The first ever Bike to Blazers ride was a big success. About 30 or so brave souls ventured out on a stormy day and enjoyed a bright and sunny ride along the Esplanade from the Lucky Lab to the Rose Garden to watch a TrailBlazers game. We had three families join us and everyone had a good time.
At the arena, we were treated to indoor bike parking and free Zach Randolph bobble-head dolls (which were more popular than I expected). Jeff Bernards and a volunteer from the Livestrong Ride helped me staff a Bike Info table right near the main entrance. We gave away loads of free bike maps (thanks PDOT!), BTA brochures, and stickers.
I enjoyed talking to an entirely different crowd than I’m used to at bike events. Most of the people that came to our table weren’t what I would call transportation cyclists and most of them aren’t event from the Portland Metro area. They all drive to the game, pay $13 to park, then drive home. If we want to reach these folks, we’ve got to meet them on their turf…and a Blazer game is definitely their turf.
I like the idea of riding to sporting events and I’m going to look into working more with the Blazers next year (things can only get better for them). I’ll also check in with the Beavers (baseball) and the Lumberjax (lacrosse) for next year.
I snapped a bunch more photos. Thanks to everyone who showed up; we had fun, raised about $175 for Get Lit and I look forward to doing it again next year!
The pics look great, and hopefully they’ll be more events. Don’t forget to check with the Timbers.
Awesome Jonathan. I want to try something similar in Toronto with the Blue Jays – I know their head of marketing… so it may not be too hard? I’ll try and email you to get some insights. 🙂
I’d love to see a similar event for the Beavers and Timbers!
(Although you are probably right that a Blazers game probably targets drivers very well.)