New Years Day Ride – lots of people, a little sunshine

Last Tuesday, on New Year’s Day, about 250 people gathered together for a short ride around town, and then a social hour with hot drinks and snacks.

The annual New Year’s Day Ride has been happening for nearly 30 years in Portland. Some of the participants this week were at the original ride decades ago. This year’s ride was a break from tradition, using a new venue (the shuttered McCall’s Restaurant in Waterfront Park) for the social, and using a new route through SE Portland (with a few extra laps around Ladd’s Circle just for fun).

Many of this year’s riders were children, some of them brought along by parents taking advantage of the quiet streets to let their kids try riding their own bike for the first time. Portland Velo and the Portland Wheelmen were also well represented, tacking their own longer (and faster) rides onto this family-friendly route.

Many participants rode in memory of their friend Brett Jarolimek, who was killed by a right turning truck this fall. And many gave money to the bike safety fund established by the BTA and the Bike Gallery in his name – the event raised nearly $1,200 for the fund (of which nearly $25 in change was contributed by two little girls from their piggy banks).

Jay Graves, owner of the Bike Gallery, led the ride and spoke beforehand of the importance of being “not just legal, but safe.” He also spoke of how grateful he is to be living in a city that is continuing to innovate and push for improvements to the safety of all people using its roads.

The Oregonian covered the event in a front page article the next day.

Thanks very much to the volunteers who helped set up and staff the social (Lili and Ronnie, Dennis, Richard and Michael), to the folks who brought delicious potluck items, and to all you dedicated riders who joined us to celebrate the new year and support a bright bicycling future!

While the ride was imbued with an advocacy angle it hasn’t had in years past, many were out there for the fun and healthfulness of pedaling around in a circle. As one rider told the Oregonian, “After the last couple weeks of eating too much…it’s nice to be moving around.”