Oregon Manifest Cycling Celebration Grows Event Roster

Oregon Manifest, Portland’s unique, multi-faceted celebration of cycling culture, craftsmanship and competition, returns, larger and fresher, for 2009. Expanded to six weekends (up from three days) Oregon Manifest 09 will feature a national bike design challenge, an acclaimed Danish cycling culture exhibit, bike racing, guest speakers and a pop-up storefront Bike Union, all highlighting the bike’s influence on culture, sustainability, and urban design.

Set to run from October 2 to November 8 in Portland, Oregon Manifest 09, presented by Chris King Precision Components, will showcase nearly every facet of the cycling experience, from the craft of bike design to the athletic power of single speed cyclocross, from examining cycling’s impact on sustainability to its influence on fashion.

“As one of two Platinum-rated cycling cities in the U.S., it’s natural that Portland would host a cycling festival with the broad sweep of Oregon Manifest,” explained event director Jocelyn SyCip. “Oregon Manifest was created to celebrate the art, craft and community of bicycling, in turn engaging a wider audience with the cycling lifestyle. This series of events does not exist elsewhere and is the result of the cycling and creative communities coming together to develop something extraordinary and different.”

More info on the OM’s festivities after the break…

DREAMS ON WHEELS DANISH CYCLING CULTURE EXHIBIT
Working with the Embassy of Denmark and the City of Portland, Oregon, Oregon Manifest is hosting
the U.S. debut of the Danish interpretive exhibit, Dreams on Wheels. Developed by curator Thomas
Ermacora and in collaboration with Danish designer and architect Jan Gehl, Dreams On Wheels
showcases Danish cycling culture and Denmark’s commitment to sustainability via urban design that
promotes active transportation. The exhibit illustrates how cycling has affected Danish culture, analyzing the history and social development of biking as a viable transportation alternative.

CONSTRUCTOR’S DESIGN CHALLENGE
Oregon Manifest is seeking the next-wave transportation bike. Bicycle frame builders from around
the country are challenged to design and build an innovative, modern transportation bike – a technical
trial of engineering dexterity and fabrication mettle. Creative solutions for the everyday rider will
be explored and exhibited before the public at the Oregon Bike Union. Some of the country’s most
accomplished makers of hand-built, custom bikes have taken up the challenge, including Igleheart
from Wenham, Mass., Ahearne Cycles from Portland, and Curt Goodrich Bicycles from Minneapolis,
Minn. Thirty-three builders will enter their purpose-built designs.

A prestigious panel of experts, including Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within Reach, and Sky Yaeger, of Swobo Bikes, will judge the bikes on Friday, October 2nd, followed by an evening gala at the Oregon Manifest Bike Union. The entered bikes will be displayed and the builders introduced to the public.

“The transportation bike is a long-neglected segment of cycling, but one that’s making a comeback,” SyCip said, “The Constructor’s Design Challenge is a unique way to jump start the conversation about what constitutes a great, modern, all-around transportation bike.”

CONSTRUCTOR’S RACE
To prove that the bikes entered in the Constructors Design Challenge deliver function as well as form, the bikes will compete in a unique real-world transportation test. Presented by Rapha, the UK-based cycling apparel maker with offices in Portland, the Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Race serves up 77 miles of epic on-and-off road challenges inspired by the European one-day classics, such as Paris-Roubaix. Design Challenge builders (or their designated riders) will brave dirt, gravel, elevation climbs, and urban technical trials on the secret route to bike victory.

SUPPORTERS OF OREGON MANIFEST
Oregon Manifest, a non-profit organization, wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of its partners. Presenting sponsor Chris King Precision Components and the City of Portland have been instrumental in seeding the event. Other Champion supporters include Cycle Oregon, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Drive less. Save More., Portland Development Commission, the Pearl District Business Association, and Rapha.

Additional support comes from the Ace Hotel, Alta Planning + Design, Castelli US, Clever Cycles, Grey Matter Design, Momentum Magazine, Nau, pdxcross.com, River City Bicycles, United Bicycle Institute, and Wells Fargo.