One of my regrets with BikePortland is how long it took me to finally start making videos. And not just to feed the social media video beast, but beca

‘Bleeps and Bloops’ ride gives cycling new sounds

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2024-12-02 20:30:05

One of my regrets with BikePortland is how long it took me to finally start making videos. And not just to feed the social media video beast, but because in order to fully understand a community, you can’t just read about it and look at silent photographs. You must hear it.

That’s why I was excited to finally cover the Bleeps and Bloops Ride last night. I’ve known ride leader Mykle Hansen since the old Zoobomb days and that time he rode a tall bike 100 miles for Reach the Beach. Hansen is wonderfully creative and always into something interesting. I have no idea what all the buttons, knobs and dials do on the sound-making contraption he unfurled from a huge suitcase and mounted to the front of his cargo bike do. And then there’s his proprietary “Bloopernet” device that allows multiple people to sync up sounds wirelessly. How does that work? I’m not really sure, but I know I love it.

Bleeps and Bloops — what Mykle describes as an “acoustic bicycle adventure” and a “musical parade of migratory soundbirds” — has happened a few times in recent years, and folks are starting to get into it.