Portland, Oregon

Heading there this summer. What bicycle related things are there and what companies should I visit? Chris king etc?
Any tips on the place?

CK won’t let you in. Top secret apparently.

Ok. Anything else? Riding, drinking, eating?

I haven’t ridden in OR, but we travel in and out with some frequency. From what friends tell me there is a ton of good riding at about every level through most of the state.
Another plus is that you aren’t all that far from the coast and a drive up or down the coast from Cannon Beach is spectacular. I will email a friend who lives in OR to see if he has any ideas about especially good rides.

There was an article in the last/current issue of Dirt – I think that was outside of Portland – but sounded great

going too in September. Cannot *wait*.

My friend in OR doesn’t know the Portland area real well (lives a ways south in Eugene), but he talked to people he knows there and they suggested:
Tarbell Trail
Three corners rock trail
Larch Mountain Loop
Siouxan Creek Trail

All located just to the Northeast of Portland and along the Oregon/Washington border.

He forwarded me a link which identifies the trails and gives a brief description http://www.trails.com/activity.aspx?area=10169

Easily my favourite city on the planet – great place.

Can’t help on the biking front, but…

Drinking: Rogue Ales, Deschutes, Bridgeport, anywhere really – good beer is very easy to find!
Eating: Kenny & Zukes deli, Voodoo Donuts, Ringside Steakhouse.

spent a couple of months there last summer….

Awesome place!
weather is fantastic from mid june through to mid september
Portland itself is bike-mad, with loads of bike shops, cycle lanes everywhere, and the most courteous drivers possible.
Portland has the most breweries of any city in the world. Lots of the pubs have a microbrewery out the back and brew their own (mostly excellent) beer.
there are loads of small coffee houses everywhere serving great coffee.
Cost of living is similar to the uk.
There are some tracks on the west side of the river, but i didnt have an mtb in portland itself

If you get a chance head up to Bend, a outdoor pursuits haven about 2.5 hours inland. There are loads of trails around bend , a couple of good hire shops, and also a guiding company- sorry cant remember the name. There are also a few bike parks starting to appear at the ski resorts. Check out Mt. Bachelor as well.

Very jealous – would love to be going back!!

If you get the chance, head over to Bend. Miles and miles and miles of dusty trails, we stayed in a campsite which was good, they also had little huts if you won’t have camping gear.

Bend for the high desert and stop by Mt Hood on the way which opens it chair lifts to bikes in the summer.

And of course Vanilla Cycles.

i’ve never ridden there but Portland and OR in general were great when i visited!

Very jealous, would love to go. Bend is apparently where you need to be, but that is based an article I read a while back, so I am sure further research is a good plan.

Worth checking out mtbr.com – I have always found the forum helpful and full of useful information – scroll down on the forum pages to the state specific ones, here: Helpful Americans tell you about their local trails and probably other cool stuff[/url]

I posted prior to visits to Lake Tahoe and North Carolina on the relevant forums and got some good tips.

Portland is awesome.

Visit the Pearl, Hawthorne and Mississippi districts. Portland Art Museum, OMSI and http://www.orhf.org/. Loads of food carts. Niche bike shops and manufacturers. In Autumn the Arboretum is worth a visit.

Loads of bike paths and riding groups. http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/BIKEPED/pages/bike_map.aspx

Try and see the Columbia River Gorge, the Willamette Valley. Try and get out to the coast to Manzanita.

There are still some places left for http://www.cycleoregon.com/week-ride/

Top riding around Hood River, Bend, Sisters and Oakridge.

It’s a beautiful state. Its about the only place I’d move to if Scotland wasn’t also on the planet.

I tried to get into Chris King on some pathetic excuse of wanting to see the structural timber in their canteen ( I was over there doing some timber related work). They weren’t having any of it.

To add onto the other suggestions lists: Renovo bikes, take your pick of outstanding coffee shops, Alberta Street Last Thursdays if you’re around at the end of the month.

I’d move out to Oregon or Washington State tomorrow if they weren’t already full of forestry and timber professionals.

I forgot the World Forestry Centre up at the Arboretum. Its well worth a visit to have a go on the forest harvester simulator. 😀

World Forestry Center

Thanks people. Only taking a road bike but, sounds like I’m going to have fun!

Dont know about Portland but Bend is good – lots of good beer too..