Not that Portlanders or anybody in the metropolitan area need incentive to get on their bicycles and go ride, but Pedalpalooza starts Thursday, June 4, bringing people together for bike fun in Portland, Oregon, as its theme says.
Yes, the World Naked Bike Ride, June 27, gets all the attention.
But there are rides for everybody, with a variety of themes. Just take a look at the Pedalpalooza calendar at shift2bikes.org.
See what days youre free, align with what you want, go alone or make a friend, says Rhienna Renée Guedry, the events media representative.
Its not as daunting as it sounds. You start at a location, you small-talk for a half hour, the rides tend to be slow because people pull sound systems or ride tandem or tall bikes or kids bikes or skateboards. You go half the speed you expect to go and stop often; you ride a mile or two at the most without stopping. You might stop under a bridge and do a dance party.
There are 242 bicycle events listed on shift2bikes.org. Its a lot of people putting on a lot of events.
You might want to find out where ghosts are, or ride to urban gardens or photo booths or up Rocky Butte for a picnic.
The World Naked Bike Ride is meant to allow people to be free from clothes, from oppression, from oil dependence, from the bounds of vehicles, whatever. It is such a huge event now, that just planning for police detail, volunteers and medics takes months. It starts at Col. Summers Park, at Southeast Belmont Street and 20th Avenue.
Its a beautiful thing when you have a city like Portland that allows you to protest peacefully and bond together, Guedry says.
There are other rides just as fun, and you get to keep your clothes on.
On the shortest night of the year, June 21, the Solstice Ride (meeting at Peoples Co-op, 3027 S.E. 21st Ave.) and Goth Ride (meeting at Portland Opera, 211 S.E. Caruthers St.) goes from sunset to sunrise, taking surprise routes.
There are political rides, of course, and one of the more meaningful ones should be Save The Humans, meeting at Oregon Park, Northeast Hoyt Street and 29th Avenue, on June 23, to protest the increasingly unsafe conditions on Portland streets, as well as greenways and bike routes.
On June 26, Team Bowie rider fans of David Bowie meet at Col. Summers Park, while rider fans of Prince Team Prince meet at Sewallcrest Park at Southeast 31st Avenue and Stephens Street. Dressed up like Bowie and Prince, they cruise around and dance to the music, and eventually meet each other.
The Multnomah County Bike Fair will be held on the final day, 2-7 p.m. June 27, at Paz, 1625 S.E. Woodward St. Then the World Naked Bike Ride takes place around 8 p.m.
Again, all the extensive information can be found at www.shift2bikes.org. Pedalpalooza also will be actively communicating on Twitter and Facebook.
This is community put on, no sponsorship. We try really hard to be free and about community, Guedry says. You show up with a bike and have some fun, and leave when you want.
jvondersmith@portlandtribune.com