Wauds bluff to Sauvie Island routing?
 

During the last weekend of Pedalpalooza, in June, I’m going to be in Portland for my annual alumni weekend. :hug: I’m thinking of riding from the University Park area (more accurately, the U. Portland campus) out to Sauvie Island on Saturday, for a picnic lunch, and then ride back.:ride:

Warning, there will be consumption of mass quantities of Widmer beer on Friday night. Followed by a probable lack of sleep. To be repeated on Saturday night.:beer:

Do any of our Rose City area correspondents, have any thoughts or routing advice? Google Maps routes me over the St. Johns Bridge, and along St. Helen’s road to the Sauvie Island Bridge. I seem to remember that the road up to the St Johns bridge on the west side is not the gentlest grade. Nor is the bike lane all that wide (once it starts). Granted, those memories are from driving it, not cycling it. Am I crazy for even trying this? Or am I likely to run into other riders who may have even less of a clue than I do? :innocent:

Well... I did part of that yesterday- up and over the St. Johns Bridge from the east. I've done the climb from St. Helens Rd. to the west end of the St. Johns Bridge and it's kind of narrow and steep, but not unpleasantly so. I didn't use my granny gear on it, so it ain't htat bad. The nice thing about going eastbound is that you start near the top of the bridge and head downhill. Westbound is mostly climbing on the bridge- I had my eye on my rear view the whole way. All the cars moved over, although some didn't go all the way into the other lane. Grrr....

google maps is pretty accurate unless you prefer to go into the downtown area greely to interstate, over the broadway and down to front ave. which is pretty far out of the way. A good low geared bike and just find your groove and tractor on is the smartest approach. I used to commute daily over the SJ bridge, and Jeff is pretty accurate.I rarely took the lane on the bridge going uphill,preferring to take the sidewalk until the crest of the bridge,where I took the lane so I could position myself for whatever lane I needed. And you can get some good speed downhill on the road as opposed to the too narrow and often busy sidewalk...( thanks for nothing Oregon Dept of Transportation!).
I have not had any roadrage etc going over the bridge,but with 4 10ft lanes and no shoulder or extra space,its pretty intimidating, esp with the large number of freight trucks using the bridge.
Someday, someday, we at npgreenway hope to have a bike/ped path cantilevered on the railroad brige, from Willamette Cove to NW St Helens Rd. Until then, just suck it up on the SJ Bridge.Its still an inspiring ride!
btw... I met you at the Tweed Ride... perhaps we might link up and do that ride together... i had you as a contact on facebook,but since I ditched FB, heres my email.. my user name at gmail

I thought that user name was you, Joe. I'm planning on bringing my new Surly Long Haul Trucker for this trip. Sorry, no tweed this time. The reunion's theme is Hawaiian Luau. But maybe I'll see you around the neighborhood while there. If you see this rig, say 'Hi'.