Live Free or Drive

Posted June 19th, 2008 by Glorious

A Momentum gal’s
adventure in Portland, USA to visit the Car Free Cities Conference.

Having been to Portland
only once before for the North American Handmade Bike Show in February, I was
eager to accept an invitation to set up a Momentum table at the Towards Car
Free Cities Conference for a chance to also take in some action during
Pedalpalooza. Sad to go without my ladies – Amy and Tania – I was happy that Jodi
accepted my invitation to join me on my adventure. Thanks again to Meghan
Sinnott for inviting Momentum to be a part of this great event!

What a great treat it is to explore Portland
by bike. Riding the river into Portland
on a classic Schwinn bike makes me want to continue my search for my perfect
city bike. Thanks to our wonderful hosts, Dan and Rasu, for providing us with a welcoming home and bikes to ride around the city while we are visiting.

Riding along the river in Portland

Riding over the Hawthorne Bridge

Whilst set up at the Momentum table during Public Day, we had some very friendly and encouraging words from visitors that expressed happiness and connectivity with what Momentum represented.

Momentum Table

The morning was quiet as people had opportunities to join panel discussions or go on rides, but the conference room started filling up around lunch time, and was packed by the time the introductions and presentations began.

I took notice to the fact that the afternoon key note speakers primarily focused their talks on the bicycle. This just reaffirming my beliefs again that focusing efforts to encourage the mainstream to try bike commuting is the way to go.

Packed conference hall

Introduced by Mia Birk, Alta Planning and Design, the two
keynotes of the afternoon were Andy Clarke, Executive Director, League of American Bicyclists. Announced their Bicycle Friendly Workplaces program, after explaining the success of their Bicycle Friendly Cities program that has granted Portland, OR and Davis, CA Platinum Status.

But the star of the afternoon was Gil Penalosa, Executive
Director, Walk and Bike For Life. Gil’s animated and example packed speech was highlighted by the very important point that we need solutions to the problem, not problems to the solutions.
Too many time planners and politicians talk themselves out of positive change because of this. Gil's message is that nothing will get done if people don’t take action now. Stop talking and start doing.

After the conference we headed to the Postcard Art Show at City Hall. The show had a reception with refreshments, including beer and wine for art goers. Wow, I wish Vancouver’s
City Hall could be so cool.

Postcard Art Show

Outside, the plaza
of City Hall featured a band and a performance by the Sprockettes,
Portland’s own mini-bike dance troupe

Sprokettes

After the show we headed for dinner with Brian Smith, author of the
CarFree USA blog, Steve and Dave from San Francisco.

Boys Nite Out

After dinner (yes, the festivities did not have an ending in sight), the after party for the conference was held at Greg’s house. The best part of Greg’s backyard, a perfect venue for a summer evening, was the teepee, packed with people chatting about
the festivities. Our host pulled out all the stops and had even set up temporary bike parking.