Kenneth C. Martin Blogs: Don’t laugh: ‘Worst Day of the Year Ride’ rescheduled due to weather

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Don’t laugh: ‘Worst Day of the Year Ride’ rescheduled due to weather

These riders in the 2011 Worst Day Ride might want to get those penguin costumes out again.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Organizers of the Worst Day of the Year Ride once again find themselves in an ironic situation. Due to a winter weather forecast that includes snow and ice, they’ve decided to postpone their event to a later date.

The 18th annual version of this classic Portland group ride was supposed to happen this Sunday the 10th. It will now take place on two Sundays later on February 24th. That is, of course, if the weather holds.

In an official statement, the owners of the ride wrote, “Events by Axiom’s primary goal is to ensure that your event experience meets the highest of safety and production standards. We can do cold and wet, but we cannot do ice.”

Some of you might recall a similar situation during the big winter storm of 2014. Back then, facing a much more severe storm that dropped eight inches of snow and a sheet of ice on the ground, organizers first ditched one of the three routes due to safety concerns and ultimately cancelled the ride altogether.

Not surprisingly, the announcement that a ride based on pedaling through the “worst” weather will be postponed because of the worst weather, has been met with varying amounts of ridicule online. “Last time this was cancelled, Minneapolis held theirs in deep snow and laughed,” wrote @shpeeds2 in response to our Twitter post about this yesterday.

Events by Axiom has posted a FAQ related to the postponement. Riders who’ve paid the registration fee already can have it transferred to the new date, another ride on the company’s 2019 calendar, or the 2020 Worst Day Ride.

As for all that ridicule. “We get it,” say the organizers. “It isn’t that the weather is bad, it’s that bikes and ice go together about as well as putting your left shoe on your right foot.”

With an estimated 3,000 people expected to show up to the event, it’s quite understandable they’d err on the side of caution.

(DISCLAIMER: Events by Axiom has purchased advertising on BikePortland.)

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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