Sometimes fiction can explain reality more accurately than the facts.
Portland has had two notorious road rage incidents involving motorists and cyclists recently. It's a fact, but is that the Portland bike culture?
Of course not.
If you want to learn about the customs and lifestyles in Portland in which bicycles play a part, there's no better place to go than “The Bicyclist,” a web series which I think could best be described as an online comic soap opera.
It starts with the arrival of a transplant from the Midwest, then introduces a series of characters whose lives mingle at The Recyclery, an actual Portland bike shop. Among those characters are Demon SUV, DUI Rider, Bike Commuter Guy, the Weekend Warriors, Picka Lock, Five Finger Discount, Super Deluxe Rider, and the Lady Dive Bombers.
It might be fiction, but recent episodes include Portland's all-girl bike dance troupe — The Sprockettes — and a local all-Schwinn bike gang called The Belligerantes.
In some of the earlier episodes I watched, the newly arrived guy from the midwest first gets upset with cyclists, then becomes one and is chastised for not following the rules of the road. In the most recent episode, #29, he's inducted into The Belligerantes.
The episodes are fairly short, but have a few “cliff-hangers” to hook viewers into the upcoming shows. I know I'm hooked and will be checking upcoming episodes.
Thanks to Lyla for contacting me about The Bicyclist.
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