The Return of the Unipiper + Pedal Powered Talk Show

How much do I LOVE Portland?

It's the only city that can proudly claim bragging rights to both the Unipiper AND the world's only Pedal Powered Talk Show! Not to mention Phil and his rad Metrofiets!

So put them all into one cute and short video that also includes goats! Yes, GOATS!



Can't go wrong with a man in a kilt on a uni. Especially one that blows flames.

You win, Portland!

Help! I'm being held prisoner by a cargo bike factory in Portland, Oregon!

The Spinster World Premiere at Filmed By Bike in Portland

The Spinster official poster designed by Jessica Meek.

I'm off to Portlandia tomorrow morning to attend Filmed By Bike film festival. My indie short horror film on bikes, The Spinster, will have its World Premiere in the City That Knows How to Bike. I couldn't have asked for a better premiere.

When: World Premiere, Sunday 4/20 @ 5 pm

Where: Clinton Street Theater

Second screening on 4/22 at 8 pm

If you're in P-town, grab some tickets and come root for The Spinster, and stick around for a Q&A avec moi, yours truly, Ms. Director. And come meet cast and crew, Gabriela Sosa (lead actress) and judy b. (co-producer and supporting actress).

P-Town or BUST! It's red carpet time!

Keep Portland Weird!

Thanks to The Unipiper for keeping it real.



Watch more Unipiper sightings on his Youtube channel.

Happy Friday, yo!

VV Profile: April Streeter - Author of Women on Wheels

Name: April Streeter

Occupation: TreeHugger blogger, author, freelance writer

Raison d'etre: advocating for bikeworld

Hometown: Hm, that's a hard one. I was the equivalent of an Army brat, born in Waukeegan, Illinois, and lived all over including Piedmont, California, Manila, Philippines, Hong Kong, Honolulu and Madrid. I've lived the longest (11 years) in Portland, Oregon with two stints in Sweden of 2.5 and 4.5 years.

Current city/Neighborhood: Inner southeast Portland, Ladd's Addition

Favorite city to ride a bike in in the world: I have two: Copenhagen, Denmark, especially on a sunny day, and the entire island of Öland, in the Baltic Sea, where I live on my bike. That said, Portland is a fantastic bike city to call home.

Describe your personal style: Short skirts, warm leggings, wild socks. I also spend a lot of effort being warm and dry, as I've been car-free for the last six years, so sometimes warmth trumps style.

Helmet or no helmet: I'm sort of middle-of-the-road on the helmet issue. My research on the issue indicates to me a slight advantage to helmet wearers in terms of avoiding injury, but I think it is by no means conclusive. I love the feeling of not wearing a helmet, but when in the U.S. I generally wear one.

Type of bike(s): Two. Sanyo eneloop pedal-assist, and a Fuji 2012 touring frame, lovingly powdercoated teal blue by my partner.

Describe what you like best about your bike(s): The two bikes I have now cover almost all of my moods. If I'm lazy, afraid of arriving disheveled, or have intense hills ahead of me, I take the pedal assist. For very short or longer recreational rides, I love the way the Fuji feels.

Describe your urban cycling experience: Since I ride everywhere, I spend some thought on always having the means to be warm enough and dry enough. My personal motto is put on rain pants at the first drops.

Favorite time and/or place to ride: Mild sunny cycle cruising after fish tacos and pomegranate margaritas or other food from Portland's fabulous food cars, coasting along with friends by my side. Is there anything better?

Tell me more about your new book - Women on Wheels - your inspiration, how you completed it, where to find it: Two things inspired me - one, the fact that men still outnumber women on the bike lanes by a 3 to 1 margin. And two, that I truly believe biking is the solution to a number of our shared urban woes - our obesity, out-of-control traffic and stress levels, and even our inner-city air pollution.

Well, I guess actually three things - when I was researching bike history and discovered the many unknown heroines of cycling - like Louise Armaindo, the woman cyclist I chronicle in the book who won myriad races riding a high-wheel penny farthing bike (!!!) - I became a bit obsessed. Cycle lore is very male-centric, but women were always playing a role in bike history. Women on Wheels is widely available in Portland at book and bike shops, also on the web at girlsonbikes.org, and coming soon (late September) to a book tour near you!

Where will your bike take you in 2012: So many places - a myriad of Portland Pedalpalooza fun rides throughout June, a great Oregon wine country loop last week of 42 miles that turned into 52 miles when we got lost in the Amity hills, and daily duties on the streets of Portland.

