neck in neck with Shower’s Pass just about the whole month of May, still we managed to pull ahead in the final hour, beating them by a mere 200 miles and change.

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Courtney, Jenn, and Ken at the Reach the Beach ride, from Portland to the Coast, May 21st.

One of the things that helped us squash our friends at Shower’s Pass, is that we had four of our staff members in the Reach the Beach ride on May 21st — a 100 mile ride from Portland to Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon Coast. So that right there is a whopping 400 miles racked up in one weekend!

Of course, we were able to count all rides this year (unlike previous years of the challenge which only counted commute miles), meaning we racked up a good deal of miles on our standard delivery routes. Each of our riders averages approximately 10-15 miles per shift, which works out to about 1250-1500 delivery miles per month. Over the course of the year, we save approximately 10 metric tons of CO2 delivering food by bicycle.

Aside from the satisfying triumph of crushing our opponents in thundering defeat, we really enjoyed participating in the Bike More Challenge this year, which had record numbers of participants and was easier to use (with integrated apps like Moves and Strava to track mileage). As usual, the BTA does an awesome job of bicycle advocacy and community building.

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Donuts help soothe the sounds of deafening defeat.

So, like all gracious and triumphant champions should, we rode our bikes down to Shower’s Pass last Friday (National Donut Day) with a dozen Delicious Donuts especially for them. Hopefully this was some consolation.

We will be out at the Bike More Awards Street Party tomorrow evening with donated goodies from Delicious Donuts, Pearl Bakery, Sterling Catering and Cookies, Ruby Jewel, and Happy Sparrow. We’ll be right next to the Nossa Familia table (who we also deliver from). Come say hi, eat a donut, and ask to see our giant trophy!

Info about the party:
Link to invite: Here
Wednesday, June 8 from 5-7:30 p.m.
Where: SE 6th Ave between Showers Pass & Islabikes
Who: All Bike More Challenge participants!

Featuring:
Beer & Pizza! Ice cold Hopworks beer ($5 each or $10 for a refillable pint glass) and FREE Hotlips pizza. Plus a raffle where you can win a  REN Cycles WAYPOINT bike or a Sugar Wheel Works wheel set!

 

 


Maximize Your Weekend, PDX

Hope to see you this weekend at Sunday Parkways!

Summer in Portland means patios, rivers, bikes, and beer. It means: get busy and get outside. This weekend Portland Pedal Power will be out in maximum, cruising our big bikes round a handful of hot summer happenings. On Saturday we will be hitting the Saturday Market and the Oregon Brewer’s Festival riverside at Waterfront Park. You can easily do both on Saturday and still have time to hit the PSU Farmers Market to shop for dinner (if you’re not too sauced!).

On Sunday, we’ll be riding the Sunday Parkways NE route in style with our Point West bikes. Sunday Parkways is an excellent event for the family or a daytime date and you’ll score lots of free stuff from vendors along the way. We will be stopping occasionally to hand out sunglasses and blinky bike lights to spread the word about the #DriveHope Campaign. There’s always a good smattering of yummy food cart options too.

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Get your golf on at the Portland Classic, coming up

Summer in Portland also means planning ahead. Weekends fill up quick! We will be cruising all these events to help promote the upcoming Cambia Portland Classic, the longest-running non-major tournament on the LPGA tour, returning to Columbia Edgewater Country Club August 13-16. This will be the 44th year that the LPGA has come to Portland, and it’s getting better every year.

Last year some of Portland’s most iconic food carts were added, including KOi Fusion and Retrolicious, returning this year. The Craft Beer center will also return this year, featuring some of the Northwest’s best microbrews. The tournament promises to feature many of the worlds best golfers.

This year they’ve added the Portland Classic Sprint to the Green 5K, a race on the golf course prior to the final round on Sunday, August 16. Tickets for the event are available online at portlandclassic.com. Weekly passes are $25 and daily tickets are $10, and children 17 and under are free. All ticket proceeds go to charity.

Get crackin’ Portland! Summer doesn’t last forever!

 


Kalé: The Ultimate Japanese Comfort Food in PDX

I’ll be honest, when I think “Japanese Food,” the first thing that comes to mind is sushi. But did you know sushi doesn’t come close to the most common food you would find in a Japanese home? Makoto Yoshino knew we were all missing out on one of the best meals Japan gets to enjoy, and set out to change that.

That’s why we are very happy to deliver for Kalé, a Portland Restaurant serving a traditional Japanese dish you are going to absolutely love! Check out their video to learn a little bit about Kalé:

Kalé is a Japanese comfort food, dating all the way back to the year 1863, where Hiizu Miyake discovered the dish during a trip to Europe. Because of this history, it has traditionally been considered a European dish. During the last 100 years, it has gained popularity in Japan that it is now considered a national dish, developing into many different forms.

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PPP Partners with Dinner Delivery Specialist Dine In 2Nite

Right on the tails of our new prepared take-home dinner program, Portland Pedal Power has teamed up with east side dinner delivery chef service, Dine In 2Nite. After launching his business in early 2012, owner David Baer was certain his new subscription dinner delivery service would appeal to singles, seniors, new parents, and pretty much every busy person in Portland who wanted to improve their dinnertime routine.  And while his inner east side clients have grown steadily over the year-and-a-half he’s been in business, his operation was too small to handle the added demand of beckoning consumers downtown and in the Pearl District.

