As 2009 met 2010, Portlanders met under a bridge in the drizzly rain to do what we always do: ride bikes. The New Years Day ride is a Portland tradition dating back over 50 years but that didn't keep this year's ride from doing things a little differently.

Here are some of the things we saw:
-The former site of a much reviled stop sign
-Portland's first new bike boulevard in WAY too long,
-A decrepit and despised bridge,
-the sun (occasionally),
-An example of a smooth and direct active transportation corridor,
-A considerably less smooth and direct active transportation corridor,
-The buffered bike lanes of downtown Portland,
-Downtown Portland's first on-street bike parking corral,
-The new silly and bombastic Zoobomb Pyle,
-The new bike shrine at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church,
-Portland State University's not-yet-opened "Bike Hub"

With over sixty riders in attendance, thanks in part to The Portland Wheelman Touring Club ride merging with ours, this ride wasn't hurt by Portland drizzle. From go-fast bikes to rusty ten speeds to funky folders, it was a diverse crowd and there was plenty of opportunity to chat while cruising along mellow routes.

Many thanks to PSU for opening their new the PSU Bike Hub to us and supplying us with cookies and bananas. There, Charlie Wicker of Trailhead Coffee cooked up some tasty joe on the back of the bicycle he rode on the ride! Thanks, too, to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, for telling us about their new Bike Shrine and letting us take our grimy wet bikes inside the church! Three cheers for Jonathan Maus of bikeportland.org, who came along and documented.

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