Mon 20 Apr 2009
Portland’s been good to us
Posted by Ken under The Route
[16] Comments
A lot of Portland reminded me of Easton, PA. At least, the Northeast sections of Portland where our gracious host, Jill Meisner just moved. Jill will be excited to hear this, because she won’t stop mentioning how much she wants us all to move out here. So far, I haven’t come up with a great argument not to, except that moving really sucks.
No matter how much I knew of Portland’s much ballyhooed “bike mecca”-ness, I was still surprised at how many people ride out here. There were huge bike racks in front of every place we went to. If New York had bike parking as accessible as Portland, so many more people would be welcomed to ride. And that’s just one small aspect of the balance of car/bike/pedestrian infrastructure that makes Portland so good to ride in. The acceptance of bikes as a mode of transportation seems inculcated in everyone here. So much so that we hardly experienced a sidways glance from anyone, whereas in pretty much any other city I’ve ridden in, most people think we’re a maniacal nuisance.
There’s so much more to praise about Portland. I got in two games of Bike Polo with some of the people who can claim to have facilitated it’s current conception. We ate a delicious brunch at Tin Shed on Sunday – sure, it took us a few hours from start to finish because the place is so popular, but it’s not like we really had anything else to do. Afterwards we hit up the polo grounds in Alberta Park. Portland Bike Polo has a shed behind a house a few blocks away from the park where they keep spare bikes for out of towners. (These bikes are not really just for out of towners, but because I feel like being generous, I am going to let Portland claim that they really are that welcoming). Another note on polo: just like i noted in Seattle last summer, the general skill level out here is better than it is out East. MORE people can play very well. In the 9 months since I’ve been in Seattle though, I’ve witnessed my own gameplay and the gameplay of everyone else I play with improve enough to easily rival the West Coast. OK. Polo done until Milwaukee.
Bjorn moved back to Portland after 8 months in NYC. He & I visited Powell’s bookstore, the largest bookstore in the world. Again, this is another piece of slightly inaccurate propoganda about Portland that I’m not going to bother to correct. I picked up Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” and Bjorn is going to let me borrow “Walden” by Thoreau. I was about to pick up some Emerson when I realized that might be a little bit of America overkill, so I grabbed “Lush Life” by Richard Price. I recommend Richard Price to you. All that other Americana? What better time to read it than on this trip? It never had much resonance when I was reading it from my Brooklyn apartment. And it turns out that Quinn picked up Emerson’s self reliance along with “World War Z” (about the pending zombie apocalpyse). A very apt combination.
I got to meet Steve Benoit, who owns studionumbernine.com – not to be confused with studionumbernine.net, which I own. Steve has gotten a lot of email for me over the years, and he kept on buying me beers on Saturday night. Awesome guy. We’re now following eachother on Twitter. BFF’s!
The weather was unbelievable out here, and should be for the first week of our trip. Near record high’s were reached, as we watched Portlanders stroll the waterfront. The sun set over the rail yards beautifully before we got gen-u-wine West Coast burritos (propoganda note: San Francisco has more genuine West Coast burritos than Portland.) I really wanted to go to “Stripperoke” (strippers + karaoke), but even though the concept blew my mind with it’s brilliance, I barely had the energy to do that, so we watched onDemand movies back at Jill’s place while we did our laundry. On Monday, we ate some cart food on 4th ave, got some fantastic coffee at Stumptown, and had my bike worked on at River City Bikes. Thanks again, guys, for getting this done for me today. It was the first nice weekend of the year, and everyone had been bringing their bikes in.
This relaxing life is going going to end. Real soon. But it’s going to be so worth it. Expect to hear from us less, because THINGS ARE GOING TO DIE. Particularly, cellphone & laptop batteries. But
when you do hear from us, expect to be delighted by the things we’ve seen and are showing you, and enlightened by the reflections we make on three thousand, five hundred miles of America by two wheels.
Yunz guys are ready to have so many MORE cools things happen. Best wishes for good weather and safe travels. And it ain’t bad to start off in the shadows of Mt Hood. Totally awesome, dudes!
