Dead Baby Bikes Downhill

Dead Baby Bikes Downhill, also known as Dead Baby Bike Race or Dead Baby Downhill or RaceDay, is an annual Seattle-based bicycle race and street party that occurs on the first Saturday of August. [1] The bicycle race often has no defined route, just an origin and an ending point, and has historically not been permitted, even though the accompanying street party has been permitted.[1]

Participants at the end of the 2007 Dead Baby

Over the years, the event has grown from attracting hundreds to now thousands of people to the Seattle neighborhood of Georgetown.[1][2][3]

The street party at times features carnival rides made of bicycle parts, as well as bicycle jousting.[4]

A "Ferris Wheel" carnival ride made of bicycle parts by Cyclecide

The event was featured in a 2005 episode of the television show Grey's Anatomy.[1]

History

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The event was launched in 1997 by the members of Dead Baby Bikes, a Seattle bicycle club (named for a doll which had been nailed to the wall of the roll-up door of the bike repair shop in which the club was meeting); founder Dave Ranstrom has admitted that if he had known the event would draw media attention, he would have chosen a different name.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Lacitis, Erik (August 3, 2019). "Dead Baby Bikes Downhill brings 'gleeful mayhem' to Seattle streets". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  2. ^ Trujillo, Joshua (August 3, 2013). "'Dead Baby Downhill' bike party in Georgetown". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  3. ^ Graham, Nathalie (August 10, 2023). "Bombing Downhill with the Dead Baby Bike Club". The Stranger. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Galvin, Sarah (June 6, 2016). "Thank You for Being a Friend: 12 Years With the Dead Baby Bike Club". Queerspace Magazine. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  5. ^ It's a wild ride at Dead Baby Bikes' Downhill and Messenger Challenge, by Mike Lewis, at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer; published August 8, 2004; retrieved April 26, 2020
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