Highlights from the Disaster Relief Trials

Ken tackled the DRT course on his custom bike and conquered water obstacles and jersey walls all with the weight of two 3/4 full buckets of water from the Columbia River loaded on his bike. “While I did manage to finish first in the Citizen category, it’s important for me to acknowledge the excellent efforts of my fellow participants, the majority of whom had much heavier cargo bikes with greater capacity than mine,” Ken said. “Props also go out to the seven female competitors, including Diana Rempe, the fastest woman in the open category.”

Here are a few more shots of Ken’s trek through the course:

Always excited about the varying types of cargo bikes and their specifications, one of the things Ken would like to see next year is a more in depth look at the competitors and their rigs. “It would be interesting to see published equipment information for each participant’s bike, including the weight of their rig,” he said. “Having that information would be a big help in determining the effectiveness of cargo bikes in disaster situations.”

One person who could make those potential improvements in DRT Founder and Co-Organizer Mike Cobb (right). Mike has big plans for the DRT, including proliferating the franchise to other cities across the continent. Events are already in the works for early fall in Eugene, Boulder, San Francisco and Victoria, BC, and Mike hinted at DRTs in Chicago, New York City and Vancouver BC in 2014.

Spreading the event to other cities would make it easier for cargo bike enthusiasts from across the country to show off their cargo bike skills. A few of the participants in this year’s DRT had to travel to Portland to compete. Austin Horse (left), winner of the Open Category, is a retired bicycle messenger from New York. Austin’s bicycling roots lead him his job at Spinlister, a web and iOS app that helps bike renters and owners connect. It’s awesome to see cyclists like Austin come to Portland as we lead the way in the cargo bike revolution!

A big congratulations to Ken for his success in the Disaster Relief Trials! And a big thank you to the organizers, multitude of volunteers, competitors and spectators! Ken is equally grateful for the support. “They were all wonderful! It was awesome to compete in the event and I’m looking forward to next year!”

All of the images of Ken were taken by Alexander Hongo.  Al has worked as a cargo courier for Pedaler’s Express, and is currently working at the Bicycle Way of Life in Eugene, OR.  He was the event photographer for the DRT.  See Al’s other pictures of the event on BikePortland.org and his Instagram page.