The road to Boring

After yesterday’s beautiful ride from the Pacific Ocean through the empty mountains and forests, today was a rather different proposition. I had reached the edge of the urban spread of Portland’s suburbs and I had to cross from its western extent, at Forest Grove, to its eastern limit, in Boring, a distance of more than 50 miles. My day began with a long, straight ride east along a typical strip development: mile after mile of fast food, gas stations and other retail outlets that could have been just about anywhere in America. It wasn’t unpleasant cycling; but now I had traffic for company as I stuck carefully to the shoulder of the busy road.

After an hour I sensed I was nearing Portland proper and I rode right alongside the huge Nike World Headquarters in the suburb of Beaverton. But then my bike route took me away from the busy streets and high up into the wooded hills of Northwest Heights, with fancy properties looking out over the sprawl below. It felt more like Mulholland Drive in LA than Portland, Oregon; but the small roads were quiet and pretty with occasional dramatic views beneath. From the top I had a wonderful, winding descent into the city centre, where older, wooden town houses lined residential streets, painted in different colours.

Portland is a likeable city and it feels on a manageable scale compared to its larger west coast “neighbours” in Washington or California. It is very well set up for cyclists downtown and I had no trouble making my way back to my hotel to collect my panniers, stopping on the way at the well-known Deschutes brewery for lunch outdoors. There were plenty of people out doing similar things and it all had a nice vibe.

One of the many bridges across the Williamette River in Portland

Across the road from my panniers was Cycle Portland, a bike shop where Donovan did a top class bespoke job replacing my bell, which had not travelled well from the UK. Just as important, he told me how to get to Boring traffic-free along the excellent Springwater Corridor cycle trail, which runs 22 miles right from the river bank in downtown Portland to Boring itself. I wouldn’t have known. It was a really well made route along an old railroad with cycle friendly road crossings and regular signs. A delight to cycle in the warm afternoon sunshine.

Crossing the Williamette River in downtown Portland

But by the time I reached Boring, I was up against the clock. I had a 6.30pm appointment with Aaron, a development and community relations consultant from Mt Hood Territory, at my hotel. And that was still 6 hot miles further up the road in Sandy, a small town that lies in the shadow of the dramatic 11,200 ft Mount Hood. I was being treated to a free night and dinner ahead of tomorrow’s Boring and Dull celebrations. And I badly needed a shower.

Seamlessly, though, everything fell into place and I have enjoyed a very relaxing and enjoyable evening. My bike has once again joined me in my hotel room for the night. I hope it doesn’t get too used to it. We may not be enjoying this level of luxury too often once the ride to Dull gets starts officially tomorrow afternoon.