erpdat

So, I'm thinking about moving up to Portland next month.
I know its very flat and cycle-friendly, but what's it like riding in harsh winter conditions?

I'd be selling my car, that's why I ask..

MondoDave

https://www.bikeforums.net/texas/394238-austin-portland.html

idegen

Harsh winter conditions?

jeanHTX

I've visited Portland with the Boy, not ridden there. I WANTED to, but it was so damn rainy Keep in mind though, even though it's so rainy/overcast all the time, you still see a LOT of cyclists on the street. I'm assuming it takes some getting used to.

I hear summers are usually perfect weather, so maybe that could help ease you into the fall/winter, etc.

PedallingATX

Flat? Are you serious?

Portland may not be as hilly as, say, San Fran, but it has a fair amount of hills. I would not classify it as a "flat city" by any stretch of the imagination. It is definitely cold as hell in the winter and rainy. So that sucks. Other than that it's a great cycling city Lots of b ike leanes, etc.

jeanHTX

I will also mention that Portland is VERY bike friendly. Even more so than Austin (which is where I live) and I only mention this because they are "sister cities." If Portland had Austin weather (minus the 100+ in the summers), I would move there in a heartbeat.

But srsly, every cyclist I ever saw had a plastic bag over their seat, fenders and lots of water resistant clothing. Like I said, the weather doesn't seem to affect them. also, I don't think Portland is as a flat city... but Pedalling took care of that

Scratcher33

Also, don't move there if you want one of those "job" thingies. They're hard to come by in all of Oregon and even more-so in Portland now that people from all over are migrating there...that said, if I can transfer at my work, I might move there in a few months.

Scratcher33

Oh yea, you'd definitely need to frame-save that Pake.

adriano 

i almost took a job in austin this summer. it would have been fun to ride there!

JoeEasy

huh? there are jobs up there, people just have lower their high standards (not every 'artist' can get a design job). fast food, janitorial, landscape, call center, warehouses.....all real jobs that will pay you real money even if you don't have any other skills than talking on a phone. you can get a job, you just have to look. i feel like it is a lot (not everyone) of the hip young 20 somethings that say that they can't find a job need to look harder then just on hawthorne and both buffalo exchange's and stumptown. these were the same people that were "looking" a year ago.....now they just have a somewhat better excuse to be jobless.

adriano 

they need real jobs.

JoeEasy

that is a little tooo real unless they are doing it for irony

adriano 

perfect.

PluperfectArson

Pfft, it was pouring the other week, and I was riding around sans fenders and plastic bag. My jacket and backpack are waterproof, but that was it, and it was all so I could ride out to SE to pick up a stem. Then, I rode all the way to NE from SE taking 20th to go to my friend's.

Soaked? Definitely. Fun? Hell yeah!

Portland is fun.

We have rides with hills:
https://www.erikv.com/blog/index.cfm/...25/De-Ronde-09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbvQqssD_jI

jeanHTX

YEA you shoulda taken it. If you ever decide to drop by though, just to chill for a weekend, we should ride. PedallinATX and I would be down to chill.

jesus christ, that's mad. I'm just a wimp with riding when it's wet out, plus, I'm always wearing tank tops, or too-see-through shirts.

PluperfectArson

Too-see-through? No such thing!

I was also wearing shorts on that trip, haha. I rode way more that day than I intended to, since I am a failure at directions and was lost quite a bit. I left my house at 15.00, did not reach the guy's house until almost 17.30.

EDIT: I usually do not ride when it is pouring like it was that day, but I really just wanted to ride my bike for some reason. It felt good, though.

Saberhead

Jeanatx-Im pretty anxious riding in the rain too, take if from another pacific northwest resident.
I've heard getting a job in pdx is super hard, but if you can do it, people seem to like living there. I personally like Seattle more, but..thats why I live here. It's gonna be a hard switch to Philly...

adriano 

i think that around the time youll come here seattle will just be getting warm and philly will be smoking.

TheDL

Portland is flat? Compared to what...San Francisco?

jeanHTX

lol, ^ that.

Saberhead

oh yeah. I remember when I went there last summer around July...Seattle was just starting to get in the 70's and when I hit Philly it was insanely hot. It's ok, my skin has been lacking vitamin D for three years.

erpdat

frame-save? what do you mean exactly?

when i call it a flat city, im comparing it to san diego.
and as for working a crappy job in a warehouse, as a janitor, etc..
that's about all that is available here.. so i might as well do it somewhere cheaper and more fun.

over-qualified for all those positions but then again, i guess that's where a college degree comes in handy.

TheDL

It's a spray that coats the inside of your steel frame to fight rust. It rains a lot in Portland...some say.

First chance you get you should sign up for the Portland Century. I did it 44Tx16t SS, good times.

____asdfghjkl

"harsh winters"
lots of rain.
and ice
every four years we might get a snow storm.

monkeywithacold

Hahaha harsh winters.

I moved from Portland to Minneapolis.

Winter in Portland seems like a dream now.