Introducing the “I ride” bicycling campaign
We are excited to announce the debut of the “I ride” bus bench campaign, a celebration of all who ride bicycles in our community, made possible through a grant from Kaiser Permanente’s Special Initiative Fund. The campaign features many of our program participants who are champions and role models that have been working hard to promote bicycling in their neighborhoods. The “I ride” campaign will be displayed on bus benches located at 15 intersections in north and northeast Portland from May to October.
We’ll be hosting a bike ride tour of all of the “I ride” bus benches on June 16th from 5:30-8:00pm. The ride will start at the Community Cycling Center shop at 1700 NE Alberta and will make a 10 mile loop through north and northeast Portland, finishing at the St. Johns Bridge. Please bring your helmets, lights and water for the ride.
About the Campaign:
To broaden access to bicycling and its benefits, change must be initiated on multiple levels. Through campaigns like “I rideâ€, we are working to raise awareness and to affect individual behavior choices. Health behavior research shows that the more people see individuals like themselves engaging in healthy activities, the more likely they are to try and adopt those behaviors
The “I ride†campaign will be placed in the neighborhoods around Hacienda CDC and New Columbia where the Community Cycling Center has been working with residents and families for the past two years. The prominent visibility of the bus benches will allow people on foot, bike, bus, and car to view the campaign.
Since 2009, the Community Cycling Center has partnered with Hacienda and New Columbia to bring relevant bicycle programs to their communities that help them overcome barriers to bicycling. To date, the Community Cycling Center has provided people and families in these two communities with 262 bicycles, helmets and safety education through their Create a Commuter, Bike Club and Bikes for Kids programs.
Muna Farah has worked for Hacienda Community Development as an after school program coordinator for over three years. Muna moved to the United States from Somali and now helps Somali families connect to resources and support services here in Portland. Muna has been a key contact at Hacienda to register kids to our Holiday Bike Drive, Bikes for Kids and other outreach events.
“I have wanted to learn how to ride a bike, after seeing so many kids in the neighborhood with their bike. I would like to ride with them but I never learned how and never had a bike of my own.â€
This spring Muna has been working with Helen McConnell, a Community Cycling Center volunteer, to learn to ride a bike. “My first lesson was scary and a little embarrassing to have people at the park watching me. But Helen was so supportive, and at the end of the day, I felt more encouraged and did not care anymore if people were watching me.â€
This June, Muna will participate in the Community Cycling Center’s Create a Commuter workshop Program to earn her own bike. Muna’s “I ride†portrait will be featured at the intersection of NE 82nd at Freemont by Madison High School.
Jorge Solo lives at New Columbia with his family. Last year he received a bicycle through our Create a Commuter program at the same time his son Jose was participating and earning his own bicycle through our Bike Club program at University Park Community Center. Jorge admits he uses his bike mostly for exercise and to spend time with his kids, but he also uses it for marketing his business, which sells discount kids wear. The day we took Jorge’s photo, his bike was adorned with a basket proudly displaying his company logo and website. Jorge and his kids’ “I ride†photos are located at three bus bench locations; N. Willamette at N. Chautauqua, N. Philadelphia at N. Syracuse and NE Killingsworth at 81st.
For more information about the “I ride†campaign, please view our campaign web page.