(Photo by James Rohl)
Portlanders woke up to the first real snowfall of the season this morning. The white powdery stuff was sticking to streets and beckoning us out into before most of us had finished our first cup of coffee.
(Photo: J Maus/BikePortland)
As our streets here in north Portland filled with kiddos, I knew there was only one thing to do. Get out the sleds and the mountain bike and start pulling them around. After many laps around the streets in front of our house (which were wonderfully quiet and calm), it was time to conquer new horizons: the local park.
On our way I saw our friend Wake Gregg shoveling out the parking lot in front of his business, The e-Bike Store. Wake saw us and immediately said, “Want to borrow an e-bike?” “Absolutely,” I replied. A few minutes later, Wake had set me up with an eZee Forza model with big knobby tires. It had a twist-throttle and pedal-assist to engage the 500 watt motor — plenty of power to pull the kids in the sled.
I could hardly contain myself (and neither could the kids).
We rolled over to Peninsula Park, I twisted the throttle, and the rest is history. My friend James caught some of the action…
Here are a few more photos of the fun…
(Photos: J Maus/BikePortland)
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(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
What a perfect way to cap off the holiday break. Hope you got a chance to enjoy it – while you can. Chances are it won’t stick around for long. There’s rain in the forecast, so things could get dicey in the coming week.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I went for a bike ride around my neighborhood. It was so peaceful and calm. I love this weather!
I went to the store. When it snows, I find a reason to go somewhere by bike! I love biking in the snow.
Rode my mountain bike up to Council Crest. Wild and windy up there!
glad my Subaru has AWD and snow tires. Riding is too hazardous.
That’s the spirit.
And I watched a #$%&ing @#$%@ almost plow into pedestrians as their 4wd SUV slid into the crosswalk on a red light at 27th and Hawthorne.
Just waiting for the ebike to come out….
If you’re riding on slick surfaces, consider lowering your seat 2 to 4 inches.
It will be a little harder to pedal, but if your wheels start to slip and the bike falls out from under you, you can catch yourself with one foot, or land on both feet.
Ted Buehler
NE Going St is boiler plate. Unless we get a warm rain in the next four hours I’m gonna phone it in!
Thanks for the idea. Never tried pulling a sled behind a bike before, and it worked great.
the picture of the people in the median making snow angels startled me… I hope those aren’t kids…
I saw lots of people running over medians and planting strips because they either couldn’t see the road edges, couldn’t control their vehicles, or were just trying to run over fresh snow…
don’t play next to a busy street in the snow…
Yep. That is a kid. My kid actually. I appreciate your concern.
FWIW I teach my kids to not be afraid of streets. Streets belong to people and they’re for us to play on and use for things besides going places. If kids live in fear of their neighborhood streets, the terrorists win (so to speak).
I refuse to instill a sense of fear about public streets in my kids… That being said, I teach them to respect streets and the potential for harm that comes with them. So it’s about respect, not fear. Big difference IMO.
I rode to the local margarita bar to drink with the neighbors…
drinking and riding in these conditions? doesn’t sound too wise.
IMO, some moderate drinking reduces stiffness and rigidness in your body which translates to superior reactions to slippery conditions. I did 24 miles yesterday without a crash