In 1925 Portland, a Day of Bike Races and Costume Contests

Portland’s culture of bike fun is legendary. It’s also not new. During the bike boom of the 1890s, The Oregonian described “moonlight pleasure parties on wheels,” with riders dressed in costumes “unique and striking.”

Three decades later, on May 9, 1925, the city’s bicycle-riding children descended on Buckman Field for a day of races and costume contests, plus lessons on how to maneuver safely alongside cars—something that wouldn’t have concerned the cyclists of the 1890s.

Among the sponsors of the event was Joseph S. Brown, here with daughters Ellen and Virginia (the two dressed as chickens for a similar event the following year). Brown, born in Minnesota to German parents, moved to Portland in his early 20s and soon after opened a bicycle store and repair shop downtown near Fourth and Taylor. At its height, Joe’s Bicycle Repair was one of the biggest sellers of bikes on the West Coast. This city’s bike messengers favored “Joe’s Heavy Service” bikes, which were built to handle heavy loads.

“A gala occasion for Portland’s youthful cyclists,” cheered The Oregonian about the field day, reporting that more than 100 girls and boys had competed for prizes, with hundreds more in attendance. “Astride their gaily festooned vehicles, they paraded and raced and stunted to their hearts’ desire,” the paper wrote.

The event marked the beginning of a shift in the country’s bicycle culture, as bikes were being reinvented as children’s toys. Thank goodness present-day Portland, where swarms of bike-riding grown-ups take to the streets all summer long for Pedalpalooza’s hundreds of themed rides, sees the silly lie in that.