That’s where we came in. After months of turning away inquiries from hungry professionals looking for better options for getting a decent, affordable dinner after a long day’s work, Dine In 2Nite contacted PPP to help expand their reach. (more…)


Vendor Spotlight: Sushi Park

Sushi Park LogoIn our quest to bring you more of your favorite foods by bicycle, your friendly neighborhood delivery riders at Portland Pedal Power are constantly looking for more restaurants to partner with. That means more of the best local restaurants are being added to our ever-growing list of vendors. One of those new vendors is Sushi Park, a fresh, creative Japanese restaurant serving downtown Portland from their location at 1503 SW Park Avenue.

Sushi Park’s owner, Jet, is an innovative young man with plenty of ideas that spice up his restaurants’ menu. Jet created the Sushi Park Roll and the PSU Roll, which are the most popular sushi rolls among local students and Portland residents. The Sushi Park Roll is a shrimp tempura roll with avocado, cucumber, creamy scallops, masago & crunchy flakes. The PSU Roll comes with real crab, spicy shrimp, avocado and carrots and it topped with mayo and spicy, crunchy flakes. Sushi Park’s sushi sauce is home-made to make the sushi rolls extra yummy and unique.

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Pastini Pastaria Partners with PPP!

Pastini PastariaPastini Pastaria, Portland’s Italian restaurants with a passion for pasta, have joined Portland Pedal Power’s list of eateries delivered by bike. Pastini’s name references the small, neighborhood bistros of Italy that serve a variety of pastas, and Pastini indeed offers a large selection of the noble noodle in authentic, made-from-scratch dishes.

Pastini started as a tiny restaurant in Irvington and has added locations downtown, on NW 23rd, and in SE Portland. But, while they’ve grown up over the last 11 years, they have stayed true to their roots by partnering with many locals farmers and suppliers like Pearl Bakery, Portland Roasting Coffee and Classic Foods, their supplier for artisan fresh pastas. And they’ve also stayed true to a philosophy of making all their own sauces, pestos, dressings and desserts, as well as making each dish to order. This means that every pasta, salad, sandwich and tiramisu is made from scratch with fresh, local ingredients and tastes like it!

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Five, Count ‘Em, Five PPP Bikes on the Road

It is no secret that Portland Pedal Power is growing. More customers rely on us to bring them food, groceries, and other products. More restaurants, publications, food carts, and stores partner with us to deliver their wares. And more businesses sponsor our bikes to affirm their commitment to sustainability while spreading the word about what they do.

With all of this growth we need to keep building more of our Pyxis enclosures to keep up with the demand. And recently, we had a landmark day for PPP- we had enough orders to have five bikes and riders out on the streets of Portland at one time.

Why do we tout this achievement? (more…)


Guest Blog: Living City & Handmade Gardens

Garden 1This is a guest blog written by Rachel Freifelder of Living City and Handmade Gardens. We connected with Rachel through Portland Society, a nonprofit business alliance of professional women who are passionate about bicycling in Portland.

It is mid-January and the weather has been truly wintry. The memories of the mild fall, the late frost-date, fade so quickly when freezing fog slicks the streets and fingertips burn with cold! The sunshine is, of course, a welcome tradeoff for the dip in temperatures. I linger in it this afternoon, admiring the thin, yellow light slanting over the brave, sturdy vegetables still thriving in the garden.

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A Rider’s Perspective: Colin Wagner

Working food delivery in Portland can give you a completely different perspective of this beautiful city, especially when you’re a rider for a bicycle delivery company such as Portland Pedal Power. One of the most crucial assets to our company are our riders. Rider, Colin Wagner, has played an integral role in the success of PPP and  our efforts to grow. Now take the time to read a little more on Colin’s view  and experience of the city as a rider for PPP.

“As a delivery cyclist, every day is a rife with adventure and unpredictability.   I’m learning that big cities are filled with beautiful little things. Portland is brimming with life and more variety than you could cram into the biggest box of chocolates. The breadth of Portland just makes for that much more variety in seeing or experiencing captivating little moments.

Since I bike through the heart of the city on a daily basis, I have an up-close and personal perspective on these little moments.  Sometimes I’ll have my route dialed in my head only to find myself on SW 5th Ave. blocked by police guarding an inmate transfer from the county jail to the protected transport truck. Standard fare here, yes, but for someone who grew up in a little farm/college town another big city flavor to enjoy.

Other times I’ll pick up food from one of our vendors and be able to ask how that barbeque last weekend went and, when I drop the food off, have a regular customer ask how I liked the Beirut show at Pioneer square. I pop in and out of so many peoples’ work lives each day that my work-day feels more like a chance mosaic of the bits and pieces of their days.

My favorite recent moment was this Monday when I was handing out Bowery Bagel samples to a tour group only to be invited to join in singing an impromptu rendition of “Happy Birthday”. It’s little moments like these when I’m surrounded by strangers and joining in a chorus of “Happy Birthday” on a brisk, pre-Fall morning that I realize how real and awesome this city is. See you on the streets Portland. Stay weird.

In my free time I spend a lot of time swallowed in music.  I listen to it, I write it, I play it.  In a lot of ways I shape my life directly and indirectly around it, from grasping new perspectives and flavors of emotions while I listen at home to simply getting out to shows.”

For more Portland Pedal Power news, perspectives, and events stay tuned to our PPP blog or check us out and ‘like’ us on Facebook!