Worst Day Ride this weekend

Worse Day of the Year Ride

[A scene from last year’s event.]

Portland’s big, event ride season kicks off in grand style this Sunday (2/11) with the Worst Day of the Year Ride.

Last year, a record 1,500 people showed up for the fun and to support the great work of the Community Cycling Center.

Ride organizer Ayleen Crotty warns that you should register early because the ride might sell out. There are 18 and 40-mile loop options and plenty of treats and hot drinks along the way. Chili, chicken noodle soup and cornbread await you at the finish line.

To get an idea of what’s in store, check out my photos from last year.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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brad
brad
17 years ago

i don’t understand how a ride can sell out…couldn’t you just ride along?

Ayleen
17 years ago

Hi Brad,

Good question.

This ride is a benefit for the Community Cycling Center (CCC). The support along the way, course markings, ride guides, hot drinks, snacks, volunteers and mechanical support, medical riders and SAG (support) van are there for the riders who are supporting the CCC. The rest stops and finish line are open only to registered riders.

It’s a great ride! I’ve been involved with organizing it since that first year when we had only 250 riders. It’s fun, quirky and, as you can see from above, it has tons of support. You can feel great about registering to ride because the funds generated go toward the CCC, which is an organization doing great work in our community.

And Brad, you’re fortunate! If you’re looking for a free ride to jump in on, the Shift (ShiftToBikes.org) calendar lists plenty of free, non-supported rides that you can join in on.

Hope to see tons of you out there. Thanks Jonathan!
Ayleen

tonyt
tonyt
17 years ago

brad,

The Worst Day of the Year Ride is a benefit for the CCC. It “sells out” because at a certain point the organizers cannot support anymore riders (food, t-shirts, rider support, etc.).

You could just ride along the same route, the streets are public after all, but if there were enough people doing that, it would make it that much harder to manage the crowd and would put an additional burden on the organizers who are mostly volunteers.

Register early!

tonyt
tonyt
17 years ago

Ayleen, I think our posts crossed in cyberspace!

Ayleen
17 years ago

And to expand on Tony’s post… We decided to cap the ride at 1,500 riders this year to ensure all riders have a fun, safe, non-crowded experience. We want the streets to be open and the yummy food to be plentiful. (Did you hear we have doughnuts?) By capping the ride at 1,500 riders, we can plan ahead.

If all goes well, who knows, maybe next year we’ll grow even more.

See you Sunday,
Ayleen

Richard S
Richard S
17 years ago

Well, if there are doughnuts on offer, I think we’ll probably start growing (fatter) this year!

My wife and I will be there on our tandem!

Cecil
Cecil
17 years ago

And we only have to look back to this past summer’s Portland Century to understand the pitfalls of accepting more riders than the ride promoters can responsibly handle 🙂

This looks like it will be a great ride (especially now that some of the confusion about the start and end point of the very fun-looking “Challenge” course has been cleared up) and it looks like the weather might actually cooperate! See you out there!

pdxrocket
pdxrocket
17 years ago

For those that have done the ride, what percentage of riders would you say are the short ride, and which the 40-mile?

Nate
Nate
17 years ago

They have to cap the ride, otherwise they will run out of chili at the finish…like they did last year…when I didn’t get any chili.

I guess I should have ridden a little faster.

Ayleen
17 years ago

Hey pdxrocket,

About 25-30% of the riders will do the Challenge Loop. And I should note, it clocks in closer to 45 miles.

Ayleen