Vélo Vogue tip of the day: The two best words in biking are 'thank you'! It sounds so corny, but I believe women can really soften and civilize city traffic's rougher edges by biking, and looking good while doing so. Thanking drivers for friendly behavior just can't hurt.

Pedal Powered Talk Show - Trending Now...

What a crazy silly cool concept. Only from Portlandia, of course!


The Pedal Powered Talk Show.

Turn on. Tune in. Ride on.

the jetpack is finally here

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance says it best - we can ALL just get along! Let's put aside our differences as different kinds of cyclists and all roll on into the future! Into a city that allows us to ride safely and comfortably wherever we choose to go.

Roll On, Oregon from Bicycle Transportation Alliance on Vimeo.

Ride on!

Can't stop the women and bikes!

Photo by Teresa Meier

Two recent articles on my favorite subject of late - women and biking.

First, from Chicago - for women, safety = happiness.

“If we make it safe, fun and easy for women, we make it safe, fun and easy for everyone.”

Next, from Oregon - women are lagging in biking and bike businesses.

Speaking from personal shopping experience, I believe most bike shops here in SF are owned by men. The one that was women-owned near my house recently shut its doors (sniff!). My friend Kristen, who rides every day, just visited a men-owned bike shop in Petaluma where she felt downright disrespected by the sales and service reps. What's with the bad attitude, guys?

Maybe it's kind of like when you go to the weight room at the gym. Women feel intimidated by the lack of women in the room to join the guys and pump iron. So weightlifting is seen as a men's activity, and yoga & pilates are for women.

So maybe if women see more of themselves in bike shops and on bike lanes, we women will feel safety in numbers. I think we need to create more organizations and groups that promote cycling for women, such as the Community Cycling Center in Portland, which has done wonders for the female cycling population in that town.

Your thoughts?

now, in other news...

A fun round-up of bike related news I've crossed this week:

1) 6-pack holder from Bless This Stuff (clearly the most newsworthy, so it's first on my list).

2) The dream is still alive in Portland (the city that really knows how, duh)!

PDX Mayor says bike infrastructure cost the city about the same as one mile of highway



3) Ewan McGregor and his dog are adorable.


Enjoy the reads!

I Dream of the 90's!

Another young California couple retires in PDX! Love it!

Vogue Around the Globe - Springtime Skin

we are photo/Muenster, Germany (according to the photographer - Germany's No. 1 bike town!)


supersube/Guadalajara, Mexico


lebonmulticolore/Montreal, QC


++®ie++/Japan


Cameron Adams/Chattanooga, TN


Ted Houser/Los Angeles, CA


Funny Cyclist/London


Bart Omeu/Barcelona, Catalunya

views from other bike lanes

This just in from our VV Flickr Photo Pool!


Here's our fabulously dapper friend Dave from Portland!

Wool felt fedora by Dorfman Pacific
Vintage wool 3-piece pinstripe suit by Hart, Schaffner & Marx for Liemandt's, Minneapolis
Vintage silk necktie
White dress shirt by The Gap
(Not seen) Rust colored cashmere blend placed argyle socks by Biella
Black leather short boots by Aldo
Leather gloves (maker unknown)
1953 Raleigh Sports Bicycle


Cycle chic in Santa Barbara from Bike by the Sea.


This is one of my personal faves by iMalfet.

And another... riding double!



And Anthony from Velocult snapped a wonderful series of portraits from San Diego's first tweed ride. This one from the ride seemed truly cinematic to me, something from a Truffaut film. So it's my favorite from the series. Take a moment to check out all of the photos from the ride. Spectacular!

Velo Couture on Velo Vogue

There's a whole world of bike blogs out there in cyberspace and the people behind the blogs are connected, by the internet and their love of bikes.  Not only do we have a bunch of SF bike blogging friends, but we've got bike friends worldwide.  In Portland for the New Year, I ran into Patrick, the founder of Velo Couture.  As I always do when I see an interesting bike, I rode up to him and checked out his ride, he checked out mine.  We were cyberfriends meeting in the real world.  

VV Couple: Dave + Trina

Names
His: Dave Feucht
Hers: Patrina Feucht

Occupations
His: Computer Science
Hers: Customer Service and Crafty girl

Hometowns
His: Portland, OR (suburbs)
Hers: Albany, OR

Favorite cycling towns besides PDX
His: To be honest, never really ridden a bike anywhere else.
Hers: Hangzhou, China: so much fun!

Current PDX neighborhood: Richmond Neighborhood, SE Portland. Soon to be moving to the Kerns Neighborhood right on the border of SE and NE Portland, just on the North side.

