Floyd A. O'Reilly Blog: Join the family biking fun at Kidical Mass planning meeting

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Join the family biking fun at Kidical Mass planning meeting

Kidical Mass kicks off in April with the annual egg hunt ride.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Want to help more families ride bikes?

We’ve just scheduled the 2019 Kidical Mass PDX planning meeting (details below) and everyone’s invited.

Our Family Biking column is sponsored by Clever Cycles.

➤ Read past entries here.

Kidical Mass PDX is an all-volunteer organization, and the more volunteers the better! The group has historically been primarily about the monthly bike rides and most volunteers are ride leaders, but we’re interested in adding all sorts of Kidical-Mass-related events, like seminars, storytimes, bike-based donation drives, and more! If you want to lead rides, collaborate with Kidical Mass, or share any new ideas, please join us.

Kidical Mass is a legal, safe, and fun bike ride for kids, kids at heart, and their families that started 11 years ago in Eugene and has propagated all around the globe in the years since. It’s long been a favorite organization of mine and my kids and we’ve led rides in Portland and Seattle and traveled to join rides in Eugene and Santa Monica. I love the fanfare of Kidical Mass — it’s a gleeful parade, but also a means for getting more families comfortable biking around town. I’ve seen so many kids taking their first pedal strokes away from home and it’s the best sight ever.

Here are the meeting details:

Books with Pictures (1100 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202)
Friday, February 1, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Facebook event
BikePortland Calendar listing

Bring:
➤ YOUR 2019 events calendar.
➤ A laptop or other internet-connected device.
➤ Ideas, dreams, and wishes for Portland’s family biking community.
➤ Your best can-do attitude.

Agenda:
1) Visioning: What do we want Kidical Mass to be in 2019 and beyond?
2) Brainstorming: What COULD we do for each month’s ride?
3) Expanding: What events (storytime, bike camping seminar) beyond rides can/should we add?
4) Collaboration: How can we work with Go By Bike Shop, with Portland By Cycle, Portland Sunday Parkways, Cranksgiving, and others?
5) Planning: What WILL we do for each month? Who will own the event? What are next steps?

~ kid-friendly, though no childcare will be provided ~

Remember, we’re always looking for people to profile. Get in touch if it sounds like fun to you. I’d especially like to feature families of color so please get in touch or ask friends of color who bike with their kids if they’re interested in sharing their stories. And as always, feel free ask questions in the comments below or email me your story ideas and insights at madidotcom [at] gmail [dot] com.

— Madi Carlson, @familyride on Instagram and Twitter

Browse past Family Biking posts here.

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