On Saturday, May 18, Portland Pedal Power riders—along with three thousand Oregon cyclists—will take part in Reach The Beach, an annual bike ride to benefit the American Lung Association.
We’ll be riding to raise money to help those who suffer from lung disease today, and to stop the spread of lung disease tomorrow through education, community service, advocacy, and research. We want to ensure a future with clean air, healthy lungs and smoke-free workplaces for all.
It works like this: riders raise funds from their friends/family/colleagues/etc. to support the American Lung Association (every rider raises at least $150), and then we ride together from Portland or one of the other start locations all the way to The Pelican Brewery in Pacific City, where we’ll celebrate with a big beach party to mark the start of the 2019 summer cycling season.
(No pressure, but if you’d like to make a small tax-deductible donation to the cause you can do so here; just click the tab marked Search for a team and type in “Portland Pedal Power” and our team pop right up.)
It is 101 miles from the start of the ride to Pacific City. Of course, not every participant rides the whole way. Lots of folks form teams and complete the ride as a relay, while others begin from one of the three alternate starting points: Carlton (72 miles), Amity (55 miles), or Grand Ronde (26 miles).
The Portland Wheelmen Touring Club (PWTC) started conducting training rides starting on February 16, 2019, so if you’re interested in participating but want to get warmed up first you can jump onto those. You can get more info about that here.
Personally, we here at PPP will be training the same way we always do: by providing delicious catering by bicycle to our wonderful clients all over Portland.
We haven’t confirmed final numbers, but we are going to be putting at least 10 riders on the road this year. We’re super excited for the ride, and for the gourmet finish line dinner and beach party at the Pelican Pub.
Maybe we’ll see you there? Click here to register for the ride and let us know in the comments below if we should keep an eye out for you.
