Portland OR bike paths

[News.Verizon.Ne]

This summer I will be going on a cross-country trip that starts in Astoria, OR. I will be flying in
to Portland, and I have heard that it has good pike paths and other resources for the urban
cyclist/commuter. I'm a nerd about such things and I thought I might spend an extra day exploring
Portland (never been there before) by bicycle (rented - my bike is going straight to Astoria, I'll
spare you the boring logistics).

So, is it worth an extra day to ride in and around Portland? Am I going to be impressed by its
bicycle network? And any suggestions about the best places to go and best places to rent a bicycle?

All feedback is appreciated, preferably to [email protected] (drop the nospam).

Thanks,

Christopher

--

 

[Dennis P. Harri]

On Sun, 09 Feb 2003 19:38:22 GMT in rec.bicycles.rides, "news.verizon.net"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I thought I might spend an extra day exploring Portland (never been there before) by bicycle
> (rented - my bike is going straight to Astoria, I'll spare you the boring logistics).
>
> And any suggestions about the best places to go

Powell's bookstore. A whole city block of books. It's worth a whole day, especially combined with
their separately located technical bookstore. www.powells.com for directions.

Portland has some very pleasant neighborhoods and nice parks. Lots of great brewpubs, including two
remodeled movie theaters where you can order a pizza, get a pitcher, and they deliver the pizza to
your seat (half the seats are replaced with tables).

The light rail system (The Max) now goes to the airport and has bike facilities. It's free in the
downtown zone. The Max, the new streetcars, and busses all allow bikes, so you can use public
transit to see more of the city.

IIRC there is a bike path along the Columbia River, and there may be one along the Williamette too.

 

[David Moore]

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"news.verizon.net" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> This summer I will be going on a cross-country trip that starts in Astoria, OR. I will be flying
> in to Portland, and I have heard that it has good pike paths and other resources for the urban
> cyclist/commuter. I'm a nerd about such things and I thought I might spend an extra day exploring
> Portland (never been there before) by bicycle (rented - my bike is going straight to Astoria, I'll
> spare you the boring logistics).
>

I found this map very useful:

<http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=218>

The detail is excellent and the shaded relief really helped me pick my way around the hills. I
had it mailed to my house before I went to Portland and had many routes picked out before I even
got there.

The only thing I disliked about the map is that is marks _all_ streets with bike paths in blue
which, according to the legend, is a favorable street (Purple are the "best" and the legend
continues through the color spectrum to red, the worst streets). Several streets turn from red to
blue instantly, but the street is no better.

> So, is it worth an extra day to ride in and around Portland? Am I going to be impressed by its
> bicycle network? And any suggestions about the best places to go and best places to rent a
> bicycle?

Washington Park is fun. If the hills are too much, you can always take the Max to the zoo and just
ride downhill back into downtown.

You mentioned paths and the path I liked was the Springwater trail between Milwaukie and
Gresham. The trail from Powell Butte east has some long stretches with few intersections and
very nice scenery.

<http://www.parks.ci.portland.or.us/Trails/SpringwaterCorridor/SWaterWelcome.htm>

If you try the path on the Columbia River, I'd suggest you start at the airport/I-205 and head west
first. I've encountered some nasty winds riding that trail and it was nice to have a good tailwind
coming home.


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[Frank Burke]

Portland has an extensive dedicated bike path system, and excellent bike lanes along many of the
major thoroughfares. It even has a bike lane in the middle of the I205 bridge across the Columbia
river into Washington, linking to the Vancouver bike system. I suggest riding out Marine Drive along
the Columbia river to Troutdale and then crossing the Sandy River onto the Columbia Gorge Scenic
Highway up to Crown Point. The ride from Portland and back is about 60 miles. If you are flying into
the Portland airport locating this route is dead simple, because the airport is on the south side of
Marine Drive. Another option would be to ride to Astoria, but that's problematic with a rented bike.

"Dennis P. Harris" wrote:
>
> On Sun, 09 Feb 2003 19:38:22 GMT in rec.bicycles.rides, "news.verizon.net"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I thought I might spend an extra day exploring Portland (never been there before) by bicycle
> > (rented - my bike is going straight to Astoria, I'll spare you the boring logistics).
> >
> > And any suggestions about the best places to go
>
> Powell's bookstore. A whole city block of books. It's worth a whole day, especially combined with
> their separately located technical bookstore. www.powells.com for directions.
>
> Portland has some very pleasant neighborhoods and nice parks. Lots of great brewpubs, including
> two remodeled movie theaters where you can order a pizza, get a pitcher, and they deliver the
> pizza to your seat (half the seats are replaced with tables).
>
> The light rail system (The Max) now goes to the airport and has bike facilities. It's free in the
> downtown zone. The Max, the new streetcars, and busses all allow bikes, so you can use public
> transit to see more of the city.
>
> IIRC there is a bike path along the Columbia River, and there may be one along the
> Williamette too.