The last Friday of every month Shift volunteers serve breakfast to bicyclists on the Steel, Hawthorne, and Tillikum bridges. Many bike commuters have come to look forward to hot coffee and delicious pastries on their way to work once a month - and you can’t beat the views! Note, we generally arrive on the bridges around 7:00 a.m. and stay till 9:00.
Join us for this fun, community-building event. Stop by on your way to work, school, shopping, or where-ever you and your bike are going.
BonB has a Facebook page, Mastodon account, Twitter account, and some pictures on Flickr.
Volunteers
BonB is brought to you by a team of bike-fun-loving morning people (and those of us who drink enough coffee to resemble morning people). It takes many hands and much energy to deliver breakfast to so many cyclists in the morning and we love to share the work load opportunity to spread joy. There’s much brewing, baking, and donation retrieval to be done, but if you’re not the type who plans ahead just show up and put your friendly smile to use- we always enjoy company on the bridges! If you’re interested in helping out, get in touch with our volunteers.
BonB is planned and organized through the occasional meeting and plenty of electronic correspondence through the BonB mailing list. Maybe handing out breakfast before the sun comes up isn’t your thing? We’re always looking for friendly and creative folks to help find donors, pick up and drop off donations, and promote BonB via creative signs and feeding logistics.
Schedule
Breakfast on the Bridges happens 7:00 - 9:00 am on the last Friday of every month. Well… pretty much. In the month of June we celebrate PedalPalooza by bringing you BonB every Friday. We also try to avoid major holidays (when people get to sleep in rather than commute downtown) by shifting the date up or back a week (especially around Thanksgiving in November and Christmas/New Years in December). We also throw special themes into the mix like Superhero BonB in October and Santa Lucia on the Bridge in December.
Current Locations
We have three regular serving locations as of 2019:
- Steel Bridge: Team Steel sets up just east of the entrance to the lower bike/ped path (north end of the Eastbank Esplanade). Great views of the river and downtown skyline.
- Tillikum Bridge: Team Tillikum sets up on the either end of the bridge on the Northbound side, either next to Elephant’s Delicatessen on the west side or at the junction with the feeder from the Springwater trail onto the Westbound bridge MUP.
- Blumenauer Bridge: Team Blumenauer stations on the north end of the bridge. Now that the Hawthorne Bridge crew has relocated to the Blumenauer Bridge, all 4 BonB locations are car-free!
- Flanders Crossing: Expanding to four bridges for the first time! Say hi-diddly-ho to your bikey neighbors on one of the city’s newest car-free bridges.
Donors
Free breakfast doesn’t grow on trees! Unless it’s fruit… We’re happy to have the support of several local coffee and pastry shops as well as other food donors. And we’re always looking for more! If you’d like to contribute to Breakfast on the Bridges, please contact us!
Recent Donors
- Gluten Free Gem
- Great Harvest PDX
- Portland Catering Company
- Whole Foods Market Fremont
- Cellar Door Coffee Roasters
- Stumptown Coffee
- Trailhead Coffee Roasters
- Zupan’s
- Sugar Mamas Coffee Cafe
- Portland Pedal Power
- Acme Donuts
Past Donors
- Elephant’s Delicatessen
- Sunshine Dairy
- Legare’s Community Resource Center
- Black Sheep Bakery
- Courier Coffee
- Sweetpea Baking
- People’s Coop
Many thanks to these generous friends who make Breakfast on the Bridges possible.
Past Locations
- Morrison Bridge: Breakfast was served on the Morrison for a year or two around 2013–2014. Thanks to Lance and Paul!
- Broadway Bridge: Is where the tradition started over a decade ago. Thanks Carl, Ayleen, and Timo!
- Hawthorne Bridge: The Hawthorne crew stationed the west end of the bridge for many years, but moved to the Blumenauer Bridge late 2022. Stop by and say hi at their new location!
Other
Tardy slips are often available for those who are running late. They may not get you out of trouble, but they’ll probably lighten the mood. At least you wont be trying to explain yourself on an empty stomach.
BonB Superhero trading cards (on hand at special times) are a popular collectible commodity. You can expect them to triple in value over the next ten years. A whole set may someday go for eight times its original value at auction.
Donate!
If you’d like to give money to support Breakfast on the Bridges, the below PayPal link is for Breakfast on the Bridges: