Introductions - Another Oregonian!

Hey Everybody, my name's Ron and I'm from Portland, OR. I've been riding for a good number of years now. I even spent a few years trying to make a living in the bicycle business.:rolleyes: Nowadays I'm a La-Z-Boy salesman and father of two that rides when he can.
My stable consists of only two bicycles. My mountain bike is a Bontrager Titanium that has a hand picked (scrounged) set of parts. I'm a firm believer Mr. Bontrager's frame building ideas and am a hardtail rider tried and true! I spent a season or two on a full suspension bike but returned to the hardtail and never looked back.
My other bike is a Koga-Miyata World Traveller. I bought a bare frame and have built this one up fairly traditionally with bar-end shifters and cantilevers. I use Ritchey Cyclocross tires and ride this bike everywhere! It's my road bike, my commuter bike and I just love riding it on trails too!
There are too many good trails in the PNW to list a favorite but I'd have to say my favorites are: The Molalla trail network at the Hardy Creek Trailhead, Surveyors Ridge/Dog River, and the Lewis River Trail. My most ridden trail would have to be Powell Butte in SE Portland.
Being a retail slave, I mostly ride during the week, especially on tuesday and wednesday. If you're interested in going for a trail ride on one of those days, give me a post!

Ron

Welcome Ron! as i guess you already know there are lots of Oregonians here - particularly from Portland.

yeah, Surveyors Ridge/Dog River is one of my all-time favorites. do you ride Dog River uphill too? it's the best!

and for in the city Powell Butte ain't bad (i actually rode Forest Park more often once or more a week actually)

unfortuantely i haven't been in Portland since December 2000 and haven't lived there since July 2000... the Alps are great riding too so it's not all bad, but i miss Portland too!

So i've heard the NW streetcar is less cool than expected...
and when will North/South light rail ever be done (i attended a bunch of the planning meetings after the failed vote for the FULL Vancouver north/south project in 1999 (or 98?) or whenever that was)

Nathank,

Sorry to hear that Portland lost a cyclist! Yea, this is a really cool place to live, especially for us two wheeled types.
I don't really follow the great mass-transit debate here. It really seems to get people riled up though. I don't think (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that they've reached a decision about the Vancouver routing of MAX. They have completed construction of a line that runs from Stark street up to the airport. That line has been reported to be a good one. I saw a few months ago where a coyote boarded on of the trains :p They had a bit of a time getting him to pay his fare!
Ron

fattiresire,

welcome to the forums. soon us oregonians are going to out number the people from washington on this board (seems to be alot of them). being new to mtbing i have never heard of lewis river trail could you give me a little info please.

fattiresire,

well, IF i ever come back to the US, it will be either Portland or Boulder... but living in Europe is pretty cool and the Alps are great for mountain biking (as well as climbing and skiing and other mountain sports)... but i miss Portland and the people a lot - i really miss the overwhelming environmental and nature conservation attitude of Portland

yeah, that's good about the Airport MAX - that's an important link and i always hated either driving or taking the shuttle or MAX/bus to the airport...
and no as far as i know there is no resolution for the Vancouver North/South link, but i was asking if the basic North/South rail from N Portland going through the trucking area and then through downtown and then south is completed (or under construction or what)

Lewis River Trail:

well, i've actually never ridden it and maybe someone who's still in Oregon can give a better answer. but i'm pretty sure it's in SW Washington near Mt St Helens and is supposed to be one of the best in the area...

other good trails i know:
** 3 corner rock (SW Washington)
** Brown's Camp (Tillamook Forest - many other names like David's Camp too i think) -- along the main hwy (forgot the number, but from Portland to Tillamook) there is a brown sign for either "Brown's" or "David's" camp. then there is a parking lot on the souht side of the road (also a motocross trailhead) and a main loop of about 8 miles plus a few extentions of 4 and 4 miles. on the other side of the road the trail continues and goes mostly downhill to another trailhead (previously unnamed but that was 2 years ago). from this trailhead there is also another trail that was built in 1999/2000 by PUMP that i rode just after it was done -- this one has more climbing and [was] much rougher
** Clakamas River trail (OR along the a ways river east of Portland) it's cool except runs the most of the way alongside a 20-50ft cliff so you have to "bail" by throwing yourself on the ground (non-cliff-side) if you are about to fall.
** Dod Rive/Surveyor's Ridge - just east of Mt Hood
** Mission Trail - SE of Hood River
** 7 streams - SW of Hood River

tons of trails near Bend - like one near Smith Rock (forgot name), plus some quite a few around Mt Bachelor -- too many to list

fattiresire;) ,

Glad to hear of a fellow Oregonian on the boards. I understand about having to create times to ride. I work in the medical field and sometimes, demand is high. I myself have never ridden the routes you have talked about. I have ridden to Multnomah falls and the Sandy river bridge from roughly 92nd and foster. I started riding 4 months ago to rehab my kne after surgery. I really enjoy it a lot!!

Do you belong to any clubs? I don't and was wondering about them.

Have a GREAT ride!!
:D

Filark

Be careful that we don't let the secret out. No everyone, Portland really sucks, you wouldn't want to move here. Try Boulder maybe.
There is one really noteworthy, non-race team oriented riding club in Portland, its PUMP (Portland United Mountain Peddlers) I've known lots of great folks that ride together under that banner. You can find them on Yahoo or at the club site.
I just got home from a brief afternoon ride up on Powell Butte. Great local singletrack for the close in SE rider.
Tuesday and/or Wednesday afternoon or evening I try to get up there. It's close in and if I get the rare chance to ride, that's where I head.
Sometimes I ride Forest Park. That's a great place to do longer distance mtb rides. It sometimes feels more like a road ride.
Enjoy the fall, the rains are a brewing!

Hey fattiresire,
Good to know your in the SE area. I go to Powell Butte to draw sometimes. The view on a clear day is very nice.
I'm going to be in the market for a mtb. I had a dept store bike and I going to upgrade. I just got my peugeot back. A friend adn I were doing some major overhaul work to it. Now It rides like a dream.
Have a Great ride,
filark

Portland, its PUMP (Portland United Mountain Peddlers) I've known lots of great folks that ride together under that banner

jeah, PUMP is a cool group and i did a fair amount of rides and stuf with them - is Jerry still active in leading rides?

another "loose" group is the Fat Tire Farm rides - (my info is from 2000 so may have changed) - there were a few different rides: Thursday night is the "fast" ride. they meet at Fat Tire Farm (at NW 26th and Thurmon) and leave at 6:30pm and ride Forest Park for about 3 hours. back in 1999/2000 it was mostly XC sport and expert class riders - usually between 20 and 40 in the summer and then 10-20 thru say November... not sure if it still goes on b/c Dereck, one of the main organizers moved to China last year...