After a wonderful 1 year stint in the amazingly bike-racing friendly area that is Athens, GA and the surrounding areas, my wife and I have chosen to relocate to Portland, Oregon. Heading west has been a life long goal of mine after spending 1 year in Berkeley, California chasing my dream of professional skateboarding at the age of 18 in 1991. It was a homecoming of sorts for my wife who is from SW Canada and grew up in Montana.

It is hard to believe that you can improve upon Athens, GA and the cycling Mecca that the SE has become, but our move to Portland has actually done just that. This is one of the most unique cities on the planet in far too many regards to go into here (see my blog for ongoing updates in my upcoming Portland column), but it is by far, one of the most cycling and pedestrian friendly cities in the world. People ride their bikes to do everything here. Whether its 35 degrees and raining or 85 with bright, blue skies, you will find throngs of people riding to work, running errands or just for pleasure at all hours of the day. With umpteen zillion bike lanes the size of freeways, riding around town is quite often easier and far more enjoyable than driving your car, not to mention much more environmentally responsible.

The cycling terrain here is amazing as well. With flats, hills, 5-20 minute climbs a plenty within 5-20 minutes of my front door and some of the best mountain biking within riding distance or a short drive, this is a cycling heaven. Especially once you get through the colder, wetter part of the year, which isn’t nearly as bad an those who have only heard about what it’s like here would have you believe. With a river gorge, the coast and the “desert” mountains within an hour and a half away from the center of the city, there are a wider range of choices for riding or anything else here than anywhere I have been thus far.

Last but not least, the racing scene is equally as lively here if not more so than any other area I have lived in. There are weekday group rides that leave right from downtown twice a week and team rides galore on the weekend. Racing start as early here as Feb 18th and runs straight through the end of August. There are a number of criterium, time trial and road race series locally as well as a full calendar of road, MTB, track and cyclo-cross racing in a state that has gone so far as to establish their own governing body separate from USA Cycling. Not to mention that USAT Nationals will be hosted here for the next 2 years.

Needless to say, there is no reason for anyone who likes to ride or race a bike to be bored or otherwise left out here in Portland and we are very glad we made the move westward. I look forward to each step of this new adventure we have embarked upon and I will be sure to keep you updated on all of the myriad aspects of it through my blog, newsletters and web site.

Thanks for tuning in. Until next time…

Live well and go for it,

JS