Thousands of cyclists will roll through the closed streets of south St. Louis late Saturday night for the 62nd running of the Moonlight Ramble, a nighttime bike ride that traces its roots back to a single cyclist pedaling alone from Union Station in October 1964. This year's ride launches from Carondelet Park at 11 p.m. on August 29, with riders choosing between a 9-mile short route and a 15-mile long route before the roads reopen to traffic.
According to First Alert 4, the event has become the longest-running nighttime bike ride in the country, and it still falls on the Saturday night closest to August's full moon, just as it has for decades. That timing traces back to founder Dick Leary, a ride leader for the Ozark Area Council of American Youth Hostels who set out alone when no other cyclists showed up for his first attempt, according to the ride's own account on the Moonlight Ramble website. Leary tried again the following year with a handful of riders, and by the early 1970s the event was drawing thousands.
A Route Through South City, With a Brewery Stop
The 2026 course starts and ends at Carondelet Park, a change from past years when the ride has launched from neighborhoods like The Grove or downtown St. Louis. Organizers built in an official rest stop at Perennial Artisan Ales along the way, per details shared on the ride's Facebook page. City of St. Louis records note that roughly 2,500 cyclists of all ages and skill levels typically take part, riding on streets completely closed to vehicular traffic, with municipal detours set up along major thoroughfares for the night.
The festival portion at Carondelet Park's Boathouse kicks off at 7 p.m., with live music starting at 8:30 p.m. ahead of the 11 p.m. ride launch. Streets close to traffic at 1 a.m., and the festival wraps up by 1:30 a.m. Registration, which covers entry, live music, an event t-shirt, and a complimentary beverage, runs $40 in advance or $60 on ride day for adults, while youth tickets for ages 6 to 17 cost $25 and kids 5 and under ride free. Riders 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Riding for a Cause
A share of registration revenue and all donations collected during the event go to Trailnet, the St. Louis nonprofit that advocates for safer walking, biking, and public transit infrastructure across the region, according to the City of St. Louis. Trailnet serves as the ride's official charity partner and helps coordinate volunteers for the event. St. Louis-based Big River Race Management has run the ride's logistics and route planning since taking over operations in 2019, a shift that followed years of the event being managed alongside local radio partners, as Terrain Magazine reported at the time.
An Eclipsed Sturgeon Moon Overhead
This year's ride happens to fall on a striking night for skywatchers. August's full moon, traditionally known as the Sturgeon Moon, peaks on August 28, 2026, and coincides with a deep partial lunar eclipse visible across North America, with Earth's shadow covering more than 96 percent of the moon's surface, according to NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. It is a coincidence that fits neatly with a ride that has always scheduled itself around the lunar calendar rather than the astronomical calendar.
The event's host site carries its own local history. Carondelet Park, established in 1875 and formally dedicated on July 4, 1876, spans 180 acres and ranks as St. Louis's third-largest municipal park, named for the historic town of Carondelet that was later incorporated into the city, per city records. The park sits within a broader St. Louis cycling legacy that includes the city's role as the 2003 birthplace of the global ghost bike memorial movement, a tradition Hoodline has previously reported now honors fallen cyclists with roadside memorials worldwide.
The Moonlight Ramble joins a busy summer calendar of St. Louis group rides. Hoodline recently covered the return of the World Naked Bike Ride in July and the final Pedal the Cause tune-up ride through Wildwood earlier this month, both part of a regional pattern of nighttime and charity cycling events drawing riders to the metro area's streets.
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