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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!

 

 


Bike More Challenge – Coming Sooner!

Bike Commute Challenge
For the first year ever, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has moved their #BikeMore Challenge (previously in September) to correspond with National Bike Month (May). Formerly known as the Bike Commute Challenge, the event is back and better than ever. This year, every ride counts! This means that teams can count ALL trips maid during the month of May, not just commuter trips to work. Grocery store, BBQ, party ride? Count ’em up!

7f1cc31fb40aa777a04a79e67c73da59We are proud sponsors of this event and we always get super into it as a team. It is an awesome way for a bike business like ours to demonstrate the amount we ride, the miles we log, and to encourage others to join us.

How it works: During May, businesses will compete against each other to see who can get the most staff to ride a bike and log their trips. For 2016 they’re using a simple points model to allow workplaces to compete with each other across their size category. The points system has been carefully selected to ensure a fair and exciting competition, and to strongly encourage workplaces to engage new riders if they want to climb the leaderboard and secure victory!

An added bonus are the piles of prizes you can win just from participating online and logging your trips; prizes will be announced as the Challenge approaches. Also, once you’ve biked seven days in May you’ll unlock a 20% discount from Portland Design Works (PDW), bike ten days for a 15% off from Shower’s Pass. Also, participants who log just four days will get access to hundred of discounts and freebies from Chinook Book!

Women BikeIt’s easy: join your workplace team, ride, earn points, and win prizes, awards, and GLORY for your team! We hope you’ll register now and join us for the month of May! Bike more, bike better, and power to the pedal!

The Challenge Launch Party is Monday, May 2nd at three locations around town! All three take place at various Bike Gallery Locations (Hollywood, Beaverton, Clackamas), you’ll get Hopworks beer to guzzle and they’ll be raffling off a free bike tune-up.

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a non-profit membership organization working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon. Since 1990, theBTA has worked in partnership with citizens, businesses, community groups, government agencies, and elected officials to create communities where people can meet their daily transportation needs on a bike.

 

 

 

 


Mark Your Calenders: The PDX Bicycle Show Returns!

For the 5th year in a row, the PDX Bicycle Show will be drawing in a lot of cycling enthusiasts from around the area. The show will have a great display of bicycles, gear, bike travel, events, & nutrition, and will be one of the largest shows in the State of Oregon!

During the last show back in March, Portland Pedal Power represented Point West Credit Union and had a great time seeing everyone there. There was some great local representation, and we’re looking forward toward another great turnout this upcoming March! Here were some of the major highlights from last year:

Pedal NationNutcase Helmets: Nutcase is the brainchild of designer Michael Morrow, who saw a gap in the market for sports helmets and decided to focus on helping cyclists (and skaters, snowboarders and other outdoor sports fans) express their personality, views and allegiances while also protecting their heads. Check out their designs here.

Hopworks: Serving Portland from two locations, Hopworks is a great place to go if you’re looking for some good, local Oregon beer. The Urban Brewery at 2944 SE Powell produces 10,000 barrels of beer each year and does so with sustainability in mind. Both the Brewery and the Bike Bar (located at 3947 N. Williams Ave) are easily accessible by bicycle and the company works sustainable practices into their operations, making Hopworks a 100% renewably powered business.

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Good Times at the 2013 Alice Awards & Auction

PPP/Ninkasi Auction ItemWe had the good fortune to come by some last minute tickets to the 2013 Alice Awards & Auction, put on by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) a couple of Sundays ago on May 4th at Pure Space in the Pearl. Now in its 18th year, the Alice Awards & Auction brings together residents, leaders, and businesses from around Oregon to honor the work of those who have made bicycling better. The event highlighted the impact the BTA has had on bicycle safety education programs and recognized the great work of some of our community leaders. All of the proceeds from the event and auctions go to support the work of the BTA.

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The 2013 Alice Awards

BTA Alice AwardsAre you ready for a party? Then don’t hesitate to buy your tickets for the 2013 Alice Awards & Auction, hosted by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) at Pure Space in the Pearl on May 4th, 2013 at 5pm.

Here are the details from a press release from the BTA:

“The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is excited to announce the winners of the 2013 Alice Awards & Auction, to be held on May 4th. This is the 18th year the BTA will honor select Oregon citizens for their work to make bicycling safe, more convenient, and more accessible.

As part of the BTA’s celebration around reaching the 50,000th student with bicycle safety curriculum, awardees were selected based on their efforts to make the nation, Oregon, and Portland a better place for bicycling.

The winners of the 2013 Alice Awards are:

US Rep. Peter DeFazio – Bud Clark Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Alison Hill Graves – Alice Award Winner

Kristin Warren – Alice Award Winner

The BTA will also honor Jay Graves for his contributions to the community at the Alice Awards on May 4th. Graves has previously been the recipient of both an Alice Award and a Bud Clark Lifetime Achievement Award. As Graves steps away from his role at Bike Gallery, the BTA is excited to thank him once again for his hard work and dedication to bicycling over the years.”

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The PDX Bicycle Show

PDX Bike ShowIf you read the blog yesterday, you know that Portland Pedal Power will be representing Point West Credit Union this weekend at the PDX Bicycle Show. If that isn’t a good enough reason to swing by, test-ride some bikes and get some swag, here are a few more sponsors you can check out at the event:

Nutcase Helmets: Nutcase is the brainchild of designer Michael Morrow, who saw a gap in the market for sports helmets and decided to focus on helping cyclists (and skaters, snowboarders and other outdoor sports fans) express their personality, views and allegiances while also protecting their heads. Check out their designs here and head over to the Nutcase Pedal Park at the Bike Show on Sunday at 3pm, when they will announce the finalists of their recent “Design a Helmet” contest.

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