Portland Celebrities

Quiet Little Loop ride to Doughbots

Friday started normally with our Little Loop ride, the last one for two weeks so we went to Doughbots, of course. Little Brother has had the greatest time being an only child. He even got his very own doughnut.

After, we biked around to finish up a few errands before I left.

Packed!

I wanted to stay as bike-able as possible so I just packed a backpack, hand bag, and helmet. This could be a bummer later on, but it was worth a shot. I'll have less than this after Portland and even less after London. I'm stuck biking in my boots since they're too big to pack but at least they'll keep my pants out of my chain and I'll look cool as I go. .

Portland is awesome!

I had been looking forward to today, Saturday, for forever because I was finally getting to meet a few of my biking mama Twitter heros! Luckily, Emily, had offered her box trike for us so I didn't have to rent a bike.

Emily is the infamous mama with six kids and one giant bike--@1lessgmsurburban in the Twitterverse. Her story blew up the Internet and made news all over the world, receiving admiration as well as quite a bit of flack from both the biking and non-biking world. At first I brushed off her story (as people kept sending it to me over and over and over) but the more I started seeing her personality come out in the comment section to the naysayers, the more I began to admire her and like her. Today, I got to see that she is just as amazing as her story makes her out to be and even more so.

We got together at her house with Kath of @kyouell and Madi of @familyride. I was in awe to be around such a great group of biking mamas. We could have held our own Women's Biking Summit and changed the world (in fact, I'm pretty sure we did). Emily got her huge boom box (held onto her giant bike in a bungeed laundry basket) and we rocked to a local bakery and park where the kids ran out their yayas.

I don't think I could ever fully do this afternoon's ride justice with words so I'm hoping the photos help. To be around Kath, Madi, and Emily was to feel as if our little slice of bikey heaven could change the world. People stopped, stared, and whipped out their cameras. Jaws dropped as we passed, cheers were yelled, and thumbs up all around. One hipster dad said "and I thought we were rad..." another mom leaned out her window shouting "Babes, babies, and bikes! Right on!" It was surreal. Emily is a force of nature, everything that we do on our own but multiplied by a million. Unfortunately, that also means that the flack she receives is pretty intense, mainly from anonymous Internet bullies. However to see her in real life, rocking out, singing, yelling at her kids, and cheering on passing bikers. We became invisible behind her crowd.

3/4 of the bodacious bike babes.

Rounding up the shoes and Twittering. That's how we roll.

Madi had her mini bike instead of her gorgeous pink Dummy since they had taken the train from Seattle.

Big Brother making himself at home in the Christiania.

Kathy's happiness, even through sickness, was contagious. See the sleeping wee one cuddled in?

Curbside parking at the Bakery Bar--the best bourbon caramel lattes!

The Christiania was a blast to ride, probably not something I would use as my main bike though. I loved having the kiddo up front, the steering was easier to figure out than the linkage steering with the bakfiets, and it was fun to not have to put my feet down and balance, ever. However, banked roads made me nervous and the counterbalancing on curves was tiring. The coaster brakes made it impossible to get a good pedal position if I forgot to stop with a foot up but the internal hub made shifting a breeze. I had so much fun with it! I'm looking forward to hearing how Madi does tomorrow with it in the Fiets Of Parenthood. I wish I had known about that earlier, I would have changed my flight to get to it.

I feel like biking has opened up this huge world of amazing people doing amazing things. I would have never met these fantastic women and felt a part of the "cool crowd" had I not made the leap out of my car and onto a bike. We all agreed that the only way to really get more moms on bikes is just to ask them to join us and go riding together. It's actually that simple. No charts, no studies, no advertising, just take your friend for a ride and show them what they're missing by being sealed up in a car.

This photo is just because I miss the Little One.

This couldn't have been a better start to my adventure. I am inspired by these ladies who are now my *real* friends outside Twitter and I finally feel like I'm one of "them." You could be, too! Just join us for a ride, we're really welcoming! Will you ride with us? We'd really like you to! Please!