Holy crikey bikes are everywhere this summer - and we’re not complaining! We’re seeing new riders left and right, car driving friends are all of a sudden on two wheels, wobbly riders, janky bikes and lots of smiles. It’s the summer of the bike; the bike is the official vehicle of summer 2008.

So Filmed by Bike is celebrating and partnering with The Night Ride to bring our program outside the theater walls. We’ll be hosting a bike-in theater in an open field in North Portland on July 12th and showing some of our favorites from the 2008 festival. Come join us for this killer nighttime tour of Portland.
[ watch the video ]

Filmed by Bike would like to send a huge congratulations to the entire City of Portland and all its stellar bikers for achieving the prestigious Platinum designation from the League of American Bicyclists! Portland is the first large-scale city to receive this honor and we feel it is well deserved.

An advanced bike culture, one deserving of Platinum status, celebrates the creative class within the culture. So we can’t help but think we’ve played a small part in Portland’s success as a bike-friendly city. GO PORTLAND!

Thanks for a great 2008 Filmed by Bike! The theater was packed on Friday and we had to turn away 300 people. Over the weekend the theater was packed, but the super summer weather kept some people on their bikes instead of in the theater. And really, who can blame them?

Special thanks to the Clinton Street Theater for keepin’ it real and being so good to our rowdy crowd.

Are you ready to rock and roll and play dirty in the streets? Here are the answers to the to questions we’re getting at Filmed by Bike Headquarters

TICKETS FOR FRIDAY // We can’t guarantee to arrive at any time to get seat, we just don’t know. Come early. $8-15, and if you pay the whole $15 you get 2 free raffle tix and our signature sticker. No advance sales but we start selling 1/2 hour before the show, 1 ticket per person. Both screenings are awesome and rowdy. 9p is a little more controlled mayhem.

RAFFLE // One raffle for each Friday screening, Both are equally great.

SAT+SUN // All the great movies of Friday, all the huge crowds, less fanfare, no raffle, no MCs. Still come early. They will sell out. 5, 7, 9pm.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever sneered at a recumbent rider. Well, I tell you, one of these days we’re all going to have blown knees, bad backs and sore arms and I don’t know about you but I sure as hell don’t want to give up riding.

Now, I’m not exactly saying I’ll for sure be riding a recumbent, but after watching Bent, a documentary about recumbent culture that debuts in our Bikers Win program, I gotta say that I’m done with the sneers and jeers. Recumbents may not exactly be the new fixies, but they certainly do give them a run for their money. I mean, no attitude? That aspect right there is worth quadruple it’s weight in titanium.

Anyway, check out their poster (click for larger). They’re stoked (rightly so) to be in this year’s festival. And I’ll tell you what, it’s not our only recumbent movie.

Filmmaker Oliver Ogden first heard about Filmed by Bike by seeing posters up at some of his favorite haunts. He was quickly inspired to work on a movie, and set about brainstorming ideas. “As a filmmaker and bike enthusiast,” he says, “I didn’t want to pass this opportunity to brush elbows with like minded Portlanders.”

One night, unable to sleep and continuously thinking of movie ideas, Ogden was struck with nostalgia for the fond memories of his youth, and he came up with the concept for Derailed, which will debut at this year’s Filmed by Bike. “The question arose,” he says, “can someone return to those idyllic carefree times while being weighed down by life’s trivialities?”

To find out Ogden’s take on that question, you’ll have to come see Derailed, which is part of the Pump it Up program. Showings: Fri 7,9 // Sat 5 // Sun 7,9

DVD PRE-SALE
The 2008 Filmed by Bike compilation DVD is for sale at a SPECIAL ADVANCE PRICE of only $8 online. It will also be for sale at the Opening Night Throwdown on April 11th for the same price. Purchase yours and 10 more to give as gifts. [ buy them! ]

BRING YOUR DOLLAHS
We also want to offer our daily reminder to bring your dollars to Filmed by Bike. You’ll need them for the raffle, and it’s cash only to get it. We’ll be raffling off over $2,000 in prizes on Friday, and at each show we’ll give away around 15 awesome prizes each valued at AT LEAST $25. [ raffle list ]

Ricardo Portilho, a Brazilian bike enthusiast and art director, heard about Filmed by Bike from the Amsterdam-based Gerrit Rietveld Academy mailing list. His film “I Just Can’t Forget These Things” will show in our 2008 festival.The impetus for the movie came from an assignment Portilho received from Kosmopolis, an organization from Rotterdam that works with cross-cultural relationships in The Netherlands. Read the rest of this entry »

Includes dinner for two at Dots Cafe, conveniently located just across the street from the theater. There are just a few more left! Get them while you can.
[ more info ]

Rapha, the newest kids on the Portland bike block, have generously donated over $500 worth of their hot performance roadwear to the Filmed by Bike auction. Welcome to town, Rapha!

For the last ten years, Portland has made impressive and advanced strides toward being a leader in bike friendly cities. About four years ago Chris King moved to Portland and in my opinion that really sealed the deal that we’re Bike City, USA - big enough, awesome enough, and definitely bikey enough for top cycling manufacturers to call this home.

Add to that mix our powerhouse collection of frame builders, transportation planners, crafters and event hosts (grasrootsy and not) and you’ve got one hell of a bike town. Now, let’s watch some movies!!