Types of bikes
His: Electra Amsterdam, 1952 Raleigh Sports
Hers: Electra Amsterdam, 1980 Raleigh Royal Roadster

Like best about your bikes
His: Comfortable, look great, and can use them for basically all my trips around town - commuting, shopping, etc.
Hers: cute, comfortable, dependable. I love my bell and basket
(cliche i know) :)

Favorite time and place to ride
His: Anytime of day in the Spring or Autumn, through the quiet neighborhoods of SE and NE Portland or waterfront park downtown.
Hers: ditto




Favorite outfit that your SO wears while cycling
His: There are so many... light colored wood-grain patterned skirt
with leggings, converse and a vintage brown cardigan is up at the top
though :)
Hers: jeans, converse, vintage button up and vest and his wool driving cap

Favorite colors
His: Black, greys, browns, greens, white - generally earthy, natural colors.
Hers: grey, mustard yellow, navy, moss green, dark teal

Best place to bike when out on a date in PDX
His: 21st to 26th and Clinton is a great area, SE 34th from Clinton to
Belmont and Belmont from about 32nd up to 37th. Hope to find more in our new neighborhoods :)
Hers: the quiet neighborhoods in SE Portland on a warm evening or a chilly morning

Describe the best bike date you've ever had together
His: They're usually a lot like our non-bike dates, but I remember a nice ride to 35th and Hawthorne in the autumn to have a nice dinner at Chez Machin, our favorite creperie, and then some delicious dessert and coffee - followed by a casual ride back home in the dark.
Hers: a Saturday morning ride across the river, along the waterfront when all the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and then up to the PSU Farmers Market

What else would you like to add about cycling in style in the city
that really knows how [to cycle]

Riding in Portland in style is relatively easy, for the simple fact that riding in Portland is relatively easy. There's really no reason to need special gear or equipment for riding around town. Be comfortable and enjoy your ride. There are also more and more shops around town offering practical bikes that allow you to easily ride in any kind of clothing, so you can just hop on and go, whenever. It's a beautiful city, and it's really enjoyable to experience by bicycle.

For more info on our bicycle adventures, check out Portlandize!

~~ Trina and Dave
"There's more to life than speeding it up" --Mahatma Gandhi

VV goes to Portland! [pt. 2]

Dave of Portlandize told me that on average 2,000 cyclists pass by this street corner every day.


Here are two of them, on their way to go play hoop!


Some more downtown shots: a cyclist casually chats on her phone while pushing her pretty rouge et noir bike across the street.


That casual elegance of the Pacific NW gets me every time!


Clever Cycles sells and rents these awesome Dutch bicycles, though I'm told this is an Electra.

VV Profile: Laura Husdpeth of Portland!

Occupation: Design and sales for the online sock company, Sock Dreams
Hometown: Portland
Portland neighborhood: Inner Southeast
Helmet or no helmet: Helmet, though I slack a lot in the summer…
Type of bike: It's an SE frame, fixed gear.
Describe what you like best about your bike: I love how quick and light my bike is, and also that I bought her as my college graduation present to myself.
Describe your cycling experience in Portland: Really great overall, minus a few nicks and bruises here and there:). I feel lucky to live in a place where I can quickly and safely get anywhere I need to go by bike.
Favorite time or place to ride: There’s nothing quite like riding in the middle of the night over the bridges here in Portland, when no one’s on the road and everything is so still and peaceful.
Favorite color: Is it weird to say brown? I love love love brown with light blue.
Artist most commonly played on iPod at the moment: There's been a lot of Wire, Gun Club, and Charles Mingus in the last few days.
Describe your personal style: I pretty much wear shorts and ballet flats every day, and a vest or cardigan. Pretty basic, always black, brown, or gray. I wear newsboy caps a lot, too--actually, one of my coworkers says I dress like a newsboy.
Vélo Vogue tip of the day: When it comes to riding, I've noticed that I'm happiest with less accessories, less gears, less mapped-out directions if I'm just joy riding, and so on. Simplify.

BikeCity USA: (sigh) Portland

This post has moved.

A Bicycle Superhero?

Tim Marvin sends us news of a bicycle superhero in Portland who rides around fixing flats and helping those in need.
Does a 'phantom' bike hero ride Portland at night? Cyclists want to believe
by Joseph Rose, The Oregonian

Years ago, we had a plan to drive a yellow VW bug around the Oakland hills fixing flats and yelling at people in Italian to ride faster.

And then there's Monty Python's version which is, like most humor, perhaps the closest to reality: