I used to bike commute from Alexandria, Virginia to (what felt like) the very top of Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, DC.
I’m especially sympathetic to those who navigate the crowded intersections of Georgetown. To give you a flavor of how welcome bike commuters are on some DC city streets, look no further than Twitter:
@ultrarunnergirl:
Old white guy as I whizzed thru intersection of Q St & Wisconsin:"That's a red light."
Me: "Actually, It's a GREEN ARROW." #cycling #dc
So after reading about friendlier biking cities like Davis, Boulder, and Minneapolis I decided to trade my Hertz card for a bike rental during a recent trip to Portland, Oregon. (Portland was rated as the #2 Bike-Friendly City by Bicycling Magazine)
Planning for the Trip
1. Maps
I ordered free bike/walk maps from Portland Bureau of Transportation. These maps gave great details like the location of bikeways, shared roadways, or places-to-be-avoided-at-all-costs.
2. Bike rental
I got bike shop recommendations from my friend Shannon Wilkinson, a Portland native who’s a cyclist and mountain climber. Shannon was training for Portland’s Reach the Beach ride, so I knew she would be a wonderful resource. She pointed me to 3 reputable shops, and I settled on Clever Cycles for their city touring bike complete with lock, loaner helmet, and panniers.
The Commute
I stayed in the Southeast section of Portland known as Hawthorne and my commute took me 5 miles north to the Alberta Arts District each day.
The Joys
Biking infrastructure
Portland has it all: bicycle boulevards, traffic-calming circles, bike boxes at intersections, well-marked bike lanes on shared roadways. The beauty of all of this infrastructure is that it was created before biking became big here - in fact, many cite the infrastructure as the reason for the growth in city bike commuters.
Safety
All that infrastructure provides a welcome container of safety.
The thing with city riding, or any riding that isn’t on a dedicated path, is that it needs to be safe in order to be widely adopted.
Otherwise, only the least risk averse will try it. This translates to mostly male, mostly in their 20s-30s.
To get the kids and women and grandparents on bicycles, make it safe.
As one of my favorite bicycle advocates, Mia Birk (@miabirk), recently tweeted:
”..the design spec should be: ‘so that parents let their 8-year old cycle there by themselves.”
Streets on a Grid
I am not familiar with Portland at all. In fact, during my last Portland trip I walked the mile from my hotel to the yoga retreat and didn’t venture much beyond that.
I was a bit nervous about getting lost or riding in treacherous traffic, but Portland’s numbered streets and predictable grid helped orient me whenever I veered off the planned route.
Savvy, Considerate Motorists
Maybe it’s the plethora of cyclists, maybe it’s the laid back west coast attitudes, but motorists in Portland gave wide berth and yielded the right of way as necessary.
Highway with an Overpass
The major obstacle in south-north travel was Highway 84, bisecting the city on the east side. Luckily there are multiple bike/pedestrian overpasses to carry walkers, strollers, and wheelchairs to the other side of the Banfield Expressway.
Delightful Weather
This was pure luck. According to The Portland Weather Blog, the city hasn’t seen 4 days in a row of warm, sunny weather since September. (for those who are counting, that’s 229 days) The sun gods were smiling and I arrived at my destination each day fresh and dry.
The Pace
The slower pace of bike riding helped me take notice of the beautiful bungalows and tree-lined streets - a much richer way of discovering the city.
Bike commuting for your next out-of-town trip
Highly recommended!
Jacquelyn Kittredge is a social media consultant who has a fondness for ice cream, m&ms and 80s music. When she is not biking in foreign cities, you can find her on her blog, e-bakery social media.
