Filmed by Bike Day Two

Theoretically, the weather could have been better, but probably not in reality: high seventies, low eighties, even, bright sun, just a little breeze off the Willamette River as Mimi and me on the tandem, and Jen on the XO-1 rolled around Portland, stopping here and there for a coffee or a beer, or at one point later in the day for Belgian frites, on an absolutely idyllic Saturday in the Rose City, enjoying ourselves immensely and even getting bask a bit in feelings of artistic satisfaction as we, as a family, got to watch our little film on the big screen during a second showing of the Pump It Up program of Filmed by Bike, this one, as an all-ages event, markedly different than the rowdy drunken festivities of the previous evening.

Best of all, in some ways, Mimi and I have begun to plan next year’s entry, for which I’m committed to trying to do something perhaps as long, but no longer than two whole minutes, and we’re both leaning towards an animated bicycle version of the story of the tortoise and the hare, where the former will be played by a fat-tired cruiser bike that drinks beer, and the latter, a racy road cycle that favors shots of whiskey, or something like that. Mostly, it’s just fun at this point, to play filmmaker with the kid and come up with dialogue and storyboards, even if we don’t carry the project through to completion.

And we capped off the days festivities with a delicious dinner of small plates at this restaurant attached to the Ace Hotel called Clyde Common, followed by a short bike ride back to the hotel and then lollygagging in the pool, which we had all to our selves, for about two hours, before finally turning in, late but not so late that I’m not up at 7:30, writing this, not wanting to sleep any longer than necessary in this charming toy city.