It is a truth universally acknowledged that moving is terrible. The packing, the schlepping, the expense, the stress over what could befall your great-grandmother’s sewing table—the worst. So last summer, Carla Bartow decided to go about it differently: by recruiting a gaggle of strangers to cart her stuff 6.5 miles, from the Montavilla neighborhood to Vernon, by bike.

“I’ve lived car-free for 10 years,” says Bartow, a freelance artist and muralist. “Moving by bike felt like living my values. We live in a culture that says you need a car to do everything. You don’t.”

To make it happen, Bartow posted her move on Shift, an open-source calendar for local bike events. Fourteen people, most of whom she didn’t know, showed up in return for nothing but pizza and snacks. Since her own move, Bartow has volunteered to help on two others. At one, she says, “Someone came up to me and said, ‘I meant to make it your move!’ And I said, ‘I have no idea who you are, but thank you.’”

Bike moves were once a staple of Portland’s fun-loving cycling scene. In 2011, 22 appeared on the Shift calendar. These proudly DIY affairs—dozens of people showing up to haggle over who got to haul the most unwieldy items—doubled as mobile parties. You might’ve seen tandem riders decked out like lumberjacks with an area rug tucked under their arms, or a cyclist in disco attire hauling a refrigerator strapped to a bamboo trailer.

But around 2016, bike moves hit a slump—as did cycling more generally as the years went by, with data from the Portland Bureau of Transportation showing a 32 percent decline in bike commuters between 2019 and 2023. Now, there’s reason to believe bike moves could be making a comeback. In 2023, five bike moves were posted to the Shift calendar, more than in the prior seven years combined. 

“First and foremost, a bike move is a barn-raising, community-building event,” says Lillian Karabaic, host of OPB’s Weekend Edition and a bike-move veteran who’s participated in more than 70 bike moves and once moved by bike from Eugene to Portland over the course of two and a half days. “Then it’s about moving stuff.”

It’s also thrifty. According to movebuddha.com, the cost of a full-service move within Portland can start around $500 for a studio apartment and approach $3,000 for a three-bedroom home. As prices for goods and services continue to inch upward—and with Portland’s cost of living 21 percent above the national average—feeding friends chili and beer becomes an appealing way to save a buck.

Admittedly, bike moves might be impractical for larger households, or for those living in hillier parts of the city. And it certainly requires some releasing of control to watch all your worldly possessions pedaled down the street by strangers. A wheel might rub the varnish off a table leg, or a couch might be temporarily lost in the labyrinth of Ladd’s Addition. 

But for Meghan Sinnott, who’s moved by bike four times during her 23 years in Portland, “There’s nothing like seeing your furniture bike away down the street.” While she’s convinced bike moves are “truly for anybody,” she advises flexibility and a backup plan. 

“You might have one or 100 people show up,” Sinnott says. “Give yourself some cushion time before you have to move out. The host has to be vulnerable in that sense. A bike move can be as varied as human nature, a joyous wild card.” 

For potential volunteers, options abound. Don’t have a cargo bike or a trailer? Carry books in a pannier. Don’t have a pannier? Put a plant in a basket. Don’t have a basket? Cork the traffic at intersections. Don’t have a bike? Help load or unload, make a snack run, or set up food at the end of the ride. 

Armando Luna has never moved by bike, but he regularly helps others do so. “It's [a] very Portland christening,” he says. “Once I helped my friend and his daughter move from an apartment to a house. You could see how happy they were about that transition. It was really cool to be a part of that.” 

How to Move by Bike 

• Move certain possessions—passports, your grandmother’s ring, cherished plants, paper lamps—yourself. 
• Carry tarps in case it rains.
• Be ready with bungee cords, twine, and old bike tubes (ask at your local bike shop) to strap items down.
• Prepare for your movers by having everything packed, labeled, and grouped by weight and size.
• Try to nail down commitments from at least a couple of people with high-capacity trailers.
• Designate a ride leader, a sweep, and several corkers (to stop traffic at intersections for the convoy to pass).
• Provide snacks and beverages before and after.
• Prioritize flat bikeways, even if it adds some mileage. Share the route in advance and stay together.
• Advertise on the Shift calendar and social media.
• Cross your fingers. Have a ball.