Family Biking: The ABCs of a summer bucket list

For those of us following the Portland Public Schools calendar, there are just two more weeks of summer break. I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping to sneak in a few more fun things on bikes before we’ve got to get back to the books. I’d like to hit a few new locations and maybe revisit a special spot or two.

How about you? Any last-minute summer flings planned? If not, here are three little bits of inspiration…

Our Family Biking column is sponsored by Clever Cycles.

➤ Read past entries here.

➤ A is for animals
We’ve visited the Belmont Goats at their previous two locations so now it’s time for us to check out their new digs in University Park in north Portland. For this, we’ll do the kids-and-bikes-on-light-rail thing to make the trip six flat miles each way rather than 15 not-so-flat miles.

➤ B is for beach
There’s a new beach in town since I wrote about biking to local watering holes last summer! We’re going to check out Audrey McCall Beach soon. Like Poet’s Beach just across the river, it’s a product of the Human Access Project, a group working to change Portland’s relationship to the Willamette River. Audrey McCall Beach looks smaller than Poet’s (and doesn’t have the cool poetry) but it’s closer to us in Woodstock and my bridge-averse kid won’t have to cross the river.

➤ C is for camping
Here’s hoping there’s a longer camping season at Dodge Park next summer so we can add that to our list of places we’ve camped, but for now I feel like our only two family-friendly-route options are Stub Stewart State Park and Oxbow Regional Park (which isn’t as enticing since we can’t bring the dog).

It’s a short list, but hitting a couple new places will make me feel like we’ve had a big summer. Where will you go in the remainder of the month?

Remember, we’re always looking for people to profile. Get in touch if it sounds like fun to you. And as always, feel free ask questions in the comments below or email me your story ideas and insights at madidotcom [at] gmail [dot] com.

— Madi Carlson, @familyride on Instagram and Twitter

BikePortland needs your support.