Portland Local Riding

[nearaquietstream]

Would anyone be interested in connecting in Portland to do occasional long (and fun) rides together (I'm thinking with loaded bikes), either for the day or maybe an overnight (i.e. Banks-Vernonia Trail)? I am a 43-year old female, am an experienced cyclist/backpacker, and average a slow and easy 10 mph on pavement with loaded panniers.

[adventurepdx]

Welcome aboard! Did you just move to town?

There are a few different groups that organize overnight (and sometimes multi-day) bike camping trips in Portland:

• Cycle Wild has been organizing camping rides since the late aughts. They are fairly inactive for the moment, but check either their website http://www.cyclewild.org/ or their FB ]https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_100371523369358]
• Turns To Gold does a few rides a year as well, though the website hasn't been updated in a long time. http://turnstogold.org/ Best to contact them to get on the mailing list, check out their calendar, http://turnstogold.org/?page_id=256 or come to one of their meetups that happens monthly on the second Thursday (on the calendar, usually at Migration Brewing). Their big thing is the annual Memorial Day Weekend camping trip (three nights) to and from Vernonia, via Banks-Vernonia and Crown Zellerbach trails.
• Tune into Bike Portland, as they post weekend events on Friday which will contain longer rides and sometimes camping trips. http://bikeportland.org/
• During Pedalpalooza in June, there is usually 1 to 3 camping rides plus LOADS of other rides. The calendar is in print (distributed in the Mercury when it starts) or online at the year round calendar http://www.shift2bikes.org/fun/www/#viewEvents
• And finally, to toot my own horn, I try to organize a few bike camping trips a year. You'll find info when it happens at https://urbanadventureleague.wordpress.com/
  

Hope this helps!

[adventurepdx]

Also, I'd be interested if you were interested in organizing something, though I work a lot of weekends, so my schedule isn't necessarily conducive.

[Biggus Duckus]

I'm always up for meeting local tourers! It's surprisingly hard,  there isn't much activity on Meetup or the above mentioned sites.  I'm a 31 year old guy and have been into cycling the past few years,  and backpacking for 10 or so.

[nearaquietstream]

Thanks for those links, adventurepdx! The links are very helpful; I've never heard of these groups before. I've checked Meetup frequently, but I agree with Biggus Duckus--there isn't much activity there. Yes, I'm relatively new to Portland. I moved here 1.5 years ago from Salt Lake City. I'm planning to bicycle the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route this July and also need to get in shape. It would be great to meet and ride with other fellow bicycling adventurers. I'm working on my terminal project for grad school this spring, so my schedule will be little packed until June, but I'm willing to organize some rides. Meetup.com seems like it would be an ideal venue to organize rides, but I'm open to other suggestions.

[adventurepdx]

Thanks for those links, adventurepdx! The links are very helpful; I've never heard of these groups before. I've checked Meetup frequently, but I agree with Biggus Duckus--there isn't much activity there. Yes, I'm relatively new to Portland. I moved here 1.5 years ago from Salt Lake City. I'm planning to bicycle the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route this July and also need to get in shape. It would be great to meet and ride with other fellow bicycling adventurers. I'm working on my terminal project for grad school this spring, so my schedule will be little packed until June, but I'm willing to organize some rides. Meetup.com seems like it would be an ideal venue to organize rides, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Great Divide sounds fun! 

I'd be willing to meet up with other like minded bike campers/tourers. I hope to get something together for National Bike Travel Weekend in June.

And I'm actually going bike camping tomorrow!