Molson Bike Tour (North): Pedaling Portland

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Pedaling Portland

The bike tour headed west this week to the land of roses, and some challenging hills. Portland, Oregon.

The trip started in grand fashion as I got the emergency exit row seat on the flight out (and back!) which meant extra leg room for this pedal-er.

A shout out goes to Waterfront Bicycles for my rental for the trip. The bike worked like a champ and all their route recommendations were spot on.

Sunday morning started with a visit to the Pittock Mansion; a co-worker recommended it and I'm glad she did. The mansion sits on the West Hills of Portland. Emphasis on 'hills' as is not located in the West 'Flat Roads', its the West 'Hills' and the hills were abundant so it was a slow one-gear climb to the top but was worth it.

The pedal from there went down into Washington Park and the International Rose Test Garden. Whole lotta flowers there.

With time to spare, I jumped on the blue train (gold star to Portland for their mass transit system) out to the Hillsboro Hops (Class A) baseball game. It was entertaining, I had some cold beverages and got my picture taken with their mascot, 'Barley.'

The day wasn't complete yet. While the baseball game was going on, the Portland pro soccer team were also playing and Portland loves them some soccer. The bars were serving at 8 AM for the noon match against rival Seattle. It was almost a World Cup atmosphere as the libations were flowing. One guy, however, did a little too much celebrating as he was letting the hurl fly in front of the stadium for all to see as I was walking to dinner.

A good first day.

Monday's pedal was the Willamette River loop with a veer off up to Mount Tabor. As with areas with 'hills' in their name, you can expect how the pedal is going to be for an area with 'mount' in it. Yep, a climbing we will go. The pain became pleasure as the views of the city from the top were incredible.

The city ride the remainder of the day became a nice leisurely pub crawl. I had a flashback to my beer can collecting days as one place had Olympia, Hamms and Ranier for sale. I tried various brands on the trip but really enjoyed the Mac and Jack's Amber.

Tuesday's pedal was up (yep, up) to Forest Park. As with the other climbs, it was worth it as the pictures below don't do it justice as to how beautiful it was.

I am happy to report that there weren't any falls on the bicycle. For how many people I saw riding, I'm surprised I didn't witness an accident of some sort. I enjoyed the pedal of one of the better urban bicycle systems I've seen.

Thanks for the experience, the view and the many cold beverages Portland.

Trail Head