# Bound South in Portland Oct. 15th-16th



## DM.Aelis (Jun 19, 2007)

Hey folks,

My two brothers and I are on a pan-american bicycle expedition (Bound South) that you can read about in the Commuting & Touring forum (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/co...orts/bound-south-alaska-argentina-259050.html). We'll be in Portland this weekend, currently biking from Walla Walla. Been an amazing trip and we're very excited for a weekend in Portland.

We're volunteering with Habitat for Humanity on Saturday and trying to make plans for Sunday. If you were looking for a way to spend Sunday in Portland, what would you recommend? 

We've heard about Cross Crusade through the grapevine, and apparently it's a pretty awesome spectacle. We've got Surly Troll touring bikes that we could strip the fenders and racks off of and probably have a laugh with them racing in the entry men's field for Cross Crusade. Any thoughts? If anyone from a local racing club wanted to "adopt us" for the Cross Crusade that would be wonderful to have some local people to meet and spend part of the day with.

For some North Dakota boys, what do you recommend for getting around Portland? Things to see? Good places to eat on a budget? Can we bike everywhere we need to go if we are near the city center? How bad are the bike thieves/ how gnarly of a lock do we need to keep our bikes safe?

If you see three guys rolling around on orange Surly Trolls anytime this weekend, flag us down for a chat! We have been riding our bicycles from Alaska since August and are on our way to Argentina to benefit Habitat for Humanity.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

*Enjoy PDX!*

If you have not heard, Portland is sort of the bike mecca of the country...am from there originally but live in Tacoma, WA now.

As far as 'cross crusade goes, it IS a massive spectacle, four-digit numbers of racers plus tons of fans, you can go at least to enjoy, even if not racing.

For cheap eats, Portland's street food / cart scene was always big, but, it has gotten stupid crazy in the last few years. You can eat anything you want from these things, and pretty affordable. A few have shuttered for the winter but there is still a lot to be had.

Yes, all of Portland is bikeable. Very, very bikeable. In addition, bikes are freely able to board mass transit, and PDX has a well built-out network of streetcar and light rail.

Forest park is the largest in-city park in the country, I hear -- if you've got fat tires there's lots of semi-paved and gravel type roads to trek about a bit and enjoy the scenery, though it's pretty hilly and yours truly is not an experienced fully loaded tourer.

Safety -- PDX is no New York, and I never had a problem with a basic u-lock, but, as cycling has exploded in the last few years I am not sure how security has been affected. I mean, check out the multi-level bicycle parking garage on Portland State's campus!

As far as stuff to do, I am not a big hard-partier, so you'd have to look elsewhere for club scene recommendations, but, you can bike along the river, roll over a couple of old bridges, maybe across the hawthorne to check out now famous Stumptown Coffee on Belmont -- if you're into good beans, anyway. I *am* a big fan of the oldschool quarter arcade down near the river on NW couch.

Still on the west side, a local staple which I did not realize had become all kinds of famous was Powells Books, which is worth the visit even if you are not carting a ton of literary awesomeness home with you...

Enjoy your stay!


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## DM.Aelis (Jun 19, 2007)

Thank you Argentius, very very helpful!


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## PomPilot (May 17, 2006)

Well guys, there is one pod of food carts at southeast 12th and Hawthorne that has places which serve barbecue, pizza, Belgian style frites, Mexican or crepes. All seem to offer regular, vegetarian or vegan items at a reasonable price. Or you can check out the Rose and Thistle Public House on northeast Broadway near 23rd around 7:30pm Saturday night. I'll be there (hopefully with some friends I went to school with). Hint, I'll may or may not be the only one in joint wearing a kilt that night. But if you see a purple Tam O'Shanter, that should be me. Or ask a hostess where I'm at. 

One place you will have to check out, if only for the people watching, is Voodoo Doughnut. For a ten dollar bill, you can get a bacon-maple bar, and a couple more unique doughnuts, and _maybe_ some change back. Ask almost anyone in Portland where the nearest of their two locations is to you at that time.


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