Sunday, June 15, 2025
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Sun, Jun 15, 2025, 11:30 AM
Meet at 11:30am, ride at noon
2:30 PM
Ride is a loop
A bike ride that pays homage to the 1960s television show by going to a desert island in SE Portland. Yes, there is a 2.5 acre island completely surrounded by water in SE Portland. This island was once private property with housing, but is now public land that is being restored to its natural state. Gilligan’s Island seems especially appropriate for Pedalpalooza, as two dozen of the 98 series episodes featured pedal-powered inventions of one sort or another. This assortment of devices includes such things as a washing machine, a cooling fan, a sewing machine, a diamond-bladed saw, an air pump, a water wheel, and even a pedal-powered dental drill to replace tooth fillings. The picture shows a four-person pedal transmitter powered by Gilligan, Ginger, Mary Ann, and the Skipper to generate enough electricity for the Professor to send a signal into outer space. The desert island we ride to dates back to the 1930s when the WPA (Works Progress Administration) attempted to tame Johnson Creek by channeling the water flow. The project was a failure, making flooding even worse, so the city has been gradually reversing it in recent years. The bridge out to the island will be removed at some point, and the island itself may cease to exist if the channel separating it is removed. The ultimate goal is to reduce flooding and provide the area with a green space that will be a community amenity. Come on the ride dressed as one of the seven stranded castaways if you like. Other options include any of the roughy three dozen visitors to Gilligan’s Island. Somehow these visitors always got off the island without helping the castaways escape. The bike ride to the desert island is four miles, followed by a food cart stop on the route back to Clinton Park. Total distance for the completely-flat loop is eight miles. Including the food cart stop this ride should amount to a Three Hour Tour.
ShareShift hosts this calendar as a public service. Rides and events are posted to the Shift calendar by community members, not by Shift. Rides and events posted to the Shift calendar are not sponsored by Shift or Shift’s fiscal sponsor Umbrella.