Terry,
Seeing as you didn't attend this wonderful event I'll fill you in. This event wasn't just for bicyclists. It was the whole community. It was so much fun. There were thousands of pedestrians, families and people of all ages. It was really special. The road system is our largest expanse of public land in this country thus I don't quite understand why some people feel so threatened when a tiny fraction is made available for non-automobile purposes. Yes, it did cost public money, but public money paid for those very expensive roads. We all pay taxes, even cyclists. I would even guestimate that about 70% of cyclists in portland either own cars or drive sometimes. We pay the same as you to to be licensed and then to improve our quality of lives, as well as reduce traffic and pollution, we ride when we can.