Today would be a two parter. My friend Vickie was to pick me up at about 9:30 for the drive to Portland, OR where we would have a few days of bike riding adventures. There was definitely potential for rain in Portland that could thwart any plans for riding, or we might arrive there too late for a ride. To ensure that I would ride today, I got on my bike at 6:45 a.m. and had a delightful early morning spin.
It was the very quiet time that would soon awaken with school bus and car traffic jamming the roadway. But for another half hour it would be my roadway. My trip had to be relatively short as I needed to get ready for pick up. Riding to one of the elementary schools and back was perfect, and as no one was arriving at this hour I could roam around the grounds.
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| The climbing wall at Endeavor Sdchool |
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| This is the first year that I have not seen planting done at their garden. |
Got home in plenty of time to breakfast, finish last minute packing and be ready for Vickie. We drove to Portland in heavy, non-stop rain. It was far from pleasant, especially with all the truck traffic making visibility poor with all the rain spray they produce.
Vickie had arranged an air bnb -- my first experience with staying in someone's home. We are on the top floor of the three story house so have a little climb each day ;'-). Two bedrooms, kitchen, bath and living room make it very comfortable, and it is near public transit should we need it.
We unloaded everything, changed into cycling clothes and took a ride! We had the sucker hole of sunshine overhead.
With a little help from the downstairs tenant, we found our way to the beginning of the ride. This was one of several that Vickie had found online that includes map and cue sheet, and we could start from our house in the southeast neighborhood.
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| We paid heed to this sign and carefully crossed the tracks |
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| Tilikum Bridge |
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| There is a bike of different color and design on top of the Clinton St. sign on every corner. |
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| Squirrels live on a good place ;'-) |
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| Along Stillwater Trail |
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| A local man walking the trail told us this is a crematorium. |
In the few hours we rode, we had the sucker hole of sun, some light mist which became a drizzle, heavy rain, dry sky, and several repitions of this cycle. So you see -- just like Bogie and Bacall, we had it all!
The bicycle infrastructure in Portland is very impressive. Wide green bike lanes when possible, sharrows on the smaller streets, bikeway signs, easy access for crossing to all the streets a bike uses, bike traffic lights, too much to even explain. And there are lots of bike commuters as we became part of them on our late return to the bnb. They are all in a hurry and know exactly what they are doing and where they are going in a hurry as we fumble along -- reminiscent of Montreal, Canada where Susan and I jumped up onto a sidewalk to "think" what we would do next as the bike traffic sped by us.
Got home drenched again. Showered and went to one of many pubs for dinner. A full day!
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