Check Out These June Pedalpalooza Rides
Image: Courtesy Eric Thornburg
In Portland, summer means Pedalpalooza. The event dates back to the 2002 visit of an international festival called Bikesummer, which was so much fun that something like it simply had to happen every year. What was once just one month of themed rides and two-wheel celebrations now lasts three months, because more rides = better.
One classic Portland bucket-list item: adding your own ride to the Pedalpalooza calendar. You can build a ride around what you want for dinner (say, tacos), something you want to celebrate (Black liberation, or even just a birthday), or your favorite tunes (maybe some trash pop). As a result, Pedalpalooza's calendar—also available in app form for Apple users—holds something for everyone. And we mean everyone. Here are just a few of the June rides we’re looking forward to.
Bring Out Your Dead Laptops Ride
Tue, June 9 | Arborlook Food Carts | gather at 5pm, ride at 6pm
Fellow cyclists on this e-waste-avoiding ride can help you revive a dead laptop or wipe a living laptop, and teach you how to do a factory reset. (Those that cannot be resurrected will eventually be taken to Free Geek.) Bring a blank USB thumb drive to take home some open-source goodness.
Bike Play 17: A Bikesmith’s Tale
June 11–14 & 18–20 | Oregon Park | Gather at 6:30pm, ride at 7pm
It's simple: Bike Play is a play that unfolds over the course of a bike ride, with the audience (that’s you) pedaling from scene to scene. A beloved tradition now in its 17th year, this time it's a medieval tale about a peasant attempting to woo a noble as their kingdom teeters toward war. Period-inspired costumes encouraged; bike jousting guaranteed.
The Totally 100% True and Not at All Made Up Historical Tour of Portland
Sat, June 13 | Abernethy elementary | gather at 10:30am, ride at 11am
“Costumes encouraged, skepticism optional, all wheels welcome” (including skates) at this ride packed with ridiculously obscure bits of Portland trivia, with guides who claim to have “spent minutes in the local library, definitely reading microfilm and not just making stuff up.”
Ride Westside - Southern Cedar Mill Pop Up Route
Thu, June 18 | Sunset Transit Center | Gather at 6:30pm, ride at 7pm
A lot of the west-side rides on the calendar go in for distance (there are some wide-open space out there!), but this one keeps things tighter, with a plan to explore Cedar Mill's “sick greenway system” and “beautiful waterways and natural areas.” A loop, it starts and ends at a MAX stop, for city folk who might not be up to bike to the burbs.
Heated Rivalry Ride
Sat, June 20 | Oregon Park | Ride at 6pm
Hockey. Boys. Bikes. The organizer of this 21-and-over ride invites fans of the Canadian romance series to “crack open a crisp ginger ale as we ride around listening to t.A.T.u. and simply Y E A R N.”
Ride the Jewels
Fri, June 26 | Taylor Electric Building | Gather at 7pm, ride at 7:30pm
This 21-and-over Run the Jewels tribute ride marks the 13th anniversary of the hip-hop duo's first release. Expect to hear all four albums in order, “plus Meow the Jewels—the cat-noise remix of RTJ2 that started as a Kickstarter dare and ended up an actual record.”
Bread & Butter Ride
Sun, June 28 | Franz Bakery | Gather at 8am, ride at 8:30am
Billed as a “morning tour of some of Portland's best sourdough bread bakeries,” this ride will leave from under the Franz sign and gather loaves around town. Bring some dough—money, that is—of your own to contribute, and/or a spread to share at the endpoint: a picnic at the King Farmers Market.
