From a group of “bike punks” and messengers having a good time in the park 10 years ago, over the years, the Ladds 500 has been adopted into Portland’s roster of annual eclectic events.
For the first four years, the event was an unofficial gathering, but it has since turned into a colorful parade of costumes and bikes that draws hundreds.
The festive relay, which takes place over the course of several hours in the center of the Ladd’s Addition neighborhood in Southeast Portland, has few rules — and that’s by design, according to founder David Barstow Robinson…