What better way to celebrate a Friday commute over one of Portland’s lovely bridges than happy people serving you free coffee and donuts? Oh, how about free breakfast tacos too? Gluten-free pancakes, perhaps?
That’s what Shift’s Breakfast on the Bridge is all about. Run entirely by volunteers who simply want to spread the bikey fun, it’s a laissez-faire party of hardy folk who show up, on the last Friday of every month (or every Friday in June), with breakfast treats to disburse to morning bike commuters. Arriving around 7, they set up shop with coffee pots, stoves, boxes of pastries, bananas, whatever’s available that week, and hang out for a few hours to give passers-by some love.
What ensues has the flavor of an impromptu party on the bridge sidewalks: tons of bikes propped against the rails, people standing around talking to fellow commuters, people so very excited for a free morning cup of coffee. Some folks simply gulp their coffee and go, some munch for a while; a pretty large contingent stay around for as long as humanely possible, chatting up the other munchers until they’re in real danger of unforgiveable lateness. Hopefully, some of their bosses have also stopped for breakfast on the bridge:)
Since I managed to have today totally off from any sort of work or volunteering, I made a very, very early-morning run (sorry, James!) to Cravin Raven Bakery, whose owner, Cindy, was kind enough to donate a bunch of delicious gluten-free pumpkin donuts to the cause. With donuts in tow, I met the rest of the Shift crew who so awesomely give up at least one early morning a month to show people crossing the bridges by bike that they’re appreciated. It was fantastic, and just one more reason Portland is such a fricken awesome place to live.