Courtney Tait

Courtney Tait is a writer from Victoria, B.C. who lives in Portland. Read More

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The annual Bridge Pedal lets bikers take to the city’s many bridges for a day-long ride.

Pedalpalooza Bike Festival

Every summer, Portland cyclists organize hundreds of fun-filled, public bike rides.

Editor's Pick

2 min read

Courtney Tait

Courtney Tait is a writer from Victoria, B.C. who lives in Portland. Read More

Editor's Pick

This is a recurring event and we’re showing the details from its most recent past occurrence. We’ll update this page with future event info as soon as we get it. Please check back!

When

June 1–Aug. 31, 2023

Daily

Free

Where

Multiple locations

Whether you’re a cycling fanatic, an occasional cruiser or just a lover of fun events, Pedalpalooza has something for you. Held all over Portland, this bike- and fun-focused festival celebrates summer’s arrival with over 100 rides throughout town.

Don’t know where to start? Why not start at the yearly Kickoff Ride at the beginning of the festivities? Dress up you and your bike and take to the streets to celebrate biking and the community. You can also Head to Portland’s verdant Gateway Green, Portland’s very first cycling park. Or join the thousands of riders who cycle through the city in the buff during the World Naked Bike Ride.

What is Pedalpalooza?

Inspired by the success of Bikesummer, a traveling event Portland hosted in 2002, Pedalpalooza has entertained bike enthusiasts since 2003. While local bike-fun organization SHIFT runs the festival’s site and helps with planning, anyone can create and lead a ride.

“I think the thing that surprises most newcomers (and continues to entertain old hands) is the ingenuity behind some of the rides,” says Chris McCraw, one of SHIFT’s community builders and an occasional ride organizer. “It’s DIY, as is Portland’s culture, with room for every weird kind of ride, from life drawing to scavenger hunts to pub crawls to races to campouts.”

With a mix of family-friendly and adult-only rides, Pedalpalooza embraces bike fun as a way to bring the community together. Many rides — such as Fancy Mondays or the Star Trek Ride — encourage costumes reflecting the festival’s celebratory, non-competitive nature. And while fun with bikes is Pedalpalooza’s priority, in previous years, events like the Climate Ride, Oil Train Protest Ride, Feminist Ride, and Jazz Funeral Ride (memorializing Portland and Oregon traffic deaths) also let people speak out on important issues.

Pedalpalooza for Visitors

Visiting from out of town? If you don’t have a bike, it’s easy to test out Portland’s bike share program, Biketown, or one of the city’s several other bike rental programs. Want to get a taste of Pedalpalooza without pedaling? Head to an event that ends with a post-ride dance, like the Kick-Off Ride Afterparty. There are also slower rides that you can join by foot or pedicab.

“Pedalpalooza is a ‘Welcome to summer, get on your bike!’ event that builds community,” says McCraw. “Hopefully, people you pass by will get a whiff of that joy — that delightful sense of being yourself and having fun in public — and join us on the next ride.”

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