Northwest Portland-based Keen Footwear wants to spread the word about the need to protect wild places for recreation, and they’re doing it with a bike ride.
Dubbed Hybrid Pedal, Keen calls the ride, “a 1000 mile outdoor industry cycling initiative”. The 14-day ride will leave Portland on July 25th and is scheduled to arrive at Salt Lake City, Utah (at the start of the Outdoor Retailer trade show) on August 7th.
In an interview on SNews, Keen Foundation manager Chris Enlow said the effort is being done to support the work of the Conservation Alliance and the non-profit groups they fund.
The ride will be managed and supported by Three People Productions, the same folks behind Cycle Oregon.
This isn’t the first time Keen has been influenced by their recent move to Portland. Last year they included a profile of BikePortland.org and images from inside North Portland Bikeworks in their shoe catalog.
Learn more about Hybrid Pedal on Keen’s website.
Lord! Look at that elevation gain for the first 4 days of the ride! Brutal.
Day 1: 62.2 miles/5,936ft
Day 2: 66.t miles/3,005ft
Day 3: 66.1 miles/5,312ft (or 56.3 miles/3,750ft)
Day 4: 79.2 miles/6,217ft
Good luck to whomever gets a spot. You have my admiration.
Hey Jonathan,
I was at Outdoor Retailer in SLC last year and saw a giant poster of YOU on the side of Keen’s booth. You were like 7 feet tall. Are you still affiliated with them?
“Are you still affiliated with them?”
I was really only affiliated with them as a prop for their catalog. they took some neat photos, did a profile of me and the site, and gave me some shoes and a nice check for my time. I’m not part of their ongoing Foundation if that’s what you’re wondering about. I think they’d only want to be involved if I was a non-profit…which I’m not and have no plans on being.