Fully Loaded with Thoughts on Touring

Beginning June 11^th, we will be rolling out a series of posts on touring, featuring bike camping destinations near Madison. Subscribe to this blog or follow mad_bike_life on Twitter to make sure not to miss the series. Till then, keep on trucking! 

Portland's Transformation

by Peter Herreid

Portland wasn’t born a bicycle-friendly city; it had to earn its platinum rating from the League of American Bicyclists. A variety of actions dating back to the 1970s laid the groundwork for advocates to transform Portland into a bicycle-friendly city in the 1990s and 2000s. In the 1970s, Portland chose to remove the Harbor Drive freeway along the west bank of the Willamette and create the much more inviting Waterfront Park. Portland also chose to redirect funds from the creation of a freeway that would have run through the southeast section of the city towards investment in light rail. An urban growth boundary was adopted in order to contain urban sprawl and focus growth inward onto Portland’s traditional street grid, leading to a more compact and bikeable urban area. 

Filmed by Bike

If you were to trace the lines of art and cycling culture to where they intersect, you would find yourself at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland for Filmed by Bike, a festival of bike-themed, short films. This year’s 10^th anniversary festival included a variety of genres, such as music videos, documentaries, animations, and comedies.

Bicycle Rights! Portlandia Clip

When mentioning our Portland trip to co-workers and friends, the most common reaction has been, “Have you seen that show Portlandia?” Of course, I had seen the viral “Bicycle Rights” Portlandia clip. Someone obnoxiously taking himself too seriously makes for good comedic material and serves as a reminder to not be that guy.

What adds to the clip is that Portland seems to have long ago gotten the “bicycle rights” message. It shows in the political and media attention to the rights of bicyclists, the investment in bikeways, and the acceptance of bicycles by Portland’s motorists, demonstrated by a greater willingness to share the road.

For the record, birds in Portland do not ride little bikes.

Portland’s Three-Mile Downtown Bike Path Loop

by Peter Herreid

If you want to take a nice little bike ride in the heart of Portland, hit some highlights with the Steel Bridge - Hawthorne Bridge loop. Because it follows the banks of the Willamette, you can’t get lost, which is kind of nice if you are new to town. The loop also includes Portland landmarks, such as the floating section of the Eastbank Esplanade. Of course, you can always figure out how to best extend the loop with the city’s Portland by Bicycle map. 

Mountain Bike? Yes!

Forest Park, Portland

 It's a bike that I rode on a mountain. Enough said.

St. Johns Bridge – Portland, How About A Warning?

by Peter Herreid

During our stay in Portland, one day we had biked a nice tour of the NE bike boulevards, or “neighborhood greenways” as they are referred to locally, and wanted to cross the Willamette River to get to Forest Park. The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s bike map, which had till then faithfully served us, showed St. Johns Bridge as having a “multi-use path closed to motor vehicles.” Fortunate for us we thought, because it was the only bridge up and down the river for miles, so off we went. 

Approaching the bridge, the sidewalk didn’t exactly look like a multi-use path, but the road looked too dangerous to bike, so we stuck to the sidewalk. Now, you should know that heights make me nervous. I wasn’t sitting upright on my rented Dutch bike anymore. I was tucked low, nearly into a road cyclist’s racing position. 

 

Before the first tower, I was walking it up the sidewalk. Although the railing was high enough above my waist that it would take a conscious decision to jump over, it was not reassuringly high above my waist. Looking down to my right, through the bars of the bridge railing I could see warehouses, docks, and boats on the Willamette, all toy-like in the distance, yet all too real. To my left I couldn’t see much, but could feel the swoosh of each passing truck and then the heavy mist of rain droplets and road wash left in its wake. I couldn’t tell if or how far the passenger side mirrors were hanging over the sidewalk, but imagined them as baseball bats swinging through the air, just feet from my head.  

Bike Rack Yarn Bombing

I found this yarn bomb in front of our hostel in Portland.

Biking to Portland's Markets

Bike to Portland State University’s campus on a Saturday and you'll find a bustling farmers' market. After buying a delicious lunch prepared by Verde Cocina, we sat down in the square within the market. As we ate and listened to live music, we watched Portlanders enjoying their version of a treasured Madison pastime - Saturday mornings at the Dane County Farmers’ Market on Capitol Square - that and some PSU students hula hooping in the grass and little kids imitating them.

Handmade corn tortillas

A short bike ride later, we arrived at the packed arts and crafts market which is held in a park along the Willamette River.

U-Fix-It Bike Station

Kerr Bikes

As I cruised along the riverfront heading to the Portland Saturday Market, the path was packed with cyclists and pedestrians enjoying the sunny afternoon. I was happy to spot a free, self-service bike repair station, because my bike seat needed to be raised a bit.

I liked that the station made the tools needed for basic repairs accessible to the passerby, as well as empowered cyclists to do it themselves. For the inexperienced mechanic, it can be easy to pass even the simplest repairs and adjustments to a trained professional, but then you'll never learn.