caloso

[I was going to post this in the PNW regional forum, but thought every roadie should see it.]

I just returned from a week in Beaverton (SW of Portland, OR), visiting my wife's relatives. Took my bike, of course. It's freakin' wonderful up there.

Want hills? They got 'em. And steep.
Want bike paths to every major destination? They got 'em. And drivers respect them.
Want quiet country lanes and rolling hills? They got those too.
Want to race on pristine asphalt with no cars, good hard racing, and no macho b.s.? They have that too.
Want bike shops that can talk roadie, dirtbag, trackie, and fred? They have those. Several of them.
They even have a velodrome that's open to the public any day of the week.

Sorry, PDX. Your secret's out. And I'm coming back in the fall with my CX bike!

gjb483

I lived there for a few years, it is everything you say and so much more. you possibly even missed the best part, https://www.zoobomb.net/ ... keep portland weird.

knobster

Want to know another secret? It rains 9 months a year.... Better get some fenders Caloso. Oh wait, doesn't everyone know this?

logdrum

The chiba is good in PDX specially if you do CX.

MONGO!

No, it doesn't.

caloso, if you liked PDX in the summer, wait until you sample the cross scene, it's incredible.

Seedy J

I keep hearing all this good stuff about Portland (good beer and year-round snowboarding too), and it's actually got me thinking of moving there. Is it really all it's cracked up to be?

MONGO!

It's a great town with plenty of stuff going on, the riding scene is awesome, cross is the biggest in the country.

terrymorse 

Number of days with measurable precipitation, Portland: 159 (44% of the time).

July, August, September are pretty dry. The rest of the months are soggy!

MONGO!

How long have you lived in Portland?

I've been here three years and I can tell you, the rainfall is greatly exaggerated.

I always tell people, if you think it rains a lot in the NW, you've obviously never spent a summer in the UK.

gjb483

it is consistently overcast, but the rain is very light most of the time, however still enough to hydroplane if you hit the right speeds, which is pretty easy to do in SW and NW. There are some scary fast descents in town ...

terrymorse 

Just the facts...

Average Annual Rainfall

Portland: 45 inches
Seattle: 39 inches
London: 29 inches

cyclezealot

My visit to Oregon, I was impressed. Cycling friendly for sure. Great Bike infrastructure.. But, don't you need a rain jacket during half of your rides..

MONGO!

I've lived in London and Portland, I can tell you without any doubt that London is by far the rainier place.

Portland will have downpours but then it's done, London will just rain and rain and rain.

caloso

I will say that my one disappointment was that the Alpenrose track development session was rained out. I showed up Wednesday evening, along with a handful of local juniors, and we waited but big drops started falling and they had to cancel. Which was probably just as well because I was psyching myself out looking at the banked turns. Looks like a vertical wall.

I rode there from my wife's aunt's house in Beaverton (just 5 miles away) in the downpour and noticed a bunch of commuters on the way home. Fenders, panniers, and rain jackets. No big deal, just being prepared. Like I said, I was very impressed.

Saturday I rode up Scholls Ferry Rd. to Skyline and climbed up and down the hill in Washington Park. Again, tons of cyclists, all very friendly. And the drivers were very safe and respectful. No drama, just passed quickly and calmly when it was safe to do so.

knobster

And you're basing this on what? 3 years in Portland? I've lived here for about that long also. How long did you live in London? Don't know about London, but each year here is different. This year is suppose to be dryer, but last year was pretty wet. It didn't stop raining until the end of June. Then it's like someone turned off the tap. No rain until Oct. It's really not rain more than it's a contant drizzle anyways. If you can handle the grey skys during those months and months and the contant feel of being wet, it's a great place.

Not to mention our unemployment rate is one of the highest, if not the highest in the country.

MONGO!

I lived in the UK most of my life, Portland seems dry in comparison.

merlinextraligh

So, we're in Portland in two weeks.
1) Velodrome, any place to rent a track bike? As I understand it, you can ride on the Velodrome during the day if no event is going on. I'd like to try it out, having never ridden on the track.

2) Any recomendations on a good 30-50 mile ride starting near downtown?

terrymorse 

Number of rainy days per year:

London: 153
Portland: 153
San Francisco: 67
San Diego: 44

Average hours of sunlight per day:

London: 4
Portland: 5.25
San Francisco: 8.4
San Diego: 8.3

So London wins the prize for worst weather, but Portland is a close second.

DataJunkie

When I lived in SE WA state I used to deliver blood for the red cross to portland. It was raining 90% of the time and the highways were positively terrible. I am sure it is a great place and all but Colorado is more my thing. Not that much rain. Lots of sun.

knobster

Try moving to Arizona... To someone from there, this place is hell.

rc32

Hydroplane on a bike??? I thought it was pretty well discussed here and elsewhere that this was almost impossible on a bike.

Slip and slide due to slick, wet pavement, yes. Hydroplaning no.

MONGO!

You can rent a bike at the velodrome, just bring your own pedals.
If you've never ridden on a track, go there on Weds. night, they have a beginner's clinic, $10 including bike rental fee.

So many good rides nearby, if you want to get some climbing in, head west out into the hills, ride along skyline, take US30 for a couple of miles (crappy road but worth it) then do a loop around Sauvie Island, 12 miles of flat, quiet farm road. Either come back on 30 or go back over the hills.

For a flatter ride, head south, take the Springwater trial out to Sellwood then head to Gladstone.
pm me if you want some more details.

ok_commuter

Anybody in PDX need a Director of Technology? I'm moving there as soon as I find a job. (Seriously.)

MONGO!

Lies, damn lies and statistics.

My personal experience tells me different.

I went to Denver, it was raining 100% of the time.

mattm

PDX, I like to think of it as Seattle's little bro - though the two cities are quite similar.

(We have a velodrome too, though I wish it was indoors..)

So there's no macho BS in Portland racing? Somehow I find that hard to believe.. I mean racing is macho BS isn't it?