After years of cancelled, scaled back and Zoomified bike events thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seattle bike events calendar is finally starting to fill up with community celebrations, rides and more.
Before 2020, you could pretty much design your whole social schedule around bike events (and some of you did!). We are not quite there yet, but I’m seeing a huge increase in the number of event notices dropping into my inbox. I can’t wait to see a lot of you at community bike events again. I have missed it so much.
So how do you find local bike events?
The Seattle Bike Blog Events Calendar is a great place to start. It includes a mix of bike advocacy meetings as well as social events and rides. And anybody can post their event to the calendar for free. Do you have an idea for a ride? Make it reality!
You can also check the calendars of local bike organizations. Cascade of course has extensive listings for all their events and daily free rides. All their major events are planned in 2022, many for the first time since 2019. Bike Works also has a great calendar of events lined up. Everyday Rides Seattle is also a good place to check.
During the pandemic, bike-based events could still be a social outlet since they are often held outdoors for obvious reasons. But still, the logistics of hosting an event still made it difficult to responsibly host a full-size public event during COVID. Cascade cancelled nearly all of its major rides in 2020 and 2021, and so many other community-level events pivoted to online. I don’t know about you, but I now grimace every time I have to open Zoom.
The pandemic is not over, but King County Public Health has determined that community spread is now “low,” leading the agency to stop requiring masks in many indoor spaces. Businesses and event organizers can still choose to require masks.
Do you have a favorite place to find bike events? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
One response to “Bike events are back! How to find bike happenings around town”
You might consider including Cyclists of Greater Seattle’s ride calendar in your list of events (https://cyclistsofgreaterseattle.wildapricot.org). We’re much smaller than Cascade but that just means we’re more easy going and friendly. Mostly small group rides and social events and no bike advocacy or politics. We’re all levels and abilities from novice to senior riders with many years of experience; and ebikers are welcome. We’re considering re-opening our rides back up to non-members now that COVID is waning and more people have some level of immunity but stay tuned.