About our club

Outspoken is a social ride club with at least 2-3 rides posted every week during the Spring/Summer/Fall. We focus on the people, not the performance, and we aim to offer rides that will fit every ability and interest. We currently focus mostly on road cycling, but we do occastionally organize indoors, gravel or mountain bike rides.

Each ride on our members area in Spond includes description of the ride and a route link that shows distance, elevation gain, terrain, and more.

Our rides

In-town rides

Ride right out of your front door!

These are usually shorter rides, a half-day or less, on weekday evenings or weekends. Examples include our weekly West Seattle ride, much of our AIDS/LifeCycle training series, and our upcoming beginner ride series this spring.

The difficulty on these rides can vary due to distance, pace, or elevation, and you can find those details in Spond as a member.

Adventure rides

See all that the PNW has to offer!

These are typically longer rides, half-to-full day, on a weekend or holiday, and may require a car to reach the start point (unless you're feeling spicy enough to ride there). Examples include the "Tour de Manure" in Snohomish, the later rides in our AIDS/LifeCycle training series, and our "Faries on Ferries" routes that use the ferry system to travel all over the Puget Sound in one day.

These rides tend to be more difficult, but can often be adapted or cut short for riders of all abilities.

Destination rides

Travel the world on the seat of your bike!

Outspoken plans a number of destination rides every year. These tend to be multi-day rides, and are the only rides that cost money to cover the logistics of travel and planning. In 2023, Outspoken rode 900km around the island of Taiwan, Rode the Hood River century with our AIDS/LifeCycle team, did a 3-day bikepacking trip up the Wilamette Valley Scenic Bikeway, and rode the Maratona dles Dolomites in Italy.

These trips vary widely, and each will be posted with lots of information well in advance.

Our vision

OCC creates intentional communities of queer and allied (LGBTQIA+) people of all abilities and backgrounds to promote the positive social and athletic enjoyment of cycling. We believe in acts of service, and show that by giving generously of our time, attention, and effort to help others experience what we find so magical about the queer world and cycling, and to support initiatives that further the wellness and inclusion of the queer community in society. The Club works to be a positive, visible beacon of the queer community in every place we ride through.

Our objectives

  1. Provide safe, accepting environments for queer and allied people in the world of cycling.
  2. Exude a positive, respectful, flamboyant queerness in the spaces we ride through, showing off the beauty of our community and its people.
  3. Promote cycling as a method of discovery, both of the world around us and the power within us.
  4. Bring people together to learn and grow in their cycling journey.
  5. Support queer and allied causes and efforts within and outside of sports.