Fred4life

Where did you acquire these "facts"? Everything I've read suggests Portland gets 37 inches of rain per year, which is lower than the following cities:
Miami - 60 inches
NYC - 45 inches
Houston - 54 inches
St Louis - 38 inches
Washing DC - 39 inches

I can tell you that we probably have the best cycling weather in the country during the summer. Lots of daylight, sunshine, and generally moderate temps. Tstorms are very rare. There is NEVER any oppressive humidity.

Yes, it sucks during the winter, but there are plenty of decent riding days in any month.

mrbUSA

+1 as the kids say....

and don't forget the micro-beer. Face it when the sun goes away in mid September and doesn't return till months later, one must find some fun things to do in doors.....

MONGO!

You'd have to define "macho BS", there are idiots everywhere, but by and large the racing community is very friendly and the cross scene is great.

Pfft, you HTFU and ride.

caloso

Well, I have a very small sample (1 race), but compared to NorCal macho b.s., no it's downright gentlemanly.

I did the PIR Monday night race. It's on a car race track so there's no traffic, perfect asphalt, wide and fast. The pace was high and safe. I didn't hear any of the *****ing about the pace or yelling about holding your line. One time I did drift out of my line and got a hand to my hip. After the turn I said, "Sorry about that." And the guy said, "No problem." In NorCal it would have been much more negative.

MONGO!

Haha, Tuesday night(or the Tues. World Championships, as it's known) is when all the shouting happens

logdrum

Interesting about the no macho BS as well. My friend is from NYC and move to Portland because his wife got a job there. He feels exactly the opposite in spite of the "bike culture" in PDX. He is also not used to the West Coast culture of not being as frank as the East Coast and is put off by the "holier" than though attitude of PDX cyclists and I do not know what he means. But having lived in NYC and the NE, I know the blunt frankness (which I think is great) that I haven't seen anywhere. He is a cyclist himself and mostly car-less.

However my company has campuses in Beaverton and Hillsboro and I was expecting to see more people using the bike for commuting, seeing how nice Beaverton/Hillsboro is laid out for cycling. No one in my team commuted to work and some lived 2 miles down the road. Our company has showers and incentive for using the bike. It was disappointing...

I really do think, that NYC although they do not trump is also a cycling heaven in the US. I's almost a perverted way to look at it but if you have lived there, you would know why I am saying that.

And yeah those weather stats, I never believe them

ok_commuter

I lived there, and rode almost daily, and have no idea why you are saying that.

03FinestAL

Well.....

I spent most of 2004/2005 in Hillsboro due to my job and LOVED it there. I rode throughout the entire year. I lost a couple of days due to ice on the roads over the winter, but I have complete rain gear as well as fenders and never let it stop me.

Here in AZ is a mother sometimes (most especially in the summer). My commute to work yesterday started at 0315 and I was soaked by the time I got to work 1 1/2 hours later. The ride home wasn't any better. My rides over the weekend must start early and end by not later than 1100 or I would fry. Keep in mind that I have lived here in AZ most of my life and was a distance runner back in the 80's/90's and am very well acclimated to the oven that I call home.

I'll take the rain and everything else associated with the PDX area any time over this place......

Ratfish

Oh no, it's uh terrible here, guys. You definitely don't want to come here.

caloso

I noticed that the Sunday Oregonian had an editorial about the danger of being infected by the "California Disease."

logdrum

However the quality of the chiba in PDX makes it tolerable even for NYC snobs like my friend. I think with that and the microbrews and him loose most nights, PDX proper is heaven indeed. I like the food in PDX especially near the airport neighborhoods.

anticlimbactic

Regardless of the rain, unemployment is very high in Portland and apparently has the fastest growing rate of unemployment in the nation.

https://www.kgw.com/business/stories/....21304f65.html

We visited last fall and considered exploring moving there, but... finding a job can be difficult, real estate is relatively expensive (continued going up after the bubble burst) and there's a lack of diversity compared to other big cities we've lived in. On the plus side... micro brews, cycling, foodie scene, sustainable living, proximity to great nature (parks, 101, etc), public transportation, laid back attitudes... And if you need sun and dryness in the winter months, just head east a little ways.

terrymorse 

Yeah, facts are so bogus. Give me personal experience any day.

bicycletothesun

The herb in Portland is some of the best in the country.

The beer in Portland is some of the best in the world.

And I have lived in Portland all my life: It rains endlessly here. It sucks. Sure other cities might get more inches in a year but it all comes down at once in a huge storm. Portland isn't like that. 9 months of the year its completely gray skies and rainy. It might rain only 1/4-1/2'' that day but it will be spread out throughout the day. Portland rain is usually a drizzle. Just enough to get you wet and annoy the hell out of you. June-July-August-1/2 of September is all you have for sunny skies (mostly). The rest is gray skies raining or not.

And yes, the biking here is great.

DataJunkie

Amazing. I have yet to see it rain 100% of the time. At most it rains for a few hours.

Ratfish

My parents live an hour away from Portland in southern WA and their avg annual rainfall is 74 inches. It's insane. But yeah, as great as Portland is for cyclists, people on bikes get killed by motorists regularly like anywhere else.

caloso

I gave up both of those many years ago, along with the smack and the *****s, but I do allow myself one small vice: caffeine.

And the coffee in Portland is excellent.

03FinestAL

DataJunkie

My cousins say the same thing about the weed.

BillyD

fixed.

obra3

PSSSSTTT. MONGO!!! SHHH!!! It rains ALL THE TIME HERE. So much so most people have moss growing out their ears and other orifices.

Funny you happened across one of the only rainy days this summer. You'd do fine on the banked turns. They're not too bad.

Yes- and we have quite the rivalry going! Cross Crusade grudge match this fall! WA vs. OR- one weekend to determine the 2009 grunge cup winner and PNW bragging rights. Hopefully we'll be able to set up a NW Crit series next year too. Beardsley has been going up and winning the crits up in Seattle but Adrian came down and cleaned up PDX Twilight. This is good.

Honestly, correct. Rain during the winter comes in waves.

KGW...

Glad you had an enjoyable experience. Good crew, rarely do we get nastiness in the peloton. When did you come visit? Mid->late summer, the groups tend to get a little smaller since short track is going on.

caloso

obra3: Just last week. I think there were maybe 25-30 riders.

Although I should amend my post to admit there was some yelling, but from the women. The 1/2/3 peleton caught the women at the top of the course (clockwise) and it seems the back end of our group squeezed the women on the hard right. In our defense, they didn't neutralize. We got pulled over and warned and then released back on to the track to finish 3 more laps.

brian416

The thing I really liked about Portland when I was there was that there were bike trails and bike lanes everywhere. The riding west of town across the river heading towards Astoria was awesome, very very few cars, and fantastic views.

The downside that I noticed is there was glass everywhere on the roads, it seemed like I was constantly dodging glass on the shoulder.

cdotbois

Try this one: https://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/or...25055061399299

There's a couple solid climbs in that one. (It starts with one that'll take you up through the zoo. There's a nice view of the city halfway up.) PM me if you need more specific directions on how to navigate downtown to get started or if you need more/less miles/climbs. This one is pretty quiet. Skyline is a popular bike route. I can give you more details on it if you want.

banerjek

I hear people rave about Portland all the time. They have better bike facilities than most places and the shops are great.

All the same, I think they have some of the worst riding in the state. Too many things break up your rhythm and everyone makes a big deal about cycling there. People either think you're cool or you suck because you're on a bike. I prefer to just be another thing on the road.