In Portland, bikes are everywhere . .
on the subway . . .
at the airportPortland is very "biker friendly" which is perfect since everyone has a bike. At the airport, there is a designated "bicycle assembly area." On the light rail, there are hangers for bikes. And bike paths everywhere you look.
The Holiday Inn upgraded me to the Clark Suite, right across the hallway from the Lewis Suite. It was nice and I tried to make a mess of both rooms, but I only had so many hours. In the middle of the night, I started thinking that either Lewis or Clark committed suicide, but I couldn't remember which. And I hoped it wasn't in a Holiday Inn.
The weather here is beautiful. The sky was picture-perfect - baby blue with white puffy clouds. The temperature was about 80 and there was a nice breeze blowing. Apparently, this is unusual.
I was in town about an hour when I heard the unmistakable sound of a drum. Earlier this year, on a spring biking trip on the Eastern Shore, a little town called Oxford had a parade just as I arrived. Now, Amy, Sue, Denise, Kate and Valerie tried to convince me that the parade was not for me. But, today, in Portland, Oregon, there was a parade! Coincidence? I think not! So, it really is all about me. Now, I expect parades everywhere I go.
The locals were out in full force. The Willamette River was declared "clean enough to swim in" and everyone took their floatation devices to the water. Except the group smoking pot in the grass. But that is another story.
We are all on Cannondale bikes, which are really nice. The guides brought us drinks and snacks and promised to drive us up any hills we didn't want to climb. I think the Western Maryland Wheelmen need to institute some of these amenities. I think it is a good way to get more people on bikes. Just a thought.
There are 15 in my group, including the guides. We rode about 20 miles today. Both sides of the Willamette have paved biking paths with lots of cool bridges connecting them. After crossing over the river, we rode on the Springwater Trail, a rail trail. Flat, flat, flat!! A nice change of pace for me. The downtown area was very crowded because of the nice weather and the Brew Fest, but it cleared out after a few miles.
We are staying the in the Riverplace Hotel. It is small, right on the river and very nice. They have strawberry and cucumber infused water in the lobby. Very swanky, I must say. Dinner was in the hotel and very good. All included in the price of the trip, which is great. And free, for me.
Tomorrow, we head out to the Columbia Gorge. I hear there will be lots of shade. The cue sheet indicates that, at one point, there is a "steep downhill the ends abruptly at the top of a set of stairs." This should be really exciting. One person in the group is a radiologist, so she should be able to identify cracked skulls, even without an x-ray.
The Holiday Inn upgraded me to the Clark Suite, right across the hallway from the Lewis Suite. It was nice and I tried to make a mess of both rooms, but I only had so many hours. In the middle of the night, I started thinking that either Lewis or Clark committed suicide, but I couldn't remember which. And I hoped it wasn't in a Holiday Inn.
The weather here is beautiful. The sky was picture-perfect - baby blue with white puffy clouds. The temperature was about 80 and there was a nice breeze blowing. Apparently, this is unusual.
I was in town about an hour when I heard the unmistakable sound of a drum. Earlier this year, on a spring biking trip on the Eastern Shore, a little town called Oxford had a parade just as I arrived. Now, Amy, Sue, Denise, Kate and Valerie tried to convince me that the parade was not for me. But, today, in Portland, Oregon, there was a parade! Coincidence? I think not! So, it really is all about me. Now, I expect parades everywhere I go.
The locals were out in full force. The Willamette River was declared "clean enough to swim in" and everyone took their floatation devices to the water. Except the group smoking pot in the grass. But that is another story.
We are all on Cannondale bikes, which are really nice. The guides brought us drinks and snacks and promised to drive us up any hills we didn't want to climb. I think the Western Maryland Wheelmen need to institute some of these amenities. I think it is a good way to get more people on bikes. Just a thought.
There are 15 in my group, including the guides. We rode about 20 miles today. Both sides of the Willamette have paved biking paths with lots of cool bridges connecting them. After crossing over the river, we rode on the Springwater Trail, a rail trail. Flat, flat, flat!! A nice change of pace for me. The downtown area was very crowded because of the nice weather and the Brew Fest, but it cleared out after a few miles.
We are staying the in the Riverplace Hotel. It is small, right on the river and very nice. They have strawberry and cucumber infused water in the lobby. Very swanky, I must say. Dinner was in the hotel and very good. All included in the price of the trip, which is great. And free, for me.
Tomorrow, we head out to the Columbia Gorge. I hear there will be lots of shade. The cue sheet indicates that, at one point, there is a "steep downhill the ends abruptly at the top of a set of stairs." This should be really exciting. One person in the group is a radiologist, so she should be able to identify cracked skulls, even without an x-ray.
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