[ Time Out ]
Training Wheels:
No cars + lots of bikes = a really good summer Sunday.
Rainy weather will be back soon
enough, so get out for a family bike
ride this month while the getting is
good. Balance bikes, tricycles, training
wheels, cargo bikes, unicycles, trailer
bikes, ride-along bikes and tandem
bicycles — all are welcome at the
Sunday Parkways in SE Portland.
Seven miles of road are closed to
cars, so kids can bike as fast (or, more
likely) as slow as they want. Along
the way, neighborhood residents
set up lemonade stands and snowcone machines — be neighborly,
and partake. Better yet, there are
convenient pit stops every couple of
miles, at parks along the route, where
kiddo entertainers have set up shop.
Our pick is Laurelhurst Park, where
the Joy Now project, a motley crew of
circus arts performers usually camps
out, giving free juggling lessons and
hula hoop demonstrations. There’s
food for sale too, from Portland’s
trusty army of mobile food trucks.
Sunday, August 24, 11 a.m-4 p.m.
FREE.
Meanwhile, the Providence
BridgePedal attract hordes of serious
cyclists to downtown Portland to
coast over the bridges that span
the Willamette, mostly all closed
to cars for this once-a-year event.
It can be overwhelming for the
youngest pedalers, which is why
the BridgePedal folks came up with
KidsPedal, a shorter, three-mile route
that only crosses the Hawthorne and
Steel Bridges. Adults can ride this
route only if they are “chaperoned”
by a kid 8-years-old or younger.
There’s no charge to ride, but there’s
only room for 1,000 participants —
and every one of them needs to be
wearing a bike helmet, organizers
say. The KidsPedal starts at a familyfriendly 10 a.m. at SW Morrison and
Naito Parkway. FREE.
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August 2014 | metro-parent.com
COURTESY OF THE PORTLAND BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION
Picture break, on top of
the Fremont Bridge.
Ready to put the pedal to the metal.
COURTESY OF PROVIDENCE BRIDGEPEDAL.
COURTESY OF PROVIDENCE BRIDGEPEDAL.