How Little Red Found Her Groove

Did you ever wonder how Little Red got started in the first place?

The ride’s founder, Alice Telford, was inspired by the Cinderella Classic Ride in Alameda County, CA. It was alot of fun and Alice began thinking how she could put together something similar back in her home state of Utah.

Alice Telford

While out riding one day with a friend through pastoral Cache Valley, with its small homey towns and lush farmlands, Alice decided she'd found the perfect spot for this new women’s ride. That year there were 25 women for the first ever Little Red. The ride continued year after year, growing slowly but steadily to about 185 riders by 1999. In some of those early years the men also included a ride called The Big Bad Wolf. The women rode on Saturday with the men providing support, and the next day the men rode the course 'backwards' while the women supported them. 

The ride has grown to become a much loved Event, with a yearly theme, a Friday night party and celebration, live music, vendors, great food, over-the-top decorations, a finish line celebration and nonstop fun. With 3500+ riders and hundreds of volunteers, Little Red is truly a one of a kind event, second to none.  

And by the way, Alice stills rides Little Red every year. Did we mention that Alice is in her 80s now? That's right! Our founder is truly an amazing, inspirational woman!!
Little Red's popularity continues to grow, and since 2005 we've included custom jerseys. These are colorful, fun and completely collectbile! How many do YOU have? Our themes have grown more elaborate, our numbers bigger. But in the end, Little Red is still a ride for women, out having a great time. Can you remember some of the details from our most recent years?


 

2005 ..... the year the jerseys started. Little Red grew from 400 riders the previous year to 800 riders for the first time. What inspired the jerseys? It was the first year the ride had custom Little Red artwork and we wanted to flaunt it!

2006 ..... a 1930’s inspired Little Red... sexy and sassy....with the wolf lurking in the background. We really played up the male volunteers as big and bad and Little Red was in drag. We had 1,000 riders and our first costume contest.

2007.... In this version the wolf was in a tux on the front of the tandem serving our Little Red. We dressed the wolf up in a tux and served sparkling cider in champagne glasses at the finish line to our 1,700 riders. We held our first Friday night dinner and expo. This was the first year we started the silent auction and raffled off bikes to make more money for cancer research.

2008 .... LRRH went with a Wild West theme in 2008.W e wanted to expand our ride and welcome women from other parts of the country to the WILD 'RED' WEST. Little Red was all dressed up in country attire with the wolf tied up on the back of the bike. Entertainment included a western band at the Friday night Round Up and BBQ and we grew yet again to 2,400 riders.

2009 .... ALOHA! Our Hawaiian/Luau themed ride. We capped the ride at 2,600 riders and filled up by April. The Friday night dinner was a Hawaiian Luau. We had a Hawaiian show including male fire dancers. The food tables were adorned with grass skirts and big bad wolves lounging in the sand drinking pina coladas. All the volunteers wore Hawaiian shirts and the finish line included tropical drinks with decorative straws and hot pink leis.

2010 .... Our Super Red/Super Hero theme! We capped the ride at a whopping 3,000 and filled up in just 29 days. We moved the entire Event to Lewiston and enjoyed the new, expanded location. The Saliva Sisters were on hand for the Friday night entertainment. We put the big bad wolf in a super wolf costume and Little Red (in drag) was in a Super girl costume. The volunteers were our SuperHeroes and together we raised nearly $60,000 to donate towards cancer research!

2011.... Once again, we capped the ride at 3,000 women and filled up in a record 23 HOURS. Our weekend included a 1950's Theme complete with:  Meals at The Little Red Diner (complete with a couple of roller skating car hops). The Big and Bad Wolf himself dressed in a black leather jacket and other bad boy 1950’s attire. A 1950’s pink Cadillac to drive our wolf around the course during the ride. A 1950’s style ice cream parlor for the finish line party. A live band with great Rock and Roll music!

2010

2011

2012 .... Our 25the Year Celebration! We expanded our numbers once more and busted all records by registering 3500 riders in less than an hour. Little Red's popularity was overwhelming and the number of volunteers had grown to nearly 500 to pull of this event.  LOVE, PEACE, RIDE was our theme. We celebrated with a far out, groovy, psychedelicious-tie-dye soaked weekend.

 

What's in store for LITTLE RED 2013? A Bollywood themed weekend, filled with the rich, vibrant luxurious colors, textures and fun of Bollywood. Little Red style, of course!