more Pedalpalooza and Sprockettes fun

The last post from Kao included pictures she took while visiting her parents in Kashima, Ibaraki. Ibaraki is the prefecture North East of Tokyo. Her English may not be grammatically perfect, but I think it's charming in its own way. I think her way of posting a few pictures and just a few words is maybe more eloquent than my incoherent ramblings and reminds me a bit of Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

Pedalpalooza is still going in here in Portland though it's coming to the end this weekend. I still haven't been able to check out much of it. If my hand was all healed, I might have partaken in the ride to the Columbia River Gorge. I've yet to really get out of the city on long rides, but maybe I'll try and do that by myself this Summer.

I did manage check out a couple of events though.



On Sunday, there was this event called Sunday parkways happening in North Portland close to where I live. They close a 7.5 mile loop of streets connecting public parks off from automobile traffic, so people on foot and bicycles can run or ride freely without worrying about cars. North Portland is very residential and family oriented, so the event didn't quite feel Pedalpalooza to me, but it was fun as there were no cars to worry about and it sort felt like a very loosely organized group ride.



The other event I saw was THE SPROCKETTES' HAWT DAMN HOTPINK POTLUCK BBQ. I think the Sprockettes is the image I have of Pedalpalooza, and they were performing close to my place, so I went and checked it out. I missed the POTLUCK BBQ part though, so I was unprepared and just ended up sitting around staring at all the people mingling and eating while I waited for the Sprockettes performance.



I had to wait a while, but it was worth the wait. What's not to like about 8 girls in pink and black dancing with bikes? I definitely like them a lot more than Hikaru Genji (late 80's - early 90's Japanese boy band with roller skates)

(Hikaru Genji)

Anyway, it was fun watching them. I feel I've finally experienced a bit of Pedalpalooza. I shot a bit of video, so you can watch for yourself.


They are doing a mid west tour soon(Chicago and Minneapolis), so if you're in luck if you live over there. They mentioned the bus they were going to use for a part of the trip fell through and they are looking for one. They are looking for something that's not a major rental car, but something that is local & more community oriented. If you know of anything, let them know.

They are performing again this Saturday at the MULTNOMAH COUNTY BIKE FAIR(which is supposedly the catastrophic culmination of 2+ weeks of Pedalpalooza bike fun). I will be there at the Bike Craft portion of the event selling the bike figures, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to see them, but that should be a fun event, so all you Portlanders come and check it out.