BrakeBeat: The Irondelles riding high

What's better than riding a bike? Riding twice a bike. This is where the Irondelles come in, Portland's all-female group of tall bike builders and riders. They will be on hand at the Cirque du Cycling Art Bike Parade this Saturday, June 13 for their first official event.
The bikes, essentially one frame on top of another, reach five feet at the seat and are built by the group's eight members. Skye Blue, who is also a seamstress, started the group two and a half months ago, helping the Irondelles (four of which never had ridden or built a tall bike before) along step by step. Blue honed her tall bike talents while living at the former Alberta Clown House; she started the Irondelles, she says, because “I thought it would be nice to provide a space and the knowledge for women to work together.”

Not only that, but “riding tall bikes is really fun—it's more fun than riding normal bikes.”

See the Irondelles show their high-flyin' stuff—sporting hand-sewn attire and all—at Cirque du Cycling as well as the Bikini Bike Wash (Wednesday, June 24) and Sunday Parkways (August 16).

Image courtesy of Lydia Cox.