Portland’s International Women’s Day celebration, downtown at PSU! An event filled day that “celebrates the richness, strength, and value of women and their contributions to the community. ” For more details, visit their website at http://piwd.org

On Saturday, March 20th, we’ll be celebrating the 5th anniversary of a group of our favorite freakbike-building, fun-loving, trouble-makin’ friends–the Dropout Bike Club! Our performance on Saturday night is part of a 3 day fun-filled weekend, including (but not limited to) potlucks, games, dance parties, races, and BBQing. Many events are family friendly, and everyone is welcome! For more details, see their website at http://dropoutbikeclub.blogspot.com/

A big shout out to the lovely and talented Irondelles for coordinating this event.

(Shipping is included if mailed within the continental US. Please email us for shipping costs elsewhere. Thanks.)

Colors

W Pink Shirt/Black Moon $12.00 W Pink Shirt/Black Stars $12.00 W Black Shirt/Pink Moon $12.00 W Black Shirt/Pink Stars $12.00 M Pink Shirt/Black Moon $12.00 M Pink Shirt/Black Stars $12.00 M Black Shirt/Pink Moon $12.00 M Black Shirt/Pink Stars $12.00

Sizes

Small Medium Large

We also have wristbands, patches, buttons, posters and postcards coming soon….

There will be cider! There will be food!

And there will be so many exceptional artists selling clothing, jewelry, household wares, bags, drawings, and more, that you really can’t pass up the opportunity to see and be seen at the fabulous-est coming together of bike and art of the year.

Please come out to support local artists while you handily cross people’s names (including your own) off your gift shopping list with a flourish. I’m not sure, but I bet there will be some type of bike pen there that you can use on said shopping list.

The Sprockettes will proudly be selling our bike dance team merchandise, almost all of which is handmade by us. Various team members will also be selling their own handmade crafts so be sure to spend large numbers of minutes or hours at our table.

Keep in mind that many of the arts and crafts pieces you will find at this event were likely to have been transported to the venue by bicycle.
Carbon footprint = 0.
Foot traffic from happy, satisfied shoppers = everyone there.

Saturday, December 5th from 10am-5pm
Sandbox Studio warehouse located at 420 NE 9th Ave.

This weekend (sorry for the short notice) after the Cross Crusade race on Sunday, November 8th, will be the Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships at 4pm. This is the Portland Single Speed Collective, and since we’re a collective, how could this not be a perfect match?

Portland International Raceway (PIR) at West Delta Park - 1940 North Victory Boulevard
Sunday
3:45pm for our show
4:00pm for the Single Speed racing

Bring your galoshes.

What’s the newest thing I (heart) about PDX? The Community Cycling Center’s Get Lit. I’m riding home from work in the autumnal evening darkness in a constant panic that my rear light is dead. The hook on the back broke so I can’t fit it onto the bracket. So it’s zip-tied to the bike. So when the batteries die (they’re already dying), I can either never take the light off to replace them, or I can’t get the light back on in safely, snugly back into the zip ties. But what do I find but a mass of well-lit Community Cycling Center volunteers handing out AND installing Planet Bike rear and front lights. For free. For us. For me. For the young woman who pulled up right after me in a lather of joy and appreciation because her rear light was recently stolen, and unlike me with my dying batteries, she had none. She had none. Now she has some. And they are bright. And safe. So safe.

I (heart) PDX and the way that grassroots organizations will step up to encourage and support biking. We don’t have all the kinks worked out for truly sharing the road (such as building up more and safer infrastructure for cycling and public transit instead of a 12-lane behemoth that practically dares drivers to try to fill it up each day), we are moving in the right direction. By PSU we have bike tracks. We have bike boxes around town. And thanks to the ever-wonderful CCC, we have even more folks out there who can see and be seen on the road. We’re moving in the right direction, and the way is lit.

At 8:30 that evening, we will be using acrobatics and modern dance to promote bike love at Green Drop Garage at 1417 SE 9th Avenue. Check out our “Shows” page for details.

While the Sprockettes are not a specifically political group, y’all know by now that we hold passionate opinions about the value of human powered vehicles and working collectively and collaboratively to promote health and well-being (for us and for the home we inhabit). That’s the fancy way of saying “come to this show, especially if you haven’t seen our love song to Trimet yet!”

We were fortunate to call Pete and Lili’s place home base for our stay. Thank you so much for sharing your space, your Fat Tire ale, your record collection, and of course Sabbath, the black Lab.

We want to take a step back here to make certain that anyone who reads these posts really grasps why we have been participating in Tour de Fat for three years running. On Sunday morning, Sarah from New Belgium gave us a full tour of the brewery, and we were able to learn some of the company’s history and current business practices. This reminded us, again, of our shared sense of peaceful and positive activism to promote health, sustainability, shared power and decision-making, and bikes (among other things). The wind-powered, worker-owned brewery is filled with original art celebrating the employees and their adventures, and natural-light pours in to fill the entire place with warmth and an energizing glow. The operation utilizes energy-efficient machinery, they have compost and recycling bins all over, and they collaborate with other companies with like-minded business practices for things like merchandise production. So if you wonder why we opt to leave our hometown during so much of the summer to do the tour, know that it’s because we so strongly support this company that grows and grows but does not lose sight of its mission to treat workers fairly, leave as small an environmental trace as it can, and give free bikes to employees on their 1st anniversary working there.

May we suggest, to any who might pass through Colorado on your travels, a stop for the brewery tour? You will learn so much about craft beer production as well as the innovation that keeps a philosophically-minded company thriving.

If you’re not going to Colorado this month then, please check out our “Shows” tab for info on 2 upcoming Portland shows. In October we wrap up our time with Tour de Fat 2009 in San Diego.

And, dare I say it, we got three (yes, three) animal mascots for this stop of the tour. Maisy, Anya, and the big, black lab (sorry, girl, I’ll get your name) kept us company at our host house just outside of Boise. We stayed with some family of Seattle’s Jryde, who treated us just like family. When we weren’t trying to catch up on sleep or stare at the gorgeous, expansive landscape, we toured the garden, admiring their lavender and incredible veggie patch. On the side, they run Long Dog Lavender Farm. On the other side, they also love picking fresh berries and making huckleberry pancakes for a tired crew of girls in hot pink and black. Thank you Jon and Debi! While we’re on the subject of family and eating, we were lucky enough to pack in two family visit/food fests with Agent Sweetpea’s grandparents in Eastern Oregon, and we can’t express enough thanks for that as well!

While we were in town, Jryde and the Idaho Movie House set up an outdoor screening of Veer at sunset for Boise. It was really well received, and we were thrilled to be in attendance to watch the film with a whole different crowd of cyclists. After the film, we managed to somehow bump into the entire MarchFourth Marching Band making its way down the street to a club for a late-night party. Of course, we joined Boise in the parade and sneaked in one last dance in Idaho.

We’re back home, recovering from one-hour time difference jet lag and the hot, cloudless days east of the Cascades. Some girls are headed to Burning Man, others to toodle around town or travel around the Northwest for work or play. Next stop: Ft. Collins, CO, home of New Belgium Brewing!