2020 Bike to Books Winners

(Oct. 29, 2020) The Portland Bureau of Transportation's (PBOT) annual Bike to Books Design Contest looked a little bit different this year as a result of the Covid-19 public health crisis. Now in its fourth year, the contest asks children to design original art for Portland bike lanes. Rather than submitting their designs in person at their local Multnomah County Library branch, families submitted their designs via email. Even with this change, the 2020 Bike to Books Design Contest received over 100 unique designs from schoolchildren across the city.  

The program celebrates National Bike Month in May, inviting Multnomah County students to design art for local bike lanes. Three winners were selected from each of the three age categories: Pre-K to 2nd grade, 3rd to 6th grade, and 7th to 12th grade. Grand prize winners will have their art installed on Portland bike lanes and along low-traffic streets known as neighborhood greenways. PBOT's street striping crews do all the installations. Learn more about how the street art is installed using thermoplastic and propane torches in this video.

Second place winners received a pack of four day passes to Lumberyard Indoor Bike Park that included admissions and gear rental, while third place winners received a helmet from Nutcase Helmets. Honorable Mention winners received a Safe Routes to School goodie bag. All finalists received a certificate and a metal sign from PBOT and Multnomah County Library. 

PBOT and Multnomah County Library staff reviewed and voted on all the entries.  

PBOT Bike to Books 2020 Flickr Album 

Here are the winning designs coming to a bike lane near you:

View full size image of First place winners depict an illustrated strawberry, chicken, and salmon riding bikes for the 2020 Bike to Books Contest.

Winning designs were installed at these locations: 

• Strawberry on a Bicycle: N Bryant Street, west of Missouri Avenue
• Too Many Babies: N Blandena Street at N Kerby Avenue
• Rainbow Trout: N Concord Avenue at Ainsworth Street

Designs will fade and disappear over time due to wear and tear on our streets.

View full size image of Second place Bike to Books designs depict a Zerlda-themed bike, a sun carrying books, and a cat riding a bike.

View full size image of Third place Bike to Books designs feature illustrations of a flower on a bike, a dog on a bike and a bike that's reading a book.