where to ride?

[blueskies]

Hi Elk,

Do you have the Portland Bike There! map? You can get it any LBS, and it's got the whole Portland metro area with routes marked. You could use it to get some ideas about where to ride near your house (bike paths, lanes, roads with lighter or heavier traffic), and then just start scouting.

There's also a free download of the Bike There! map as an overlay for google earth, which I really like. The map continues out into some of the outlying areas of Washington County that aren't included on the paper map.

http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=15341

This would be a great time to read a book like Dave Glowacz' Urban Bikers' Tips & Tricks. It's a good guide to riding on streets, and heavy on illustrations for clarity.

Springwater is great, because you ride out & back, so you can make the ride as short or as long as you want. There's also a lovely bike path between the Columbia River & Marine Drive. And the trail out in Vernonia is great for beginners, too.

Gorgeous bike & gorgeous dog! We had a shelty that could have been your dog's brother.

Blueskies

[sundial]

Ooooh, I'm drooling over your bike. It looks so cool--much prettier in your photo than on the Specialized website.

I wouldn't be afraid to take it for a spin inside a state park. Are you near one? Or a city park? Try it out on some small hills and if you feel like tackling more, maybe one of the TE'ers here will join you for a leisurely ride.

If you lived closer I'd join you. I'd want to play with your doggie, too.

[elk]

thank you guys...all good ideas to explore. And I will look at all of them. And hope we get some breaks in the weather! I think Sunday I'l go to Springwater.

I am SO glad you like my bike! I thought you'd think it was doinky! And I love that Kano noticed that my bike and my dog look alike! I guess grey and orange are our team colors now!

Trigirl you inadvertently gave me an idea..which is to go out and ride at 4am
I love going out in the streets at night...I often wait til after dark to walk the dogs....I do have lights out the wazoo...so night rides are a posibility!

KNot...The cafe is in North Portland and I'm in SW...but I have freinds over there...

Commuting to work means some major roads and/or hills...But I am inspired to get on my bike and get out of my immediate neighborhood...the more I tackle the hills the better I'll get.

(thanks blueskies for the book recommendation...I was wondering if that was a good book....I'll get it. I just ordered the one Mimi was talking about, and I have a Lance Armstrong book on my nighttable too! )