Month: April 2005

There’s nothing like a full day of riding through town that mixes coffee, work, friends, family, and of course, bikes! How did I manage all that in one day? Well, for starters I cruised from North Portland to Sellwood to meet a potential client…and the ride to get there had me grinning the whole time. Here’s the route: Michigan is a great, low traffic N-S corridor…I took it down to Fremont then down the Mississippi Hill to Interstate. From there I quickly jumped on the Eastbank Esplanade and took it all the way to the end at Umatilla. A few spins of the cranks later I was in Sellwood! Just about 25 minutes total from one end of town to the other.

Then, I took advantage of great coffee and free wi-fi at The Ugly Mug on SE 12th until I got the call to meet my ladies for free cone day at the Ben & Jerry’s on SE Hawthorne. mmmm…it was good. But, work beckoned so I set up shop at Fresh Pot next to Powell’s on Hawthorne. (The sun was shining nicely so I made sure I took a table in the back with no view of the outside). Then, it was off to another meeting at the Red & Black Cafe on SE Division…to discuss, what else?, Bike Fun at Pedalpalooza in June….and of course mooch yet another free wi-fi signal.

Finally, after the sun had set, it was time to ride home in the beautifully dark spring night….and as a major bonus my daughter was still up so I got to hang with her a bit before bed. Hope you enjoyed my trip and I’ll see you out on the streets.

Right now, until 8:00PM tonight the Ben & Jerry’s on SE Hawthorne and 36th is giving away free ice cream!…but only if you ride your bike…OK, just kidding. Anyone that shows up will get the free cone…but just think, if you ride your bike you won’t have to look for parking and you’ll burn all the calories from the ice cream on the way home…what a deal!

I was just there and they’ve got live music to keep you entertained while in line…and did I mention, it’s absolutely fabulously beautiful outside today! Have a great ride and be careful if you ride on Hawthorne!

Just got a great tip about a yummy-sounding family bike ride happening in Vancouver on Saturday:

This Saturday is the annual Blueberry Pancake Ride in Vancouver. There’s free blueberry pancakes and an easy 8-10 mile, flat, family-oriented ride starting at Vancouver Lake. For more serious riders, they can join the Wheelmen from Wilshire Park in NE for a 50-miler that stops by for pancakes, or there are other ride distances from the pancake feed site.

Blueberry pancakes!? ..as if you needed an excuse to go check out Vancouver Lake with the family. Have fun!

When you’re not comfy on your bike, you ride less, and that’s not good.  There’s no reason to settle on an uncomfortable position.  The smart folks over at the American Physical Therapy Association have just released a nice bit of info about how to stay happy while riding and avoid common pains and injuries.  Here’s an excerpt that sums it all up:

"Proper bicycle fit will minimize discomfort and possible overuse injury, maximize economy, and ensure safe bicycle operation. Proper bicycle fit will make your ride a lot more pleasurable."

This applies to everyone on a bike; from newbies just giving it a try to seasoned, lycra-clad pros.  Here’s another nice article with basic bike fit tips.

And remember, your friendly local bike shop will be more than happy to help you with your set-up.

If you’re a cycling junkie on a budget and you’ve got a library card, check this out…

In a recent post to the OBRA email list, someone explained how they made a successful request to the Multnomah County Library to carry more cycling DVDs. Here’s an excerpt from the post.

The Multnomah County Library maintains an online purchase request form that we can use to ask for more cycling DVD’s. Several months ago, I used it to point-out to them a glaring hole in their collection. They had no bicycle racing DVD’s, and I encouraged them to purchase some European pro racing DVD’s …The thrust of my argument was that there would be plenty of demand for these DVD’s in Portland…and that TV coverage was extremely rare, the cost of these DVD race documentaries were prohibitive to many and unavailable at video/dvd rental stores.

He also pointed out that it’s helpful to point them to a website where the materials can be purchased.