Wrenching and riding at Sunday Parkways
Last Sunday we hosted free wrenching and a ride to the N Portland Sunday Parkways for New Columbia residents. We invited New Columbia Create a Commuter participants, the University Park Bike Club kids, and any other interested community members in the St. Johns Woods apartments and the New Columbia area. We didn’t know what to expect or if anyone at all would show up. We sent out invitations, printed flyers, made a few phone calls to our partner agencies, and then crossed our fingers.
At nine on Sunday morning, we arrived at McCoy Park with tool kits and bike stands. The quick fixes were popular before we could even get the tool boxes out of the car and we were fixing bikes before we were even fully set up. We had two bike stands and two volunteer mechanics and had allotted one hour to complete quick fixes. We repaired ten bikes, working on everything from flat tires and cable replacements to kickstand adjustments and replacing brake pads.
At about a quarter til 11, we gathered everyone up in a big circle and went over the rules of the road, basic safety tips for group riding, and what to expect once we got to Sunday Parkways. Off we went in a big group of more than 30 riders and a few walkers of all ages, all following Zan in the outreach cargo bike full of basic tools, a pump, and patch kits.
In one of the parks, a Sunday Parkways attendee had a folding bike. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever and made him fold it up and open it back up three times for them, which he did. They really loved all the tall bikes, the free ice cream, the car free roads, and getting to ride their bikes all day long.
At each stop a few more families decided to either keep going alone or stay with us, but all the families on bikes rode the entire loop!
Photos by Lucas Balzer – somadg.com