winter wander
It’s Saturday. It’s a crisp thirty-something degrees out. (That’s Fahrenheit degrees, not those fancy-schmancy new ones.) All over the county, alarm clocks sit idle, resting from a hard week’s beeping. What could be a better time for a spin through Southeast Portland? And East Portland? And Northeast Portland? And North Portland? And Vancouver?
The ride starts out at the Rose Garden Arena, just on the east side of my favorite bridge, the Steel Bridge. Incidentally, did you know that the Steel Bridge is the world’s only double-decker bridge with independent lifts? Until a few minutes ago, I didn’t, either.
Anyway, the smooth bike path (okay, okay, “multi-use path”) leads to the west side’s relaxed Waterfront Park, where there are public toilets under the Hawthorne Bridge. (Locked. On a Saturday morning—are they nuts? ‘Sokay, I can hold it.) A hop, skip, and a jump across the Hawthorne, and there’s OMSI, the science museum. A quick do-si-do through a couple of surface streets, and (cue sound of angelic choirs) the trail head of the Springwater Corridor!
The Corridor is a hike ‘n’ bike trail that parallels and old rail line on one side and offers glimpses through the trees at the Willamette River on the east. There’s also a connection to the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge—perfect spot for a picnic with pesto and crackers from the nearby Olive Farm store and some of that instant canned hot coffee stuff (actually, skip that last part and just go for the pesto and crackers).
The trail is nearly complete for some seventeen miles all the way to the town of Boring—you do have to perform a little dipsie doodle in Sellwood on a couple of plain ol’ roads, and then cut through a gravel driveway to land back on the trail. But after that, it’s smooth sailing for as long as you care to stay on the Corridor.
Ya know, people whine about drivers on the east side, but what I typically see is people going out of their way to stop and let me cross the street. Thanks, Portland motorists!
As pleasant as the trail and drivers are, now it’s time to turn north and re-enter the numbered and alphabetized world of the Portland street grid. SE 46th Avenue goes straight uphill for a bit, and then it’s a relatively flat ride all the way back north to town. There’s quite a bit of doglegging back and forth when the gridded streets don’t quite align perfectly, but nothing you can’t handle with a sense of humor and a good map.
And since you’re crossing Division anyway, you have to take a quick detour to Food Fight Grocery for a helping of irreverence and vegan donuts. Mmmmm, humane junk food….
Back on the road: north to the Alphabet District. Glisan west through a freaky traffic circle, and on through the Hollywood District. Wind through Lloyd Center traffic (Llookout, Llarry! It’s the Lloyd Llot!) and back to the Rose Garden.
clockwork orange
Hop a yellow train north to the end of the line at the Expo Center. Pause and take in the monument dedicated to the Americans of Japanese descent who were interned on this site during WWII.
When you’re ready, wiggle up the serpentine trail and turn right on the Marine Drive sidewalk for a hundred feet or so. Cross Marine to the left, and get on the bike path. Cloverleaf under I-5, and then cut across the cloverleaf to get up on a trail paralleling the interstate. That will dump you onto a sidewalk on Hayden Island. Cross at the zebra stripes by the Safeway, and go along the sidewalk towards I-5. When you get to the signal, cross to the bike trail leading under the interstate through an innocuous tunnel known to Vancouver residents as “Clockwork Orange,” apparently for its resemblance to one of the tunnels in the movie.
Whew.
As soon as you emerge from the tunnel, make a hard left and spiral up onto the bike/ped walkway on the west side of I-5. You’re on the Interstate Bridge now, but you’re safe from all those whizzing vehicles. You’ve got bigger fish to fry. Put your head down, get after those pedals, and cross the bridge. Take Columbia north from where the trail dumps you, and you’ll soon see the red cobblestones of Esther Short Park.
You’ve made it to Vancouver’s cute downtown. Slurp a cup of Stumptown Coffee from the stand inside the building. Grab a hot snack from a vendor. And have a look at the odometer. 23 1/2 miles. Not too shabby.