portland’s “grand prix”??

Some cities have Grand Prix car racing in their downtowns. Portland, apparently, takes the idea in a greener direction with an event called the “Twilight Criterium”. Nancy and I were strolling around downtown with Chris one evening, and came across a blocked off street with bikes zooming by at high speed.

We didn’t know any of the racers’ names, but we noticed that the leader was wearing a black bike helmet and was followed closely by a biker wearing a white helmet. Lap after lap “White Helmet” chased “Black Helmet”, and we each cheered our favorite. But finally, in the last few laps they were passed by a third biker in a blue helmet who had been resting by drafting back in the pack (apparently called a “peloton” in biker lingo) and Blue Helmet won! Very exciting finish, and then we walked to a nearby ice cream shop :-).

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