Events

Westwheel 9 — the Lost Coast and Redwood Country, June 2026

June 1–9, 2026 · base camp at Richardson Grove Campground and RV Park, near Garberville, California

The longest and most remote Westwheel yet, and the ninth. Base camp was Richardson Grove, about two hundred miles north of San Francisco on Highway 101, and the nine-day programme ran out from there: the Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree at Leggett, a 2,400-year-old coast redwood with a tunnel cut through its base in 1937; the thirty-one-mile Avenue of the Giants through Humboldt Redwoods State Park; the Victorian village of Ferndale and the coast road out through Cape Town toward Petrolia; and Usal Road, unpaved and ungraded, through the Sinkyone Wilderness on the Lost Coast.

The week opened with a distance ride up from the San Francisco Bay Area — about two hundred miles of Highway 1, the fourth time a group had made its own way to a Westwheel site. The sixth annual Pevvie Awards were scheduled for the Eureka and Arcata area at the close.

The full Westwheel 9 record — the week day by day, the base camp, the awards and the raffle.

Westwheel 8 — Yosemite National Park, June 2025

June 17–22, 2025 · Yosemite National Park, California

Six days of riding in Yosemite Valley, with Camp 4 as the group’s base and the Mariposa County Fairgrounds for overflow. The daily rides took in El Capitan, Half Dome and Yosemite Falls, with sunset and sunrise rides from Tunnel View and Prady’s Viewpoint and a Saturday run down to the swimming hole at the Wawona swinging bridge.

The week’s distance ride crossed Tioga Pass and ran two days out to Mono Lake, the ghost town of Bodie and the travertine hot springs at Bridgeport, with an overnight in between. The fifth annual Pevvie Awards were held at the Base Camp Eatery. Westwheel 8 was free, and it was the first year PEVRA asked riders to reserve a free ticket in advance.

Westwheel 7 — Las Vegas, June 2024

June 18–23, 2024 · Las Vegas, Nevada

A return to the city where Westwheel started. The week ran on night rides — the group met at the Sphere and looped downtown Las Vegas after dark — with morning rides out to Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam, and, new that year, off-road trails around Mount Charleston and the roads through the Valley of Fire.

It was free, with no registration required: show up and ride. Alien Rides and Clark Pads supplied the prizes for the annual raffle, drawn at the Sunday sendoff breakfast, and the fourth annual Pevvie Awards were held at 18bin.

Westwheel 6 — Lake Tahoe and Reno, August 2023

August 8–13, 2023 · Lake Tahoe, California and Reno, Nevada

The highest Westwheel: mountain passes above seven thousand feet, sixty-mile distance rides from Tahoe to Reno and back the other way, and a full circuit of the lake. The Emerald Bay ride ran again and again through the week, at sunset most evenings and once at sunrise on the last morning.

The Corral Trail rides carried both a chill line and an extreme one so riders of every level could take the same trailhead. Free Jump On! training and demo sessions ran at Bijou Community Park in South Lake Tahoe and at City Plaza in Reno. The third annual Pevvie Awards named a Rider of the Year and a Safety Hero of the Year.

Westwheel 5 — Portland and Vancouver, August 2022

August 9–14, 2022 · Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington

The Pacific Northwest week, presented by REV Rides, and open to electric unicycles, electric skateboards, e-bikes, scooters and Onewheels alike. Helmets were required on every ride with no exceptions. The long day was the Bridge of the Gods ride — roughly a hundred miles by way of Multnomah Falls, with donated generator charging waiting at both ends.

The rest of the week was bridges and trails: a Portland bridge loop, an introduction to jumping at Gateway Green, the city’s Friday Night Ride, a run out to Camas, and a sunrise ride to Pittock Mansion before the closing barbecue and raffle drawing at Hillside Park. The second annual Pevvie Awards were held at the Rogue Eastside Pub. A pre-ride got there the hard way, covering roughly eight hundred miles from San Francisco to Portland in the week and a half before the event opened.

Westwheel 4 — San Francisco Bay Area, September 2021

September 14–19, 2021 · San Francisco, Oakland, Marin, Santa Rosa and San José, California

The first Westwheel in the Bay Area — close to a dozen rides across six days, many with options for beginner and advanced riders. A trail workshop at Santa Rosa, a sunset climb to Mount Tamalpais from Stinson Beach, the Bay Bridge bike path into Oakland, a Peninsula ride down to Pacifica, and a night ride with the San Jose Bike Party.

Saturday was the largest group ride: out from PEV Works in San Francisco to the Embarcadero and on to the Golden Gate Bridge. Sunday closed with a pre-dawn ride through empty streets and a picnic in the Presidio. Everything was free except the first annual PEVRA awards dinner, which was ticketed. The week ran under the Bay Area’s Covid-19 health guidance of the time, which the event asked every attendee to follow.

Westwheel 3 — August 2020

August 2020

The third Westwheel. What the archive kept of it is a set of photographs from that August and no schedule, so this entry says the month and stops there.

Westwheel 2 — Las Vegas, August 2019

August 9–11, 2019 · Las Vegas, Nevada

Three days of group riding in downtown Las Vegas and on the Strip, with runs out to Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam and remote charging carried along for the longer ones. The week also held a modification showcase, with a prize for best in show and a runner-up, and an optional buffet dinner at $49, or free with a lifetime membership.

Registration was free for PEVRA members, which is what the second Westwheel asked of the people who came.

Westwheel ONE — Las Vegas, August 2018

August 2018 · Las Vegas, Nevada

The first one. Two dozen riders came to Las Vegas for it, and Lock Productions filmed it. Everything since — the awards, the distance rides, the training sessions bolted onto the side of a riding week — grew out of that August.