Well it sure has been awhile. Anyways we made it to Portland. Beervanna, Bicycling's number one city, Stumptown etc. We picked up the bikes from the clueless shop. Even though I'd ordered them a month in advanced. We rolled out an brand new Fuji Kross bikes. Checked into our boutique hotel. Very nice and right on the river,easy access to the "Bike lane" system.

We wanted to ride and see what the city was all about. River City Bikes was first, we plotted a route that was stymied from the word go. CONSTRUCTION! This seemed to be the theme of the city. After a few turnarounds. We made it. Word from the bike shops was find the best way and use it. So much for the bike lanes etc. River City had bikes that cost up to 15K. My car was barely that much. The Zook half that. Never would I lay out that kind of coin. Good shop, friendly people and free coffee drinks.

Next on the list was beer. We tried to hit as many breweries as possible. Here we chatted up locals and found even more beer. We made it to Laurelwood, Bridgeport, Rogue, Henrys,Jakes, Widmers , an Ale house, Lucky Lab, and the Portland City Grill.. We stopped in a McMenimans. They had something like 20 locations. All reclaimed buildings. Very cool places. Rogue would be my favorite. There we met a girl from Pa that knew the VW Punchbug game. Too funny. Jake's was our first clue in to great food at low prices. Ahi Tina a buck ninety five!. We never actually went to a restaurant for dinner. Beers and appetizers, were the M.O. Also Henrys had great service and ice strip around the bar to keep your beer cold. Pretty cool.

Race day took us to Kreugers Farm for a dirt Kermesse, Kross without barriers. It was fast and fun. ROUGH. My hands were toast at the end. Got the hang of the FUJI on lap three. Three of us lapped the field and moved up into the 35+ guys. Did I say Fast? No prize or money. The guy who won said he didn't expect a guy from NY to "beat up on the locals". Had great food from Salvador Mollies.

An around town trip took us to Veloshop, of blogger/kross guy Molly Camreon. I met Molly at a UCI race in Del. Now he's male, identifies as female and has a girlfriend named Pete. Very Portland. Vince got an eye opener here. Molly's shop had NO BIKES. One frame. But in the dimly lit bowels all things Kross. No lack of want for Kross stuff there. Molly gave me the skinny on a few rides. We also hit Stumptown Coffee and hung with the messenger crowd. Good coffee.not great. Not worth buying and dragging back to NY. Right down the street was Voo Doo donuts. Go there, Eat one or two. I'm not a donut guy. But these were the best donuts I've ever had, bar none. Clever Cycles had all things cool for commuting.

We also got to meet some other "netizens" . Steve gave us a nice tour of the city at night. Dick and his friend provided laughs for us at the Grill. Don who used to live in N-D-Cott came out to the race and shot some great pics. Good to see you.

Came home in time to go back to work. But that's another tale.

Enjoy life. I am. Ride your bike. Smile. OGQ