Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - PORTLAND, OR: Where/what to ride around town?

I'm heading out to Portland for Thanksgiving (Nov. 23-26), and I think the difference between being really bored and having a good time (as it often is) is a bike.

Where should I go around town? Any paths, fixed-centric shops, etc, that I should definitely hit?

Are there any shops/co-ops that rent bikes other than mountain bikes or cruisers cheaply? I don't need anything fancy at all, but road frames are just way more comfortable, IMO. I'd love to borrow a fixed-gear from someone if you've something you wouldn't mind lending, or even buy your rusty old Varsity for $10.

So, really, I'm seeking any suggestions of what to do in town.

Oh, and BFFGMG2K5FKINGAWSMCHIRULZDCPIRTZJNNYCYLESSPKSCNSDSNR, just so I'm not off-topic today.

I'll also be in Portland for Thanksgiving week/end.
You should check out Velo Shop www.veloshop.org/shop.php which is downtown and has tons of fixed stuff. Also City Bikes (one on 8th and Ankeny, the other on 20th and Ankeny on the east side) is a good place to check out. The one on 8th rents bikes for pretty cheap, the one on 20th has bins full of used parts that's fun to dig through.
There's another shop downtown on the light rail line that has a lot of higher end fixed stuff.. I can't remember the name right now. it's been a while.
let's ride!

best fixed-gear shop in town: http://www.bike-central.com
Molly might hook you up on rental: http://www.veloshop.org
good shop - rentals: http://www.citybikes.coop/index.htm

paths... there are alot here... a good one it this path called "the eastbank esplanade"
it runs north - south along the river, and goes through our down town... down by the omsi museum and by oaks bottom (wild life) then to sellwood, and across the bridge to the downtown side... along the waterfront and into the city... one big loop. its smooth, bike lanes... weekends are a bit hectic but with the current weather.... who knows!

try to make it to Powell's books for a good bike path map.

try to make it to Powell's books for a good bike path map.

Try to make it to powell's, period.

If you have any interest in printed material of any sort, it's worth reserving a full afternoon for wandering around powells.

Ahhhh Portland. I spend a winter living on SW Broadway and it was heaven. Wet heaven. But rain or shine, almost every night I would get out of work at the MAC and ride up Broadway, up the hills to Council Crest Park. Then scream, and I mean stupid fast, down SW Vista. Road bike, gears and whatnot, but if you want to go scary speed check it out.

Try to make it to powell's, period.

If you have any interest in printed material of any sort, it's worth reserving a full afternoon for wandering around powells.

I will definitely be checking out Powell's...my mother and my sister can't say enough good things about it.

let's ride!

I'm in! Are you bringing a rig out there, or are you looking to set something up as well?

Molly sent a very nice reply to an email, but she's got nothing to rent. She recommended Veloce, who I've emailed, but I'm not too optimistic, because their rental page is pretty forboding, and just says "road bikes only" and "$80/3 days" which is, yknow, probably enough to buy something and hand off to a homeless guy on my way to the airport. If Portland has homeless guys.

I posted something on Portland CL, so we'll see if that goes anywhere, but after the Meet & Greet, I'm all about keeping it in the BF family.

If you get desperate I've got an old Mikado converted fixed size 52 with epoxied cog, semi crusty old tires and not so comfortable chopped and flipped handlebars you can use if you want. It's actually pretty fun to ride.

And yeah, the ride out to Sellwood on the Springwater Corridor path is nice.
My favorite riding in town, though, is either just around downtown, or up and down the designated bike route streets on the East side like Salmon, Lincoln, Clinton. Neighborhoods worth checking out are Belmont, Clinton, Alberta, Mississippi...
Also remember you can take your bike onto any lightrail train, and all buses have a rack on the front for 2 bikes.
As for shops, Bike-central, Veloshop, and Citybikes are definitely worth checking out.

Shops like the others said: Veloshop has that vegan thing going on, carries parts mostly. Bike-Central has all the bling fixie stuff... a few Nagasawas, some crazy keirin jerseys, etc. City bikes is the usual co-op with bins of stuff.

Grab a map and just tool around, there's lots to see although this late in the year I'd say couple that with lots of food stops, there will be lots of places with good warm soups, etc.

If I wasn't 90 miles south I'd come up for a ride, hopefully the weekend will be dry and cold rather than wet and cold.

I'm not too social but I've got a few roadbikes in 53 kicking around. heavy but ridable. pm me if interested. Whatever you do, bring a solid (no cable) lock with you and use it - we're in the midst of a serious rash of bike thefts.

If you want a real ride, riding up mt scott blvd and then south to carver and up on gronlund all the way back to oregon city is a sweet ride, and then from oregon city back to portland on oatfield/17th. It's about 30 miles loop if you are leaving and coming back to sellwood. It's not a lot of bike lanes but low traffic roads.

No one's mentioned Washington Park yet in Northwest Portland. Lot's of Sequioas, and hillsides carpeted with ferns. There's also a remarkable Japanese garden in the park that's worth the $6+ admission. If you're in that neighborhood, west of 23rd Avenue, there are lots of interesting streets that wind their way up into the hills. I used to live near 23rd and Lovejoy, and I would spend hours just tooling around the back roads out that way.

