(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)
By my recollection, it’s been almost two years since we had real snow on the ground here in Portland, so when I woke up this morning and saw the white stuff accumulating on N Michigan Avenue in the Piedmont Neighborhood I was more than a little excited.
(Photo: Juli Maus)
Over the years I’ve found that riding in the snow is one of life’s finer pleasures. There’s a sense of adventure, camaraderie with other riders (and everyone on the streets for that matter), and best of all, people tend to drive with the sense of caution and courtesy I wish for everyday.
Watching the news or official advisories, you might think no one rides their bike on snowy mornings like we had today. Remember back during the 2009 “snowpocalypse” how everyone was saying we had the “worst commute in 20 years”? I couldn’t help but gloat after my cycling commute was peaceful, quick, and painless.
And once again this morning the ride from north Portland to downtown was quite pleasant. I saw a lot of smiles in the bike lane as people rolled through the streets without much trouble. Meanwhile, people in cars were backed up bumper-to-bumper all over the place and the local news has been warning people to stay off the streets.
This morning I ran into Shannon Skerritt, a well-known local bike racer and manager of the Bike Gallery store in Hollywood. He was riding a cyclocross bike and enjoying every minute of it. I also saw a guy hopping off curbs with this mountain bike, and a few thumbs up from others who passed by on two wheels.
Check out a few more photos below…
Did you ride this morning? What was your experience?
— Want to see more photos and coverage of snowy cycling in Portland? Check out the “snow” tag in our photo gallery and story archive.