Pdxguide

Is it a cult? Or a way of life? Whatever it may be, Zoobomb is fun. The deal: every Sunday night a gang of bike-folks meets up at Rocco’s Pizza (949 SW Oak St, at intersection of W Burnside, SW 10th Ave, and SW Oak) between 8 and 9pm. At 9, everyone takes their bike (or one of the bikes provided) to the nearest MAX station to catch a train to the Washington Park-Zoo Station. They ride from the station to the top of the hill, hang out a bit at a “secret” location, and then “bomb” down the steep, winding road through the park back down to the Civic Stadium, I mean, PGE Park station. This is usually repeated a few times, with refreshing done at the top. Fun! The initiated ride children’s bikes (referred to as “little” bikes) which are piled up on the bike racks near Rocco’s.

As with many activities in this vein, Zoobomb has felt the heat of, well “the heat”. Tri-Met fare inspectors like to give them grief (a note to the wise: ALWAYS pay the $1.65 fare if you plan on riding the MAX to Zoobomb, otherwise you might end up with a ticket for fare evasion!), the neighborhood association around the Zoo has been at odds with them (going as far as to try to get the MAX station to close early on Sunday nights), and even the Department of Homeland Security considered them a possible “terrorist threat” at one point!! But things have mellowed out a bit for now.