Taking the long way into work: A Forest Park commute

Wait until you go home that way during the summer, 10 degrees cooler and no car exhaust. It’s awesome. I commute from Washington Park to my home in North Portland taking L.E. to Germantown and across the SJ bridge.

I need a nap. Thanks for the awesome pix!

Great write-up and pictures, Jonathan. Thanks for this, and for the ride!

Very awesome. I recall you saying just a very short while ago after I made fun of you for whining about your Steel Bridge woes and saying to take the Broadway Bridge instead, that you HATE riding out of your way going into work. See, riding out of your way isn’t so bad…it’s more time riding your bike!

I love Forest Park but this time of year both me and my bike are completely filthy after riding through there.

Jealous. Except for the seven am part!

Funny, I did this just yesterday. I opted for the Springville route. Much harder climb, but the wild side of Lief Erikson is well worth it. Downed trees and mud pits abound. What fun. 2 hours from Fremont & MLK via St Johns to the Pearl. I’d guess 90 minutes for the Saltzman version.

If you haven’t tried Leif Erikson Drive, I heartily advise you to make your first attempt on tires at least 28mm, but wider would be better.

Also, plan for time afterward to give your bike a thorough wiping and rinsing.

Having heard of L.E.D. but never ridden it, I made an impromptu swing up that way during an aimless road ride one day a couple summers ago. I’d seen the image of the somewhat paved south trailhead in Google Maps, and so headed into the trail with impunity on my skinny-tubed vintage touring frame and [GASP!] 23c tires. The beautiful, peaceful natural scenery led me on, even after the pavement quickly became gravel then rutted mud. The bike survived the 10 miles of rattling, though my body was rather well shaken.

That foolish–but almost worth it–spontaneous jaunt on 23mm tires subjected my bike to ten miles sustained vigorous bouncing and shaking, and likely contributed to the eventual failure of my beloved frame a year later when the dropout sheared from the chainstay during SE Sunday Parkways. Had I known, or just asked a friend beforehand, I would have saved that ride for another day and fatter tires.

That sounds fun! Have to try it. Always the ever fear-inducing St. John’s bridge. Too bad, because it could be such a great part of the ride.

Springville road is a great / hike / ride up. Even walking some it, it is the fastest way up to skyline. Do not ride down it on a road bike. Way to steep and way to rocky/rough for skinny tires to grab.

Skinny road tires are fine if you stay on Saltzman and only go up.. Lief,: yes bigger tires or you will need to slow way down on certain parts…

Leif. From saltzman to germantown is a lot further than one thinks on lief. Its actually shorter to keep climbing to skyline then come down germantown. Germantown is the safe way down. Can usually go faster than car traffic, but if wet and dark and getting blinded by oncoming traffice, I have pulled off to let cars go by.

Be extremely careful of wet sticks laying at angles in the winter on Lief. I had one take me down once, a cold wet night several years ago. One foot released, the other got hung up (I, nor loved ones use those type of pedals anymore) so my body was able to rotate but right foot couldn’t and result was a snapped tibia (yes the big lower leg bone) and fibula. Nothing quite like riding one legged the rest of the way on Lief to germantown with the right foot hanging and cocked at about 80 deg from what it should be… The strangest thing was getting asked over and over again if i smoked. evidently if i had been a smoker, i probably would now have a peg leg… toh !