A Kitsapian Facebook friend made the trip to Portland for some "family time" and brought her bike along. I'm not sure how it all transpired, but I ended up offering to lead her around the town today. Deb was staying in Gresham and wanted to time the ride to Sunnyside. I decided to ride to the ride from Sellwood Park.
I got a good brisk 13 miles in on the way to meet Deb, rarely dropping below 20 mph.
I had never met Deb in person before, but recognized her right away.
We pedaled off toward Sunnyside under cloudy skies.
I knew the clouds were not wide spread as the sky was mostly blue at home this morning. By the time we reached Sunnyside they were beginning to break up.
After arriving in Sunnyside we talked a bit about what to do next and decided on a ride around Portland's 40 mile loop. We made our way back to the Springwater Trail and followed it to the Willamette River. By the time we reached the river the weather was just beautiful. We pedaled slowly along the Eastbank Esplanade so my guest could take in the sights.
We stopped at Widmer Brothers Brewing for lunch, we even sat outside in the sun! Following lunch we continued riding out to The Bluff overlooking the Swan Island industrial area.
It was fun seeing this route that is so well known by me through a visitor's eyes.
We turned onto the Peninsula Crossing Trail and leaving the Willamette River behind we rode toward the Columbia River.
Before reaching the Columbia we crossed the Columbia Slough. It's a slack backwater, but almost always provides some views of wildlife.
We arrived at the Columbia and followed it upstream toward I-5. It was a gorgeous day for pedaling.
We got on the Marine Drive path and rode past the Portland Airport. Deb comes from a flying family and enjoyed watching the planes flying low overhead.
We reached the Glen Jackson Bridge (I-205) and turned south. The climb up to Gateway was a bit tough for Deb. She was on her heavy Surly Trucker and we were nearing 50 miles of riding for her. We made it to the top, then rode through Maywood Park, the little city within a city.
We arrived at the Springwater Corridor and decided against a trip to Cartlandia, instead turning east and riding back toward Gresham.
Along the way we met Carol. Carol and Deb are Facebook friends but have never met in person. Carol had planned to ride with us today but missed the connection. It was fun to listen to these girls chatter like long lost friends.
After some time Carol had to leave for work, and Deb was anxious to get back home for dinner. We bid Carol goodbye and continued eastbound.
Arriving in Gresham, Deb and I bid each other adieu and went our separate ways, her to her daughter's house and me back to Sellwood Park.
It was a great day with nearly perfect weather. If you are going to show an out of town friend the sights, you couldn't have asked for better!
...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today.................86...........0..............0..........0..............86 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0............653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0............696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0.............900
June..............168...............0..............0..........0...........168 Total...........2924.............0...............0..........0.............2924
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