Mount Tabor park is another nice destination. It's near the east end of Hawthorne Blvd. It's an "extinct" volcano. There's a road that goes up to the summit, and there's a quaint little park at the top.

If you're a runner, then by all means bring your running gear too. There are some beautiful trails that take you through Forest Park and Washington Park.

Thanks to everyone for the tips and the offers...a guy at a shop (The Recyclery) responed to my Craigslist post and is going to hook me up with some as-yet-unnamed fixie for the weekend.

Knifefight and I were talking about this Poker Ride on Sat, anyone else interested?
http://www.graveltech.com/archives/2005/11/thanksgiving_po.html

tugboat brewery. it makes my tastebuds happy! http://www.d2m.com/Tugwebsite/home.htm

I will be there (PDX) for Thursday and Friday also.. unfortunately my bike is out of commision at the moment.

Knifefight and I were talking about this Poker Ride on Sat, anyone else interested?
http://www.graveltech.com/archives/2005/11/thanksgiving_po.html

I might have to get up there for that... sounds like a good time.

Here's a good calendar of all things biking going on...
http://calendar.shifttobikes.org/index.cgi?start=1132441321&group=34

The Sunday fixed gear rides at River City are pretty sweet. I went a while ago and I think I remember a lot of spandex, but it was fun, and you'll see a lot of the city. Poker ride should be cool too.

EDIT: For a good map, most shops have these "portland by bicycle" ones for free. I think Powell's has them too.

I third the rec for the Portland by Bicycle maps, they're great, but get a road map too since the bike map doesn't list all the street names.

Sounds like you already have a bike lined up, but Veloce does rent Breezer 7-spd "city bikes." Not fixed or even close, but useful for cruising around if nothing else comes up. City Bikes rents but when we visited in March, we returned their rickety bikes after a day and rented Breezers from Veloce for the rest of the week.

Mt Tabor offers a vigorous, well-graded hillclimb with an amazing view, and there's a plethora of eats, coffee, and/or beer on Hawthorne/Belmont/Clinton for before or after.

Cr****** M*** is on friday.

I'll be back in Portland for my break from school. Let's ride!!!

PM me for my phone number.

Here's a bike map of Portland. (PDF)

Bike Map (http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=70235)

Some other local bike maps on this page

More bike maps (http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=34809)

Compliments of my former employer, the Portland Office of Transportation.... your tax dollars at work :rolleyes:

Dogbait

hit powell's, and on wednesday my favorite place is capt. ankeny's well on...SW 2nd ave...no, 3rd, just off burnside, for beer and pizza. on the northeast corner of broadway and burnside, i think, is sushi takahashi (good sushi at good prices) and a bar right next door with cheap ass drinks. i would leave out that it's a gay bar and see what you had to say about that, but, meh.

go to powell's, and spend any free time riding. even if you have nowhere to go, it'll be a fun ride and you'll find cool things everywhere. one ride i like is to just follow the max yellow line all the way to the convention center. i suck at street names no matter what city i'm in, but i think that's columbia out there, and if you ride that out further, you'll see some nature area.

i also don't know why i actually remember this intersection name, but yeon and kittridge--the bnsf northwet hub is out there, so lots of freight trains, if you like watching those.

i've been gone for almost six months now, so you should double check these locations before you decide to go or not.

my best advice is just ride and explore. you'll find something fun. wish i was going back there with you. have fun.

So this ride is mostly for fat, spandex clad grandpas and young parents with kids in tow, but riding around Sauvie's Island is kind of fun. Its quiet and there are cows. What more do you need.

As far as bike shops... City bikes is always cool. Also check out Sellwood Cycles (http://www.sellwoodcycle.com/). I don't know if they rent but it's a cool shop to visit. They sell exclusively used bikes and sometimes they've got some cool stuff in there.

I give a thumbs down to those jerks at veloce. Those elitest f**ks can kiss my hairy arse.

I'm gonna be there this weekend. Maybe I'll see you around town.

PS that spring water trail is pretty OK. Here's a picture of a section of it. The weather won't be this nice next weekend though.

Knifefight and I were talking about this Poker Ride on Sat, anyone else interested?
http://www.graveltech.com/archives/2005/11/thanksgiving_po.html

jonny pockets and i will be there.

Springwater on the willamette = nice 3 mile flat route with some pretty scenery.

Springwater trail the rest of it (that I've ridden, which is about out to 200th) = teh suck with high pressure skinny tires.

Hell yeah, i'm excited.

BFFGMG2K5FKINGAWSMCHIRULZDCPIRTZJNNYCYLESSPKSCNSDSNR, just so I'm not off-topic today.


holla (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chimblysweep/65709049/)

poker ride...nothing better than bars on thanksgiving weekend. i'll be there.

jonny pockets and i will be there.

Sweet, I'll be seeing you.

I got in last night, picked up the loaner and rode around till three. See you guys at the poker ride. It's a pink ss.

is the Poker Ride a race?

Doesn't look like it from what I can tell...more like a bar crawl. Although you do get a spoke card. So I guess it's up in the air.