(Photo: Good Sport Promotion/Flickr)
The Worst Day of the Year Ride is now the second largest ride in Oregon. This past Sunday organizers say that 3,500 people showed up, putting it behind only Bridge Pedal’s 20,000 or so participants in terms of size.
This was the ninth annual Worst Day Ride, so named because the weather almanac deems the date as being statistically likely to be cold, wet, and rainy. Funny thing is, weather on the ride has a history of being quite pleasant. On Sunday, the sun returned yet again, but riders still pedaled through plenty of rain.
Ride organizer Ayleen Crotty, says the huge turnout and popularity of the ride says a lot about Portland. “I gotta say, to have a ride that challenges people to ride rain or shine (and it rained for sure) as the largest certainly says something amazing about Portland!”
On Sunday, riders took to the streets on one of two routes – an 18-mile urban tour and a 40 mile excursion. The ride was a benefit for the Community Cycling Center. For more photos check out the Worst Day of the Year Ride photo pool on Flickr.
(NOTE: The Portland edition of the World Naked Bike Ride had an estimated 5,000 riders last June, which would make it larger than the Worst Day of the Year Ride. But we’ll still give WDYR props because they actually have permits, porta-potties, liability insurance, and so on.)