(Photo © J. Maus)
Hard to believe it’s already here again, but the biggest and baddest multi-day, grassroots extravaganza of bike fun in the world gets started this Thursday. That’s right, it’s time for Pedalpalooza!
This year’s crop of rides — nearly 250 of them between June 9th and 26th — is very impressive. The creativity of people who love bikes never ceases to amaze me. Take a look at the calendar and start planning now to make the most of this great bike fun fest. Whether you like costumed rides, pub crawls, rock star-themed rides, naked rides, family rides, or whatever you can think of, chances are there’s a ride just for you (and if there isn’t, feel free to add one yourself!).
We’ll be doing lots of Pedalpalooza coverage in the days and weeks to come. We’ll have photos and reports from many of the rides thanks to our handy Ride Report Form. If you are the organizer of a ride, please be sure to fill out a form so we can share the bike fun (just for kicks, we also have a field for “economic impact” so we can tally it at the end of the 17-day event).
Have you looked at the official ride calendar yet? What rides catch your eye? Are your costumes ready? Have you grabbed one of the awesome posters (you can pick one up at Citybikes on SE 20th and Ankeny)?
Feel free to share your Pedalpalooza plans and promote your rides in the comments below.
Hiding in amongst those hundreds of listings is the largest free bike ride in Oregon: The World Naked Bike Ride.
It’s on June 18th and here are three ways in which YOU can get involved:
1) Volunteer at the event! http://bit.ly/j2T5to
2) Donate to the event! http://pdxwnbr.org
3) Take off your clothes and RIDE in the event!
My partner and I are leading 5 rides this year!
An amazing experience no matter what you choose to do. Open up to new ideas and don’t be afraid to try something wild.
woohoo!
Check out the Simpsons NW Ride on June 15 @ 6:00pm! Local neighborhood historians will ride around the NW Alphabet streets with us to early-Portland homes, temples, and buildings related to Simpson characters’ names (Lovejoy, Kearney, Quimby…). Ride ends at the International Hostel on NW Flanders St for a projector showing of some favorite Simpsons episodes. Forbidden donuts provided 🙂
Hey Rebecca, I’m wondering if the ride includes riding past 742 Evergreen Terrace? The street numbers have been changed since Matt Groenig lived there, but I found his house once and it was rad.
Well, it does now! Awesome, I didn’t even know about that. Revised ride schedule now includes a post-episode-watching West Hills climb to check it out, followed by a round of Duffs at a dingy pub with a crabby bartender.
Am I gonna pimp my ride? Of course I’m gonna pimp my ride! Everyone should come on the Star Wars vs Star Trek Ride on June 18th at 2PM. You can get naked after, for WNBR, but you should wear some redshirts, or gold bikinis, or such, for my ride.
Or paint yourself green (works for either milieu)
Super excited about the Hammercise ride, and the party we have planned for the end spot. MC Hammer + Dance Aerobics inspired performance and interactive instruction all throughout town! Everyone dressed in their early 90’s best! Last year was WAAAAY fun (we even got Jonathan Maus dressed up in spandex and hammercising with us!)
This year the ride will be similar, but we are hosting a party at the end spot, which will be the club Refuge. We have lined up an amazing night of performance and dancing, including nearly the whole Wanderlust circus (including the best acrobats, aerilists, jugglers, tall unicyclists, and dancers in town). Noah Mickens is even MCing as Vanilla Ice! And Burk Biggler will be by his side as the midget richard simmons. Then dance party all night!!
Dont miss it. Cause its on a tuesday! And thats weird for such a crazy night.