Joel Newman is a Senior Designer at Fat Pencil Studio
June in Portland means Pedalpalooza—an assemblage of nearly 300 bike rides that celebrate all things cycling in one of the best cycling cities in the US. (And if you don't think that Portland is a great cycling city, there's a Pedalpalooza ride for that, too). With so many options and only 30 days to ride, we decided to stay inside and crunch the numbers.
Rides by Category:
There's rides of all kinds here. We tried to categorize each of them. There are rides for policy wonks to investigate stormwater systems and transit options. Rides for eating and drinking. Rides for dancing to classic hip-hop, yacht rock, Phish, and more. Opportunities to meet and hang out with other cyclists of all persuasions. And rides for bike aficionados to celebrate folding bikes, 26" wheels, cargo bikes and more.
Rides by Strenuosity:
Some are serious bike rides — there are multiple century rides, a naked metric century, a multi-day trip to the coast, a bikepacking trip in the gorge. We put an (admittedly subjective) strenuosity score on each ride— If you want to go hard, plan your Pedalpalooza according to the table below:
Rides by Weirdness
Of course, maybe you want to experience all the weirdness of Portland with a minimum of miles. Check out the always-popular Run-D.M.C. vs Beastie Boys ride, see what experimental bike theater about the cascadia earthquake is like, or try your luck on a ride with a route chosen by rolling dice. We gave each ride a (very subjective) weirdness score and ranked them all accordingly:
Here's a calendar, too, but you can also check out the calendar on the Shift2Bikes website for any last minute additions or changes to the schedule.
Our ratings and categories are subjective, and details are subject to change. This isn't intended to be an exhaustive source of information, rather, it's a fun way to look at the variety of Pedalpalooza events, and at cycling in Portland in general. Check the official Pedalpalooza site or twitter for up-to-date info.