North Portland (Mt. Tabor, 205, Columbia River, Portland airport)

Portland is the No.1 biking city in USA (according to the Bicycling magazine.) There's no reason NOT to ride! It turned out our Hotel (Rose) offers complimentary bicycle to hotel guests so I took full advantage of it (also included a lock and a helmet!) There was only 1 minor challenge: I have never ridden a beach cruiser with coaster brake only. All of my bikes have hand brakes. I almost rented one like this at Vancouver but decided not to take unnecessary risk when riding with kids. I ended up doing alright with this bike by riding slower and with extra caution. I also brake way in advance, which coincidentally was the advice my son gave me after the ride. He had a lot of experiences with coaster brakes :)

The yellow beach cruiser and the view from the top of Mt. Tabor

Junction of the I-205 bike path and Marine Dr at the bank of Columbia River

Lan Su Garden at Portland Chinatown

As far as finding a good route to ride, I trusted good old MapMyRide: simply searched for routes over 30 mile and pick one from the result. I figured it would be interesting to loop (square) around the city (the Northeast quadrant of it) For those not familiar with the area, there is a river dividing the city to an East side and a West side. Our hotel was on the West side along with the Pioneer Courthouse Square (and the upscale Pioneer Place Mall) There are many bridges connecting the two sides. First, I crossed the Hawthorne bridge and rode along Hawthorne st then Lincoln st which lead to the Mt. Tabor park. Once I was in the park, I took one of the Tabor Drive loop to reach the Summit (it was not that high but it felt like Mt. Diablo on a beach cruiser :P) I exited the park from SE East Tabor Dr to Yamhill St (it was not continuous but have a few breaks instead but not that hard to follow) which eventually led to a T-junction that intersect with the I-205 multi-use path. Turned left there and I basically rode along side the northbound freeway I-205 on a bike path separated from traffic. Again, it is not completely continuous but the signs were clear enough. Eventually I reached the Columbia River (another T-junction that I turned left) I saw many bikes at the junction and realized there was a race going on! I pedaled towards the airport and left the crowd (there was a bike path closer to the river but I rode on the road instead by accident. No car on the road anyway) This was one long and straight stretch with a great view of the river (even saw a few dragon boats practicing!) After passing the Portland airport (PDX) I got back on the road, Marine Dr and then Bridgeton Rd, which has a dead end and one must turn left to get back on the Marine Dr towards the West for a little bit before crossing the freeway (99E) Followed the sign for MLK Blvd (which was the freeway I saw) but it's OK to ride. Turned to N Vancouver Ave and got on the Broadway Bridge and I was back on the West side and ended my ride.
Note: I originally planned to cross another bridge, the Steel Bridge, but I was detoured by a parade. The Steel Bridge seems to have easier access to the Waterbank Park trail on the West side. And instead of riding back to the hotel directly, I stopped at the Portland Saturday Market before I reached the hotel. Good food and good art there.
It's easy to see why the Bicycling magazine picked Portland as No.1. with many bike path separated from traffic. And when you have to ride on the roads, they are actually quite bike friendly. And the signs are pretty good at helping cyclists to find their ways.

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