bike adventure #34

i recently received a notice in the mail announcing that my burning man tickets were returned to the post office due to lack of signature upon delivery. this means the ticket is up by mall 205 on 104th avenue. for those not familiar with portland it gets pretty gnarly past 60th avenue. 82nd is a terrible strip of big business, rotting garbage, and zrooming cars.

but! i needed my ticket, so i geared up and rode my ass up there today. giant semis were flying by me left and right. it was terrifying. the bike lane was full of gravel, broken glass, and metal car parts that must have dislodged during transit. once i got past I-205 i immediately got lost. the grid system that makes portland so easy to ride through disappeared into massive construction sites, massive blocks of ugly businesses, one way streets, and giant vehicles.

i asked a woman unwrapping a 'lunch-able' for her screaming child sitting in the child safety seat installed in her four runner where the post office was, and she said, "it shares the parking lot with the village inn." everything is surrounded by massive amount of parking. to be honest i bet there is more parking than actual businesses up there. i rode across a 4 lane one-way street without being scathed, and escaped into the warmth of the post office. the lady told me i was in the wrong place and directed me to drive this way and that to find the other location. this was funny to me because i was wearing a helmet at the time, and people wearing helmets don't drive (if they do, that's crazy!). i adventured back into the insane traffic, and was repeatedly foiled by giant black metal gates upon trying to find the actual door to enter the office. again i felt a freaky amount of relief upon entering the building. the man behind the locked door who took my package slips (the door reminded me a lot of the wizard of oz, when dorothy tries to enter the castle) asked, "do you ride in the rain?"
"yeah. i ride everywhere!" i replied.
"how far do you ride each day?" he asked a bit bewildered.
"i dunno, maybe 10-20 miles," i responded.
"huh....that's pretty neat." he said. it was as though he had never met a bicyclist before. riding home i was met with looks that made me feel like a bona fide alien from another planet. people's heads would cock and they would just gawk at me.

all in all i made it out alive. i am not quick sure i will make many more trips up there. it was pretty unenjoyable riding. but, i do love adventures and this was just that.

ALSO! i made it to 'breakfast on bridges' this morning on the hawthorne bridge. stef, stef and another great bike lady were all there and we had a good time chatting and advertising free coffee and donuts until the sleet set in. my fingers have never been so cold! i escaped and scuttled into stumptown coffee downtown where i discovered that it was the bike messenger coffee hub. i've never seen so many messengers in one place in this town. clad in their tights covered by cut-off green cargo shorts with patches on the ass, black hoodies, sambas, giant messenger bags with awesome individual art and radios, great bicycle caps, and mini u-locks. i did some really great people watching before treking home.

good times.

love,
kelly