The Worst Day of the Year Ride

Portland LOVES to bike. Bicycle Magazine named Portland the no. 1 cycling city two years running. Portland boasts somewhere around 200 miles of bike lanes and boulevards to ease the riding and the bike industry is moving en mass to our Rose City. We got it goin' on.

This past weekend I got out amongst the mob for the Worst Day of the Year Ride . This 18 or 40 mile ride is a benefit for the Community Cycling Center, which is a great nonprofit that offers bike safety training and gets bikes to kids who need them.

The name of the event comes from research done on the strangeness that is our Portland weather. They looked into it and typically last weekend contains the worst weather day of the year. I have to say it disappointed a bit as it was mild and overcast.

My volunteer gigs were to hand out packets on Saturday and then be a course marshall on Sunday for the actual ride. Handing out packets was... handing out packets. I spoke to a lot of people (over 150) in a short amount of time. Sunday I was a couple miles into the race standing on a corner making sure folks made a turn. For a good 2.5 hours I jumped up and down, did my best “John Travolta Turn Here Dance, ” yelled, screamed, and made a general fool of myself for the nearly 2,000 bike riders. They returned the favor with crazy costumes, dinging their bells, and constantly yelling things like “volunteers rock”. Portland has to be the nicest city in the country.

Other Portland volunteer opportunities with your bike. (Please add more from your city or mine in the comments area!)
- On the last Friday of the month, a nonprofit called Shift to Bikes will give you free coffee and doughnuts as you ride across the Hawthorne or Steel Bridges. They need help spreading the joy.
- Bicycle Transportation Alliance has great biking events as well as on-going volunteer opportunities for you.
- And don't forget the Community Cycling Center which takes used bikes and fixes them up for folks who need 'em. In addition to the Worst Day of the Year Ride, they also offer the Hottest Day of the Year Ride.
- If you are female and like to perform, look into the Sprockettes, they do amazing things on their bikes while they encourage others to bike.

Get on your bike and RIDE!

Total Volunteer Hours: 9