Filmmaker does 650 laps for a Ladd Circle century

I rolled through there on Sunday, sorry I missed him. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing this for Fat Cyclist’s 100 Miles of Nowhere fund raiser – maybe next year!

He had a smile on his face, for sure! 100 miles *is* 100 miles. I think unless you actually force yourself to stop, you could do the whole 100 without any stops. Because technically, when you’re in the circle, you have the right of way! So maybe if he didn’t take enough “rest stops” (as on organized rides) it probably was even harder than any old century 🙂 Well done, Merritt!

Yeah I went through there around 4:30 pm on Sunday, maybe he was done by then?

Regardless, that is really awesome! I dare say, it may even be mentally harder than a ‘standard’ century because you have no new scenery the whole time, and for every hard uphill there is a coasting rest period down the other side… no coasting around Ladd, at least not for very long!

Well done indeed, sir.

If he had worn a helmet cam, just think of the offpeak footage we’d have of stop sign behavior.

was this this on the outside of the circle? or the inside?

Clockwise or counter clockwise? Counter would be the outer lane, hence fewer laps? I guess one could switch directions once in awhile for a change of “scenery”.

this is awesome!

Nascar for cycling…
… is this good or bad?

OK, think about it: Traveling clockwise in the correct, right / inner lane is the shortest way around the circle.

Riding counterclockwise puts you in the outside lane. To ride a set distance, going counterclockwise would mean fewer laps (greater distance around). Hope this does not make you dizzy!

It’d be cool to see a group, a dozen or more, people try this at the same time. Maybe a Pedalpalooza ride is in order next year. Having 20+ bikes doing laps for 5+ hours might muck up the circle, but it would be a fun event to watch, NASCAR-style.

If 650 laps is 100 miles, then I have probably biked a centuries worth around that circle over the past two years (I bike through there almost every single day, so probably 325 days a year, for usually one exact lap a day).

I’ve often dreamed of a Portland Palio on Ladd’s, with racers on track bikes representing different neighborhoods, for a 3 lap sprint around the circle. Elimination races by ‘hood, with a 15-20 rider race for the city title.

Merritt’s my Dad and i feel like i have to add some clarification to the whole inner circle, outer circle debacle. Ladd circle is one way counter clockwise. He biked the inner circle, outer circle, middle circle, you name it. He started going close to the center, and as the day went on moved farther out to go more distance for less laps. Also Ladd circle doesn’t have enough traffic that him riding on the outside would cause a problem, thanks for your concern though:)

This sounds a lot like the Tour de Fatty that the Fat Cyclist puts on to raise money for cancer research. Participants either rider extreemely small loops or stationary cycles a 100 miles.

I just had a wonderful evil idea: Bring back Critical Mass and make the whole route either Ladds Circle or the Joan of Arc Circle at 39th and Glisan – round and round. Bikes would never have to cede their right of way.

Technically, they’d not even be corking. It would be a very antagonistic way of making a point about bikes being traffic.

amazing! I wouldnt do it.

I believe he would have the right of way all the way around the perimeter of the circle. Not sure about your point on its reflection of cycling. Perhaps it would anger someone doing laps around the blocks connected to the circle, when they would see him pass every time they stop to turn right, or have to wait to turn right off the circle behind him. Boy what a pain!

The Fat Cyclist has an annual fundraising event he calls “100 Miles of Nowhere” where participants ride a century either on a trainer or rollers, or around a small course like this, or around a block…

Circulus track Century?

@jonathan I am not trying to diminish anything that Raitt has done, but 64k views on a video is no where near what would be considered “viral”. One Million or two million, absolutely.

Cool. Seems to me there must be other places around town to do this, too. How about an Esplanade Loop — Steel to Hawthorn? In the rain, in the dark, so there’s minimal pedestrians? Or back and forth over the I-5 bridge from Hayden Island to Vancouver? Or a neighborhood greenway loop — skidmore/concord/failing/Michigan?

Not as slick as Ladds Circle, but minimal stopping.

Ted Buehler

Riding through Ladd’s a couple of days ago I did an extra lap.

Mild surprise!

PDX has a second velodrome, just a little shorter than Alpenrose. Around the inside the surface is nicely banked, making it delightful to scoot around at 12 miles/hour.

No worry about traction speed.

Maybe someone fitter than I could try for an hour record there.