Saturday, June 13, 2026
-
Sat, Jun 13, 2026, 11:00 AM
Meet at 11, Ride at 11:30 AM?
5:00 PM
End location: 26 miles until lunch in Oregon City with return options
You’ve heard of the Dead Freeways Ride exploring the Portland freeways we’ve never built or removed entirely, but what about all the freeways that did get built? Did you know that the majority of Portland-area freeways are legally open to bikes and non-motorized vehicles? Did you know that you can legally bike onto the freeway in Portland and bike all of the way to Oregon City (or even Medford) before having to exit? A representative from the Bureau of John Russell will be on hand to familiarize everyone with the intricacies of OAR 734-20-0045: Prohibition of Non-Motorized Vehicles on Freeways. He’ll show you the ropes, having ridden every mile of freeway in Western Oregon himself. Since the original route in 2019, the Bureau of John Russell has led Live Freeways on a group ride of every segment of freeway open to bikes in the Portland metro area! Meet at 11, ride at 11:30 AM. We’ll be starting in SW Portland at the Goose Hollow MAX Station (SW 18th & Jefferson). For the main portion of the ride, we’ll climb over the West Hills on US 26 before getting to ride the entire length of the newly widened OR 217. We’ll continue onto I-5 on the widest segment of freeway in all of Oregon before taking a more scenic route via the comparatively bucolic I-205 where we can stop for lunch in Oregon City. From there, enjoy an optional return route of under 20 miles back to Portland mostly via Expressways, hopefully in time for Bike Play (Oregon Park @ 6:45 PM). In total, the ride will be under 50 miles. While the route is not guaranteed to loop, we will connect to the TriMet on each end, so please bring appropriate fare unless you want to bike the whole way home. Please RSVP if possible: https://www.facebook.com/events/2145896042589896/ Come have fun and ride the roads you never thought you could! Time and details subject to change. Text and explanation of OAR 734-20-0045: https://www.tcnf.legal/freewayright/ Map of Portland-area freeways closed to bikes: http://goo.gl/maps/Bc9Xx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-motorized_access_on_freeways OR 217 Auxiliary Lanes Project: https://www.hwy217.org Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/52106671
RSVP on Facebook or contact the Bureau of John Russell directly.
ShareShift hosts this calendar as a public service. Rides and events are posted to the Shift calendar by community members, not by Shift. Rides and events posted to the Shift calendar are not sponsored by Shift or Shift’s fiscal sponsor Umbrella.