Each year, the city closes down a number of streets opens a number of streets to walk, bike, roll, run, jump and skip – all without having to watch out for cars. It’s called Sunday Parkways! This year, the NE route went down my block:

The event was set to start at noon. Unfortunatly, it started to rain just about that time…

It rains quite often in Portland, but usually in the form of a light drizzle. This was a full-on downpour.

So we borrowed some tents and tables (thanks to Sam’s dad) and set up a dry space in our front yard. Not that the kids seemed to mind the rain.

We also pulled out the barbecue and cider press. For the next few hours, we pressed cider for all of the kids that showed up. Everyone was really nice and wanted to help out.

For the adults, my friends at Metrofiets brought over the beer bike.

Between the cider, barbecue and free beer – the crowds quickly gathered. I didn’t keep count, but would guess that at least a few hundred people stopped by. In fact, there were so many people that we drained off 4 kegs by the end of the day – including a full 5 gallons of my homemade Ranger IPA clone.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and the weather even cleared up for a bit.

For more information and pictures of the entire event, check out BikePortland.org