Get Naked: Pedalpalooza’s Essential August Rides
In Portland, summer means Pedalpalooza. The cycling fest dates back to the 2002 visit of international festival Bikesummer, an event that was so much fun that something like it simply had to happen every year. Early Pedalpalooza began as a month of themed rides and two-wheel celebrations. But, this is Portland. In 2021, organizers switched to June-through-August rides, ostensibly to create smaller, pandemic-sized rides while repenting for the cancellation of the 2020 one. Now three-month Pedalpalooza is here to stay, because more rides = better.
One classic Portland bucket-list item: adding your own ride to the Pedalpalooza calendar. You can list what you're into (say, tacos) and what you want to celebrate (your birthday) and your favorite tunes ("I Want to Ride My Bicycle"). So many Portlanders have done just that that Pedalpalooza's calendar holds something for everyone. And we mean everyone. Here are a few of the August rides we’re looking forward to.
Aug 12, 7:30 p.m.: World Naked Bike Ride
It’s the most famous Pedalpalooza ride of them all, the biggest bike event of the year in Portland (at its 2014 peak, participation reached 10,000), and a quintessential experience for all Portlanders. The Saturday night ride is part of a series of naked bike rides around the world, all of which protest the vulnerability of cyclists against cars (hence the nudity) and dependence on oil. The start and end location is TBD for now, so stay tuned for more details.
Aug 14, 5 p.m.: Dead Freeways Ride
Urban planning and history buffs, meet at the Providence Park MAX station for a 10-mile ride, led by the Urban Adventure League, that ends in Southeast Portland. The ride tracks all the planned freeways that never came to fruition, as well as the freeways of the past.
Aug 14, 6:30 p.m.: World Lizard Day Ride
Whether you have a pet lizard or just like to admire them from afar, this 10-mile ride, which starts and ends at Irving Park, celebrates the scaly reptile friends with lizard facts, a pet store stop, and opportunities to sit on some sunny rocks. The organizers request that you please leave pet lizards at home.
Aug 21, 5:45 p.m.: Ice Cream Bike Bus Ride
The coolest way to get to school is via bike bus—which, like a regular school bus route, stops at set locations to pick up more kids along the way. There are now 15 established bike bus routes in[AC1] Portland, most to elementary schools. Since back-to-school is around the corner, get back into the swing of things with a family-friendly, mostly flat ride that starts at Western Seminary on Hawthorne, stops for ice cream at Fifty Licks on Clinton, and loops back.
Aug 25, 7 p.m.: Gravel Witch Ride
Off-road riding enthusiasts, meet at the Vera Katz statue along the Eastbank Esplanade for a chill gravel ride in town. Now in its fourth year, the ride will split into two groups for faster and slower paces. The ride also includes a stop for firewood gathering for a bonfire at the end.
