Turns out if you just go up and over the hills west of Portland and into Washington County, enthusiasm for better bicycling is bubbling up everywhere you look. That energy was on full display last night at the inaugural Westside Bike Happy Hour that took place across the street from Beaverton City Hall.
I’ve been poking at Washington County bike people for a while now to start a Bike Happy Hour (BHH) on the west side. With at least two solid groups hosting rides on a regular basis — Ride Westside (advocacy-oriented, slow-pace explorations of routes and infrastructure) and Westside Wednesday (fast and fun urban assaults that often go into the night) — and lots of advocates doing hard work in and out of government, I knew the necessary catalysts were in place.
But great things often require one person to stand up and commit. That person was Rob Lewis (@cyclorob on Instagram). Late last month he messaged me about wanting to make it happen, then he connected with folks from those two riding groups and set a time, date, and location.
Last night I rolled out from north Portland and about 50 minutes later I was locking up at BG’s Food Cartel, an excellent food cart and quintessential “third place” a short walk from the Beaverton Central MAX station, for the first ever gathering.
Within a few minutes the first person rolled up. Then another. Then another. The crowd ultimately grew to several dozen. As picnic benches were pushed together to form a larger table, people were connected to form a larger community. Rob’s vision of creating a centralized space to unite and amplify bike lovers on the west side was coming true right before our eyes!
I met all types of great folks, from many different parts of the cycling life: an older couple on e-bikes, a 16-year old urbanism whiz kid who regaled me with stories about getting a new rapid flashing beacon near his Bethany home, a City of Beaverton planner armed with free bike maps and eager to sign up volunteers for an upcoming bike count, ride organizers looking for new recruits, someone with a story pitch for BikePortland, and folks who showed up because they simply wanted to meet other people into cycling.
And thanks to the generosity of Shawne Martinez (@tigard_stripes on IG), we even borrowed the eastside BHH tradition of free fries for everyone!
The event was a big success and is now officially scheduled for every-other-week at the same time and place. Well done west siders! I can’t wait to see how this evolves.
Westside Bike Happy Hour
Every Other Monday
4:00 to 6:00 pm
BG’s Food Cartel (4250 SW Rose Biggi Ave)