Alice Award Nominee: Clever Cycles

This article is the nineteenth in a series profiling the varied and amazing nominees for the 2009 Alice B. Toeclips Awards, which will be presented to five winners at the Alice Awards & Auction on March 7th. We won’t be able to profile everyone, so read the nominees’ descriptions online. This profile was written by BTA correspondent Stephanie Chase.

Minutes after delivery, a Clever Cycles customer loads up her whole family.

While Portland loves its bikes, it can be difficult to make the transition from recreational riding to using cycling as a primary means of functional transportation. Add kids and a busy life of errands into the mix, and the bike might get pushed out of the picture. What’s a family to do?

Alice nominee Clever Cycles provides helpful and functional alternatives to those unwilling to substitute two-wheeled pedal power for a four-wheeled automobile. While Portland is filled with a myriad of carbon-fiber and lyrca stocked bike shops, Clever Cycles’ is known for being “the only shop in Portland where speed consistently takes a back seat to the qualities necessary to comfortably bicycle in a suit, in the rain, with your kid, and a full load of groceries.”

Both the Mullins and Fahrner families are dedicated bike commuters. They first met at a party where they had towed their families along by bike, and quickly found a shared cause and an open niche in Portland’s cycling scene.

Their shop is stocked with both practical and stylish bikes and gear for all ages. Instead of promoting the idea that cycling involves lots of specialty clothing and accessories, Clever Cycles has “given practical cycling a previously-unknown sense of prestige and style by unapologetically marketing expensive high-end commuting bikes and accessories.” Tweed knickers with reinforced with leather seats to handle commuting. Comfortable, step-through bicycles are lined up on the floor, and colorful vinyl panniers line the walls, illustrating at a glance just how easy it can be to walk out of your house, hop on your bike and ride to the store.

In 2009, Clever Cycles hopes to do more with both seniors and younger kids in helping them learn about cycling and safety. They have been working with BikePortland.org on an upcoming Cargo Bike Fair, which would help promote the commercial usage of cargo bikes like the Dutch Bakfietsen.

Portland bicycling culture has evolved along with its bicycling infrastructure. Decades ago, cyclists were mostly strong, fast, and confident riding on busy roads. As the infrastructure has evolved, along with supportive safety and education programs, more people have taken to two wheels at a slow pace, with kids in tow. Now they have a bike shop, and a culture, to support them. As one Clever Cycles fan says, “to see the Mullins and the Fahrners, with their 5 kids in tow, all on bikes, is to see Portland’s future.”