This Week in the Mercury
Monday, June 15, 2009
News / Bikes / Cops Best Weekend Ever.
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Here's the surprising news from the last three days: "It was a very peaceful weekend," reports Mary Wheat, spokeswoman of the Portland Police Department. What? An estimated 5,000 people rode their bikes naked through the center of the city Saturday night, dancing in an abandoned warehouse until the sun rose at which point GLBT folks and friends flooded downtown and shut down Broadway for a parade. AND NO ONE WAS ARRESTED?! What is this city coming to?! Where my tasers at?!
The police definitely deserve some of the credit for the zero incident PedalPalooza kickoff weekend. For the first time in Portland World Naked Bike Ride history, the police were involved in the planning process and corked intersections on the most dangerous sections of the ride. Flashing lights on police motorcycles kept cars and drunk pedestrians at bay as thousands of naked personages rushed through Burnside and Old Town. To their credit, the police were willing to be flexible and overlook thousands of possible traffic violations in the interest of keeping everyone safe. And it worked — no one got run over and very few were hurt. All in all, a peaceful wild and crazy naked bike riding weekend. 
Other fun weekend activities that no one got arrested for — Columbia River Crossing protest! Nutria feeding! A burger made from a kitten! - below the cut.
Ten more days of PedalPalooza to come! Post your best photos of all the action to the Mercury Flickr Pool and I'll post some on the Blogtown!
Most Commented on Blogtown, PDX
-
BREAKING: Here's Portland's New Transportation Director by Dirk VanderHart
-
Win Tickets to Blumesday! by Alison Hallett
-
Warped Tour: A Meditation on Aging by Alison Hallett
-
Bill Nye: The Science Activist Guy by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey
-
This Week in Sex by Rose Finn
-
James Gandolfini, 1961-2013 by Bobby Roberts
-
Scenes from the Occupy Mount Tabor Rally at City Hall by Denis C. Theriault
-
What About Bob? Your Mad Men Recap by Jacob Schraer
-
New Die Antwoord Video: Yo-Landi's Ass Edition by Marjorie Skinner
-
One State Employee is Guilty of a "Minor" Fluoridated Transgression by Dirk VanderHart
Our Friends
- UrbanHonking
- Culture Shock
- Portland Roundball Society
- Steph Cassano
- Cort and Fatboy
- Street Roots
- Powell's Books Blog
- Portland Transport
- Portland Afoot
- Bike Portland
- Eater: PDX
- Portland Food and Drink
- Mr. Movie
- Sunday Softball
- BlueOregon
- Sightline Institute
- Ultra: Arts Portland
- Bitch Magazine
- Blazer's Edge
- Reading Local: Portland
- Portland Food Carts
- Stumptown Vegans
Our Enemies
RSSGoing to Seattle?
