so i'm going to portland maine for a few days with my fam. we are interested in renting bikes and cruising around the city/waterfront - any suggestions as to good places to go? bike shops to check out?

ma, pa, and sis are all pretty cool, so galleries/record stores/coffeeshops are also welcome.

thanks!

for cool shopping factor, stay in the section called 'the old port'
it's right on the working waterfront. cyclemania is close to that.

they may rent bikes for ya.

bike shops


cyclemania, hard core roadies
back bay bike, everything....start here. they are on forest avenue
allspeed, hard core mtb


look up all these shops on google and mapquest...

gorham bike and ski, asswipes, stay away


ride along the coast starting in downtown portland and cross the bridge
to south portland and work the coastal roads all the way to old orchard beach.
one nice scenic ride. check out lighthouses and whatnot.

cape elizabeth head light is one cool place to ride and fly a kite
or frisbee

One of my best friends is from Portland, ME. I would recommend going to a Sea Dogs game and getting one of those ice cream biscuit deals that are amazing.

i will also be in portland next week thursday. but i am shipping my bike out since i will be in maine the 22nd through the 5th.

....and the pouring rain.

im praying that will be done with by the time i get there... the extended forcast looks alright so i can hope right??

P-town is awesome during the summer. The old port is good stuff. Check out granny's burritos for a decent meal and the coffee/book shop above bullmoose music is great. Bullmoose is sorta like the newbury comics of Maine and is pretty solid stuff. There's also amazing japanese all over the old port. Dunno about bike shops but get some lobster and enjoy.

right on, thanks for the suggestions.

I lived in Portland for a long time. Forget everything anybody has said about bike shops in Portland, the only one worth going to is the Bike Cycle at Bramhall square, talk to Percy the owner, he is awesome and usually has cool bikes to rent out.

As for things to do The White Heart just opened on Congress and is a good lounge, as is the Down Town Lounge, both love punk rock and good company, which also brings me to Norm, my old boss who is more punk rock than anyone I've ever met and has three american bistro/bbq joints in town just look for his name. There is no dearth of amazing restuarants but if you want sea food go to Street and Company on Wharf street, it is absolutly phenomenal, and you'll be hard pressed to find better sea food anywhere; also go find the Porthole on Custom House Wharf authentic dive has been a restuarant since like 1910 (they have a kick ass brunch).

For bars go to Bubba's on Portland st (sometimes know as park ave) on the night they throw a zodiac party or other show, it is the strangest bar. It has the Saturday Night Fever light up disco dance floor, and is filled with taxidermied animals and antiques, it opens at six in the morning for the alkies and for a long time was known as the place to get heroin. Amigo's in the old port is the local dive. I have spent many nights on the patio listening to stoner rock or bluegrass. Up on congress by the White Heart is Space the local gallery *** indie rock place, it can be a mixed bag, but they do get good shows in there. And no tour of Portland is complete without going to Geno's, the godfather of Portland punk died a few months ago, but his son JR now mans the bar at the new Geno's in an old porn theater where you can catch local rock and roll.

Yeah that about sums it up.
PS. My friends have a loft off congress by Bramhall square if you can find it or them you might get into an impromtu loft party.

Gritty's, Gritty's, Gritty's

Amen to that!


...and for amazing pizza, hit Flatbread Company.


RJ
(york harbor)

Everyone... great suggestions! Portland is one of my favorite cities (being from Maine and having so mch pride) and I'm glad to see that there are people on this thing that have had the experience. I second the Bullmoose. I think it's better than Newb's... but that's just my opinion. I was there in the during the Mem. Day weekend and found that there is a Manhattan Portage store there now... weird, huh? I talked to the guys who own the place (really nice guys)... and asked them "Why Portland, ME?" Apparently one of them is from there... and it was either there or Portland, OR. Interesting... if you want to check it out its right around the corner from Gritty's. All in all... with a good bike ride you should see most of the city. Again, I second the old port. Wow, this got me way too excited.

I was up there like a month ago, and there is some talk of a Portland alleycat, and I would mos def find a way back for that. If I find out more about that I'll post it.

The Bike Cycle is a hippie dump which is never open and has morons and weirdos
hanging about in the worst part of town. mucho suckage


stick to going to a decent, clean, no freaking drunks lying in the doorway shop
like back bay, cyclemania, or allspeed.

that is, if you care about clean and normal decency.


I know portland bike shops and have spent 22 years there and
also over $35,000 in bike stuff over the years. I know a little something
about bike shops. and the history of the original shops, which split
off and formed the different ones, the fire which destroyed cyclemania
and was rebuilt, and who's who and who now works at Belmont Wheel works and such.

and also the fastest riders in the state o maine...

I am 'in the loop'.


whatever. just show up, steal a bike, and ride around town.

There is no bad part of town, and you've clearly never gotten to know anyone that works at the Bike Cycle so shame on you for being prejudice.

**** YEAH! Definitely post... or even PM me if you find out more. I was thinkin' about organizing one from here... just for an excuse to ride in Portland like a "Maine-iac". Sweet ass.

Portland, ME alleycat?
yes please post.

**checkpoint #2 - y'ah cahnt get theyah from heeyah....

and didn't the place on Forest have like twelve bianchi pistas in the window for a while???

well shame on me then. I can never find the place open when all
other bike shops are open. If they are open at all, ever.

saw a nice writeup about Percy's place in a local rag the other
day, it must be an OK place, sounds ok, but I CANNOT support
a shop that is supposed to be open, and they ain't. or maybe I am
stupid by trying to stop by there during normal business hours.


and yes there are ****e parts of portland and the Bike Cycle sits right
at the top of a hill in which most streets below are your crack/meth/heroin/addictions


so there

Yeah Portland has some good bars. To keep it on subject (sort of), there's a nice waterfront MUP but I'm not sure how far it goes. We've only walked it for 2 or 3 miles.

Portland is a cool city. My wife and I usually head down there in the Fall when the rest of southern New England is in Vermont. For something different, there's the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Mmmm Gritty's. Check out space gallery and the state theatre for some decent shows as well. Anybody wanna put together a cat for sometime in the fall? Maybe even a winter cat?

Yeah, there are MUPs in some form or another that start by the water in Old Port and go all the way around the cove.