Sad that you didn’t make the Portland city park with all the flowing water. And no mention of the bar with oyster shooters!
What’s up with that? You’ll have to go back to stay longer to enjoy more. Portland’s a happening place!
And Andy, busted by your sister for a new tat? I do like the colors! I like the pix. I like the blog. Any video? More, more.
Go ride. Pedal, pedal, pedal.
Let the adventure begin!!! It has already began and gave you dudes and duddets a nice detour.
I hope you guys meet some proper wierdos along the way and some sweet dopers!! Yeah. Have fun!!!!
I really enjoyed reading this post…great writing. It brought me back to that bike friendly town. They so include bikes as a standard form of transportation, I got pulled over by a cop once for running a red light on my bike on the way to work. No ticket, but a warning. I also loved the option of throwing my bike on the front of a bus when I was getting rained on and too tired to make it up that hill to get back home. We’ll miss the blogs, but will be thinking of you guys out there on a stretch of highway living it up, breathing in life fully. Enjoy. Andy, I hope you have your phone on for a bit on April 27th. We’ll be singing to you and raising a glass regardless.
Well, best wishes for a safe if not sweaty trip. You’ve got some interesting books on hand too. I look forward to your blogs and pictures when you get connected. . .they’ve been great so far.
SI, THING ARE GOING TO DIE. LIKE YOU SILLY FACE. MAYBEE I FIREBOM “WORLDS LARGEREST BOOKSTOR” TOO. NERDS.
ON LYTER NOTE. WE NOT BURN KOFFEE PLACE TO GROUND. THE STUMPS NO THERE KOFFEE MUY MOOCHO. GIGANTE LIKE.
VLM
water flowing park and oyster shooters…MOVE HERE. you can have the pysters without me though.
thanks for making me look like an alcoholic.
Yay!! Easton made the cut! Although I’m not exactly sure what that says about Portland. Their mountains are bigger than ours? but ours don’t blow their stacks. Ride on.
I love me some easton comparisons. you didn’t happen to run into my doppelganger? wait, I guess he would’ve left too. regardless, great post, can’t wait to see portland for myself come june.
Wadup Grinders? Once you get past The Dalles, Oregon becomes a desert- very unexpected. I guess because of the Cascades stopping the weather. Looking at a map & your route, seems like you’re parallel to I-84. Carry lots of H2O. You’ll love Idaho- something to look forward to (except for the long upgrades!). Carbo load & Keep Grindin’! scotk
I got my bike worked on at River City too before starting my tour! My rear barrel adjuster broke in the shipping process and the dudes there replaced it in record time.
Ken I’m reading Clockers right now – Price is a pretty darn good writer. An excerpt of Lush Life is included at the end, too.
So, do I have this right? You bike and then go hiking? Dam, to be young! Can we help yunz guys with any info/weather updates?
Wadup Scot? I always imagined the pioneers goin’ West in their covered wagons. And Ken captured the image from Chicaga. First, they have the pancake flat plains before they get to the Rockies! They get over them and start coasting in the desert plains til they get to the Sierra Nevadas or Cascades or which ever route they travel. But that’s depressing if your on a bike trying to get back home. Sorry. Pedal, pedal, pedal.
hey: checking your route. Are you on Hwy#14? (the Lewis & Clark Hwy?) Trivia: L&C started their expedition in Pittsburgh! Yeah baby. It’s a ‘burgh thing. Go Pens!!! Pedal, pedal, pedal.
did you say STRIPPEREOKE??
Love them tailwinds….looks like good weather too.. lucky( or good planning)Block party on College Hill this Sunday. Easton/Pburg oldies game. You’re in a better spot
thank you.
Old Irish proverb, “May the wind at your back never be your own!” Goes back to tailwinds and an image of eating burittos and riding a bike. Hey, post Earth Day! Think green. Just some thoughts from an old fart. And my bro wants you to carbo load! Good weather. Stay safe. Pedal, pedal, pedal.