Portland, OR. It had been almost a year since a major charity event took place in downtown Portland, but on August 8th, nearly 10,000 people hopped on their bikes for the 25th Providence Bridge Pedal. Rick Bauman, the event director, is pleased about pulling off the fundraiser despite the pandemic. In 2020 the ride was canceled and this year, precautions were put in place to keep participants safe. “I am satisfied with the COVID protocols we had in place and have received no reports of infections associated with the event or complaints from participants in that regard,” Bauman reports just under 10,000 registered. It is similar to the numbers in 2019 and 2018. “We did see the rate of registrations slow in mid-July as news of the COVID Delta variant increased,” he explained.
Along with Montreal’s Tour de l’Île, New York’s Five Boro Bike Tour and Chicago’s Bike the Drive, Portland’s Providence Bridge Pedal is one of the largest community bike rides in the world.
Providence Bridge Pedal is the one opportunity each year to enjoy the city’s best views from the car-free upper decks of the Marquam and Fremont bridges.
As is the case every year, there are rides for cyclists of all abilities: longer rides for the more experienced bikers, a family-friendly ride over the downtown bridges, and a free, 3-mile ride for the youngest cyclists.
On the second Sunday of August, each year about thousands of cyclists bike through the car-free streets of Portland. There are attractions along the way, like Portland Takohachi’s high-energy Japanese drummers and other musical acts.
From Providence Bridge Pedal:
Nearly 10,000 participants made the return of Providence Bridge Pedal’s 25th anniversary ride a very special one. Please plan to join us on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022 for Portland’s signature summer event, celebrating Portland, Willamette River bridges, and bicycling.
Registration and all the details about this very special event will available here in March, 2022.
Providence Bridge Pedal is a celebration of bridges and bicycling—a non-competitive, community bike ride over Portland’s Willamette River bridges.
