Bike City, U.S.A.

The American city with the highest percentage of bike commuters for a major metropolis is Portland, according to the Portland Board of Transportation.  Seven point two percent of the city's commuters peddle a bike to get to work.  No wonder Portland is called Bike City, U.S.A.

Tim and I are no longer in the workforce; we don't qualify as commuters. Still, we couldn't leave Portland without taking a spin on our bikes.  So we headed downtown to follow the Sellwood Bridge Loop.  We rode along the Willamette River, circling from the Waterfront Park over Steel Bridge to the Eastbank Esplanade and across the Tilikum Crossing Bridge to return to where we began.

With killer views of the Portland cityscape, the route enticed us to repeat the loop until our legs gave out.  Fortunately for us, we didn't have to dodge very many people.  The gray moody day kept most pedestrians away from this shared public space.

Beginning at the neon Portland Rose, repurposed from a former restaurant to adorn the headquarters of Portland's Rose Festival Foundation,

We passed the historic steam-powered tug moored on the Willamette River that is home to Oregon Maritime Museum,

Thumped and clunked our way through that model of multi-modal transportation, the Steel Bridge, the bike lane being on the lower strand,

Blew kisses at the Love Locks, those padlocks marked with hearts, dates and names that lovers have affixed to the Esplanade's grated crossing,

Sipped at a Benson Bubbler water fountain,

Traversed Tilikum Crossing, the "Bridge of the People," which only pedestrians, bikers and public transit may use,

And ended our ride at the Salmon Street Springs where children splashed and frolicked despite the upper sixty degree temperature of the day.

It was a great way to spend a day!