the Springwater Trail in 2009.
(Photo © J. Maus)
In all the time I’ve been doing this site, I can’t remember when we’ve had four New Year’s rides to choose from. I’ll go ahead and take that as an omen that 2011 will be a great year for bicycling in Portland (and beyond). Check out details on the rides below… And if you know of others, feel free to share them in the comments:
New Year’s 200K Brevet
Get your annual mileage count off to a solid start with a bit of randonneuring. The Hillsboro-Dallas-Hillsboro 200K Brevet departs from Hillsboro at 7:30 am on New Year’s Day (Saturday).
North Freak’s Festivus New Year’s Ride
North Freak is a local bike club that knows how to have a good time. Join them on Friday night at 9:00pm for their Festivus New Year’s Ride for all the “classic festivus activities” including: Feats of Strength, Airing of the Grievances, and The Festivus Pole. This ride will roll out to a friendly and fun New Year’s Eve house party. Join North Freak for all the riding, partying, dancing, and fun you can handle.
54th Annual New Year’s Day Ride (led by the BTA)
You can’t go wrong with this one. Portland’s New Year’s Day Ride has quite a storied history and these days it’s led by the BTA. It’s always well attended and lively. The ride will start under the west end of the Burnside Bridge and roll out to the Bike Tires Direct retail store (5741 NE 87th Ave). Bike Tires Direct will host with warm drinks and treats at the end of the ride (and they’ll offer 15% off items in the store!).
Group Ride with Upper Echelon Fitness
If you feel like something with a bit more of a faster pace, Russell Cree and the nice folks at Upper Echelon Fitness are hosting a group ride. The ride leaves at 10:00 am on New Year’s Day and leaves from their Northwest location (which they share with Portland Bicycle Studio at 1420 NW 17th, Suite 388).
3rd Annual New Year’s Revolution Cabin Camping by Bike
This ride is led by Cycle Wild, a local non-profit that has a proven track record of leading awesome bike-camping trips from Portland. They’ll leave at 10:00 am on New Year’s Eve from the MAX stop in Hillsboro and ride 23 miles on low-traffic and carfree roads on the Banks-Vernonia Trail. Check more event details on their Google Calendar listing.
As you can see, there’s something for everyone! Hopefully the weather isn’t too horrible and you are all able to bring in the new year on two wheels.
Also, Cycle Wild is camping in the cabins at Stub Stewart State Park – leaving Friday, Dec 31st and returning Sunday, Jan 2. There’s about 30 people signed up for this trip, and we have 7 cabins reserved. There’s still a couple spots if anyone else is interested. Cycle Wild does not charge for trips, but each person is responsible for their own food and the park charges for the cabins – per person cost for the 2 nights will be about $20, payable to the persons who reserved the cabins. Email “matt” at “cyclewild” dot “org” for details, or check out http://www.cyclewild.org
It’s likely that a group of us will ride the Banks Vernonia trail from the park to Vernonia on the 1st and eat lunch at the Chinese restaurant there.
That’s awesome Matt! I’ll add this to the story. Have a great trip and if you or anyone else is interested, I’d love to consider publishing photos and a recap here on the Front Page. Cheers.
Now that sounds like fun!
The New Year’s ride may have a 54 year history, but the BTA certainly doesn’t.
By my count, the BTA is at best 20 years old.
My mistake BURR. I’ve edited the story to make it more clear that the ride is 54 years old and that the BTA is merely hosting/leading it. Thanks.
Hey Jonathan. I am visiting for a week from Hawaii and can’t decide on which one to participate in. Are you riding new years day? I think I am leaning towards the BTA ride, and it would be good to ride with you again.
Aloha!
think I’ll try to make it to the 54th Annual New Year’s Day Ride… will have to push nap time out a little though… but it’s a good excuse to buy a new pump…
get ready to party your pants off with northfreak!
no seriously, you may want to consider a belt.
happy new year, 2011 bring it!!
What is the route for the New Year’s Day/BTA ride?
The ride is 8 miles and mostly on quiet sociable streets. It is not a loop. The endpoint, biketiresdirect, is just around the corner from the Parkrose Transit Center MAX station. Route maps will be handed out at the start of the ride.
I’ve enjoyed the ride in the past, planning on doing it this year.
I finally found all my cold-weather gear and am looking forward to 127 miles in just-barely-over-freezing BUT DRY weather . . . bring on the first brevet of the year . . .
the bta ride was so-so. ride was so slow. my feet were frozen. About 1/2 of people left the ride. guess the ride was not what the people were in their mind. they wanted to keep moving like other rides…cant blame them. i enjoyed the coffee at the end. went home on my own, yay!
Rode on the BTA ride today – how cool was it to see 75+ riders gather under the Burnside Bridge in the frigid temps! Yes, the pace was slow, but I appreciated hearing about the advocacy work being done on cyclists’ behalf. The Going St. crossing area at 33rd was really cool. I’m looking forward to using the Cully cyclotrack once it gets finished. Thanks to Nossa Familia and BTD for the warming station at the end and the cool guy who baked a couple hundred chocolate chip cookies for the start! Thanks BTA for giving me a reason to get on my bike in January – a great start to the year.
I was there with you… I thought it was cool that we were joined by the original founder of the ride!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ufobike/5314487625/in/set-72157625600103621/
The rest of the photos are uploaded to flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ufobike/sets/72157625600103621
I can’t wait to feel my toes again! 😉
the OrRando New Year’s 200km Brevet was epic! Dry, but very, very cold!