Weblog: Portland Cycle Tour: Svensen > Portland
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The hay barn was a great place to sleep. The hay made a very comfortable bed, certainly more comfortable than a thermarest. There were some animals (probably rats) in the ceiling that were making some noise, especially at dawn and dusk, but otherwise no problems.
I left just after dawn, continuing east along US 30. Unfortunately, the highway, despite following the Columbia River, was quite far inland and didn't offer any views, until I got to the hill above Rainier, which provided a spectacular vista of the river and the industry along it. The stretch of highway from Raineer to Columbia City (just before St. Helens) is my favorite so far, going through fields, along streams, through lovely woods, and past a nuclear power plant. I also finally saw another bikepacker on this stretch, the first I've seen in the whole trip. I had second breakfast at a spot with lots of blackberrie, so my oatmeal was much more flavourful than usual.
Once I got near Portland, I started seeing a lot of racing cyclists on the road. I asked a couple who passed me going up a hill if there were any places to camp between here and Portland, because I didn't think the hostel would have any space, it being a long weekend. They said no, but I could probably find a place on nearby Sauvie Island (about 10mi west of Portland on US 30), which I passed a few minutes later. I decided to continue anyway, until I found a place with a pay phone. Soon I did, and it turned out the hostel did have space, and in addition I could pitch my tent in the backyard for a discount (ontop of the $3 discount for being a bicycle tourist).
Aside from a couple of big hills near the start, the route today was quite flat and I had some nice tailwinds, so I made good progress, until I got into Portland. Before I hit the city, my average was 13.2 mph, but it was down to 12.8 when I reached the hostel. The highway first goes through a big industrial and railway area, and then suddenly I found myself on a freeway on-ramp. My map of Portland (on the back of a map of Oregon) was totally insufficient for a cyclist, but it combined with the maps in my Lonely Planet finally got me into downtown, passing through Pearl and the Old Town. I was quite amazed by Pearl, which is a warehouse/light industrial area but is really beautiful, with many trees along the roads. I was amazed by the whole downtown, actually, I've never seen such a clean, beautiful city. Unfortunately, I didn't know the best ways to cycle, and Portland is definitely a city that's friendly to bikes if you're on the right road, but it can be very difficult if you're not, especially because of the light rail tracks on some of the roads.
The hostel is on the other side of the Wilamette River, and I knew I had to find the Hawthorne bridge, but that was made especially difficult by a big music festival going on at the waterfront. Once I did find it, the going was easier, I just crossed it on the well indicated, wide bike paths (complete with special signage and a well designed bike lane at the exits so that cars would yield to bikes, something I wish Vancouver would do) and continued up Hawthorne to the hostel. The first part of Hawthorn is not much to look at, being a light industrial area, but the area where the hostel is, is full of beautiful character homes and is a great, diverse, neighborhood.
The Portland Hawthorne Hostel (one of two hostels in the city) itself is in a character home, and is quite small (just the right size). It has an eco-roof, which is a vegetated roof designed to reduce water runoff, filter pollutants, and reduce temperatures. It's the kind of place I feel at home in right away, which is quite unlike most hostels. It cost me $13 a night to stay there. I didn't have to make my own dinner, because some other guests who were leaving the next day had too much food and offered me the extra. After a week of a mostly carbohydrate diet with less fresh vegetables than I would have liked, their all-veggy vegetarian meal was very much appreciated.
I noticed that in Oregon and parts of Washington (Raymond, specifically), you see "buy local" stickers everywhere. It seems to be a much bigger movement here than it is in Canada. In fact, so far most of the US I have travelled through seems less American than Canada, and it's hard to imagine that this is in the country that voted (or didn't) Bush in for president.
The weather was sunny but cool in the morning, and got hot in the afternoon.
Distance: 139.27km today,
674.85km total;
Average Speed: 20.6km/h;
Time: 06:46:38
Posted
on
Sun, 31 Aug 2020
at
Portland,
OR,
US
(altitude 49m)
(map/google earth)
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