NW Cyclist Buzz: 2013 Cycling News Shorts
Sweet Ride for the Ladies
Another new ride is coming this Mother’s Day weekend, May 11, and this one is for the ladies. Why do a spa day with your girlfriends when you could be cycling together? Enter the Living the Dream Ride. It’s a full girls’ weekend in Snohomish County — Friday night will be a packet pick-up and a “Wine, Sip, Shop, Hop Pre-Party” where riders and friends can sample Washington wines while hopping between historic bakeries, antique shops and decorating stores.
Four mileage routes (18, 24, 36, and 62) are offered for the ride which starts in downtown Snohomish and winds through the lovely Snohomish Valley farmland, along the river and over picturesque bridges. At the finish line, there is a special payoff — a designer gift from a luxury Fifth Avenue store, packaged in robin’s egg blue; a great memento of your weekend. Best of all, the ride benefits Snohomish Community Kitchen and the Living the Dream Foundation. Proceeds will fund hot meal services to the need. Register soon ($150); we bet this one will sell out early.
Obliteride takes Seattle by storm
There’s a new ride in town, and it’s a life-changer. Or more accurately, a life-saver. The Obliteride is a full weekend cycling experience, and it’s coming to Seattle Aug. 9–11, 2013. The weekend will include multiple rides, music and celebrations.
Obliteride is not your run-of-the-mill ride. A cap is set for 2,500 riders and it will need 1,000 volunteers. Choose from four distances: 25, 50, 100 or the two-day 180-miler — all starting from Magnuson Park. All participants are promised high-quality meals, generous amenities, beautiful routes with rest stops every 10–15 miles, and fun festivities that include local bands, food and beers. Don’t wait to obliterate cancer.
LOTUS Sport 110, 1994, United Kingdom. Photo courtesy Portland Art Museum
Cyclepedia comes to Portland
LOTUS Sport 110, 1994, United Kingdom. Photo courtesy Portland Art Museum
A unique exhibition is coming to the Portland Art Museum June 8 – Sept. 8, 2013. “Cyclepedia — a Century of Iconic Bicycle Design” is drawn from the collection of Vienna-based designer and bike aficionado Michael Embacher. The exhibition features 40 bicycles, each chosen as an example of a pivotal moment in the evolution of bicycle design. Expect to see cycles of every stripe, including racing, mountain, single-speed, touring, tandem, urban, folding, cargo, curiosities and children’s bicycles. Portland is the only American venue hosting this exhibition, and it’s a “must-see” for any cycle lover.
The Sperm Bike
You may have seen this unique bike cruising around Seattle. It’s the Seattle Sperm Bike, and its refrigerated tank is transporting samples from the Seattle Sperm Bank to local fertility clinics. While the custom-built bike isn’t built for speed, it’s a green method of transport. And it even has a little electric assist motor to help get up those Seattle hills.
Cycle Greater Yellowstone
A conservation ride
Jeff Welsch, Communications Director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, was riding a Cycle Oregon tour when he realized that there was nothing like it in the Yellowstone region. Also, at a time when so many rides have a charitable component, no conservation organization was a beneficiary. And thus Cycle Greater Yellowstone was born. Executive Director Jim Moore thinks it’s a unique ride.
“This tour is special because it does two things: It offers riders a chance to tour the incredibly scenic Yellowstone region in a way that’s never been available—a fully supported, week-long tour packed with amenities,” says Moore. “And it lets the Greater Yellowstone Coalition show people the lands and animals the organization is working to protect—in an immersive way that really connects them to the cause. This event is unique to the conservation world.”
The ride is Aug. 18–24. Start planning now.
www.cyclegreateryellowstone.com
Boaz Frankel, Phillip Ross, and actor Daniel Baldwin ham it up for the cameras. Photo courtesy the Pedal Powered Talk Show
Pedal Powered Talk Show celebrates anniversary
Boaz Frankel, Phillip Ross, and actor Daniel Baldwin ham it up for the cameras. Photo courtesy the Pedal Powered Talk Show
Portland cyclists rejoice. The Pedal Powered Talk Show, the creative vehicle (literally) of Boaz Frankel and Phillip Ross celebrated its one-year anniversary in January. The web show, which features a cargo-bike-turned-talk-show-desk, has cruised around Portland interviewing folks on subjects ranging from pig farming to politics to pinot noir. It’s only a matter of time before they show up on the hit series, “Portlandia.” Thanks guys, for peddling your talent in the Northwest.
