Image courtesy of NaojiY | Inside Vancouver Flickr Pool
If you’re tired of those boring old bike rides that have you just going from one place to the other without lights, music, dancing, costumes, or beer, the Velopalooza Festival has some exciting news for you.
This cycling celebration spans two weeks from June 9 – June 25 and includes a wide array of fun, themed rides put on by the public. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people, learn new bike routes, and (most importantly) it’s a great excuse to spend more time on a bike.
The Vancouver Velopalooza Festival centres around daily themed rides that are organized by the general public. Anyone is invited to add a ride or a bike-related event to the Velopalooza calendar. At this moment, there are more than 40 hosted rides taking place in the month of June that offer something for everyone with rides for food, rides with silly costumes, and rides for kids.
Image courtesy of Velopalooza | Facebook.com
Velopalooza was first started back in 2010 when a few avid Vancouver cyclists travelled to Portland for Pedalpalooza. They were inspired to bring that kind of community-driven bike fun to Vancouver, and after reaching out to fellow cyclists, the festival was born.
What makes Velopalooza in Vancouver stand out is the free-flowing structure of the event and the uniqueness of the themed rides. Here are just a few that stand out:
PUP Ride #1 Season 3
Saturday, June 10 at 8:00pm. Will end in the vicinity of the evening’s Bike Rave.
An evening of Pop Up Performance and Biking through Vancouver. The ride will have 3 performers from a variety of disciplines showcase their artistic creations at unique pop up locations. Expect to see; dancers, fire spinners, visual artists, musicians, burlesque or something similar.
Routes will be chosen with intention to minimize interaction with traffic. It is a night ride, so lights, lights, LIGHTS. Feel free to decorate yourself and/or your bike.
Bicycle Beach Crawl
Thursday, June 15, 3:00pm – 8:00pm
The highlight of the summer: the Bicycle Beach Crawl! Cruise along Spanish Banks with music and bikes, making pit stops at only the best beaches of Vancouver. At each stop, there’s a different happening. Volleyball, frisbee, botchi ball, horseshoes, slacklining. All the classic beach shindigs. This is the beach day you’ve been dreaming of.
7th Annual Pink Floyd the Sea Wall
Friday, June 23, 8:30pm – 3:30am. Meet at 8:30 pm and ride at 9 pm sharp
On November 30th 1979 Pink Floyd released an album called “The Wall”. 37 years later on June 23rd, 2015 a group of individuals will ride the Sea Wall during the entirety of the album which is 1 hour and 21 minutes. If you have the resources to play the album on your bike, even better. The ride will take place as the sun is beginning to set, so make sure you have lights on your bike.
Image courtesy of Tourism Vancouver | Flickr.com
But, if none of the rides listed on the extensive event calendar interest you, you can always suggest your own themed ride! That’s the beauty of a community-run festival.
Velopalooza runs from June 9 – June 25 and features group cycling adventures for varying levels of expertise and for riders of all ages. If you don’t have a bike of your own, you could always try renting a Mobi bike share for the day!
