Riders brave cold for annual New Year’s Day Ride

With temperatures below freezing about 70 Portlanders started off 2022 with the year’s first big group ride: the New Year’s Day Ride hosted by The Street Trust.

Ride Leader Madi Carlson led us on a loop of the Central City that started off at Salmon Street Springs, then looped into northwest to the new Ned Flanders Crossing Bridge. We then made our way southwest to Better Naito, SW Moody, the Tilikum Crossing and the Eastbank Esplanade, before stopping to gawk at the forthcoming Earl Blumenauer Bridge over I-84 at 7th Avenue. The goal of the ride was to start the new year off with friends old and new and get a closer look at some of Portland’s best bike infrastructure.

To pay homage to Portland’s representative in the U.S. Congress, Carlson crafted handmade bike bow-ties out of duct tape and a rubber band (below).

At each stop she gave the group a bit of background on the different bikeways and points of interest we rode by. The streets were very calm and relatively empty in terms of car traffic. Unfortunately one TriMet bus operator ruined the positive vibes when he didn’t feel like waiting a few seconds for our group to get through a signal. Instead of hang back so all 70 riders could cross together safely, he nudged into corkers (I was one of them) and then, as he turned his head to yell angrily at me for not letting him through the green signal, he nearly hit one of the last riders. Ugh!

That little incident was quickly forgotten as we smiled our way along the Willamette River and got a perfect glimpse of a snow-covered Mt. Hood from the Tilikum Crossing (see photo). It was a great group of folks. There were all types of bikes and riders — from recumbents with little dogs in tow (the pretty pomeranian’s name is “Pumpkin”), to electric cargo bikes and even a few tiny pedalers that felt safe enough to ride through downtown Portland streets.

What a perfect way to kick off 2022! Hope you enjoy these images! Feel free to share them on your social channels as long as you mention the source (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland). Thanks!