The first of the month came around and I continued work on the Pedalworks shop space while operating the business at the same time. New bike racks, a storage loft, shelves etc… This project was a big push for me because of my continuing full time day job. (rarely mentioned in this blog)  The first week of this month was a string of all nighters, trying to finish construction during closed hours. I took a break for bike polo on the 6th and the 8th brought another Small Business Development session. The meeting topics were about Google business listings and e-commerce – something I am still working on.

After moving the rest of the rental gear in to the shop over the next week, I worked to finish the business listing and had great success. On the 11th I updated a free business listing on the Willamette Week website classifieds section and rented a couple of single speed bikes to some visiting ladies from England.

May 12-15th NW Discoveries Oregon Cycling Trip

On May 12th I  started working a NW Discoveries/ Elder-hostel bike guiding trip, visiting some great bike paths and state parks in the region. After outfitting the 10 participants with bikes and helmets we started our journey right there and left downtown to ride South on the East bank Esplanade. Connecting with the Sellwood Corridor, we rode West to visit Crystal Springs Park. This park has a beautiful Rhododendron Garden with waterfalls and bright colors. Cruising through the campus of Reed College, we saw beautiful craftsman homes and carefully manicured gardens before heading back towards the city. In the Evening I gave a workshop on simple bike adjustments and maintenance. ( I still think regular cleaning is 1/2 of bike maintenance).

The 13th arrived and we piled in the van to visit Multnomah Falls on our way to ride the Mojer tunnels on the Historic Colombia River Highway. This is an old stretch of partially paved trails and roads that has become a renovation project that is truly massive. The old highway is the road that traved along the Colombia River East to West  between Portland and Hood River. The road was used  in to the early 1900’s when cargo trucks became to large to navigate the narrow road and dark blasted tunnels.

Years have been spent engineering and saving the old road from erosion and collapse due to its position on the steep slopes of the Colombia River Gorge. Recently renovated- the “mojertunnels” were part of the highway infrastructure, but were partially filled in when the road was closed. Years later the tunnels have been re-excavated and now are an ideal place to take a nice ride along this beautiful river. Beautiful views of Washington State and nearby mountains like Mt. Adams, St. Helens, and Rainier, can be seen along this ride and there are many wildflowers in the summer months.

After a nice ride, we made a side trip to explore the Bonnevile Dam and Fish Hatchery. After a lesson on the dam’s history and creation, we saw “Herman the Sturgeon” at the fish tanks and had a nice picnic lunch on the grass.

On May 14th we took clients on the Marine Drive Bike Path. This path skirts the Colombia River as well but much closer. The trail runs parallel but below the highway that gives access to the Portland International Airport and the 205 bridge crossing. Several miles of beautiful scenic paved path and a couple State Parks grace this area, and the scene is nice and quiet considering the nearby highway and airport. We saw a great blue heron on this ride and pointed out landmarks that Lewis and Clark may have seen and used to describe the environment here while exploring the area. There is lots of Native American history along the Colombia River and we enjoyed learning more about their settlements while visiting Chinook Point Park. A nice ride up to Blue Lake and a dash around the small community of Interlachen carried on the afternoon as we rode back towards the river. I provided a commuting workshop in the evening and covered topics like: equipment, winterizing your bike, appropriate clothing, and navigational resources.

May 15 arrived and we piled in the van again to drive to Champoeg State Park.

We pedaled a nice rural farm route that gave us a taste of the countryside and local lifestyle here. Lots of hops growing and the usual grains, we even got to stop by a nursery and take some photos of the many varieties of roses there. After lunch, we continued on to ride more of the park and the awesome bike paths provided there. We pedaled through history as we reached the very point that the first Oregon settlers voted on creating a local government and writing the United States to request Statehood. A nice shady lane took us to a small ice cream shop – and the participants relaxed as we loaded the bikes back on top of the van and headed back to the city.

On May 16th and 17th I had the shop open for rentals and worked most of the days catching up on bike maintenance. There was a great Dropouts bike club ride down to the Sellwood area that may or may not have ended up with a moon-lit beach pedal.

May 19th I volunteered to lead a Pedal Potluck Picnic ride for the Urban Adventure League, and planned a route through the Alberta Arts district.  We used bicycle boulevards to end up at King School Park, a nice grassy knoll with picnic tables and a covered area.  I met the founder of Bikes to Rwanda and had a great evening visiting with neighbors.

May 20th I played Bike Polo with the Axles of Evil and on

May 21st I had some of my first service work at the new shop space for brake instillation and some misc. repair. More bike rentals and maintenance daily.

May 22nd we had one of the first Bicycle Business Alliance meetings (would become Bicycle Business League) at the Portland Development Commission building across from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. The meeting got some Bikeportland.org coverage that was nice and a lot of good connections were made. Bike shop open the rest of the day.

May 23rd and 24 Th. I had the shop open regular hours and had bike rentals and service customers stop by.

May 26th was a World Naked Bike Ride planning meeting and I volunteered to facilitate free bike loan and repair for the event. We covered details for many upcoming June events including my role as set-up coordinator for the Multnomah County Bike Fair and what some of the Pedalpalooza rides might look like.

On May 27 Th. I played another game of Bike Polo and on

May 29th had the shop open for a long day of bike rentals and repair. In the morning we had another Bicycle Business League meeting at Alta Planning and Design and we talked about the organization time line, creating a mission statement, by laws, and details like domain names. I placed a large Cyclone order for more supplies for the Pedalworks shop and checked out the new Zoobomb Pyle dedication party.

Sat May 30th was “ride your bike to the Farmers Market day” and I volunteered to lead a ride from my neighborhood (Irving Park) down to City Hall to Join with Mayor Sam Adams and the ride he was leading for the final stretch up to the PSU Farmers Market.

What a great day. With a few participants, we rode and collected others on our way to the vibrant commerce space that is the market. When we met up with the Mayor, the group grew to 40 or more. After a bit of veggie shopping, I left the market with the Mayor and we rode back towards Old Town talking about bike tours and such, then he invited me to join him and his co-workers in the Rose Parade. I had the shop open the rest of the day and had some rentals and maintenance work.

Sunday May 31st, I had the shop open regular hours and worked on installing handlebar bags on some of the bikes and caught up with some signage and promotional materials that I had been putting off. I noticed a nice Yelp Review showed up about Portland Bicycle Tours, somebody that really liked the Portland Rose Garden Tour.