Twilight Criterium

Cri*te*ri*um (krI'-tir-E-&m), noun [Latin]:
A bicycle street race. Competitors must complete the most laps in a set period of time. Very fast. Very exciting. 

Professional Bike Racing- In Downtown Portland - On City Streets

>>LISTEN>> Brad Ross, Race Director, breaks it down for us.

Some of the fastest and top ranked teams from across the nation are coming to compete for the area's largest purse in the Portland Twilight Criterium, presented by Subaru. Watch as they race on Portland city streets in the heart of Downtown Portland.

COME WATCH!
The course surrounds the North Park Blocks of downtown Portland, creating an island oasis of 360-degree viewing, music, food and beverage. There are several places where you can get close enough to feel the wind from the peloton. Each lap is one-half mile long which takes the racers just over one minute to complete. The course is highly technical so fields are limited to eighty riders.

The event is free to attend and great for families. Come downtown Friday evening, to experience the excitement yourself.

EVENT OPENS 4:00pm RACING BEGINS 6:30 pm [ full schedule ]

LOCAL BUSINESSES SAVE THE CRIT
Portland is a world-class cycling city, well known for smart planning, innovative projects and thousands of people happily commuting to work - rain or shine. So it seems fitting that we have a world-class bicycle street race - the Portland Twilight Criterium, Presented by Subaru - that draws professional racers from around the country. 15,000 spectators flock to downtown Portland for a night of fast-paced racing action in a festival-like atmosphere around the North Park Blocks every year in early August.

But this year, as the title sponsor bowed out in light of severe budget cuts, the Portland Twilight Criterium was facing cancellation. Determined not to let that happen, local race fans have stepped up to bring in the support of their businesses, including Subaru of America and the local law firms Swanson, Thomas and Coon; BicycleAttorney.com; Berkshire Ginsberg and BicycleLaw.com.  In their effort to rescue this popular event, these attorneys who are usually competitive have put the competition aside and banded together.

Amazing things happen here in Portland - success, creativity, forward thinking. In keeping with this spirit, the organizers hope additional businesses will come out as race fans too and help bring professional racing to Downtown Portland this summer.

This event is a fundraiser for Bikes to Rwanda, a nonprofit organization that provides cargo bicycles to co-operative coffee farmers in Rwanda. Bikes to Rwanda improves quality of life in these communities through a bike workshop and maintenance program that provides transportation resources for basic needs. Through their good work, Bikes to Rwanda helps many families and their efforts lead to enhanced production of quality coffee.