Although I gave up alcohol completely back in February, I've mostly retained the mostly sedentary lifestyle. I have a bicycle, a pretty nice one, sturdy enough to handle my frame (idiom for meaty skeleton), but I haven't been riding it much.
True, I added a bike rack to the car, upside down at first, but that was to take Yarrow to and from his bike camp (in town). I have yet to mount my metal steed (the two wheeler) on the back of my four wheeler (maxi taxi).
Sam diagnosed the upside down problem when I was visiting his farm. I specifically asked him to take a look at it. I got the frame from Steve Mastin, one of our Wanderers. Sam gave me the bike in the first place, some years ago when he was living closer by and working on Flextegrity.
But that's only to say I have no real excuse for not driving out the Columbia Gorge and taking advantage of some of the best bicycle-friendly routes ever.
Anyway, this weekend I had a realization: that I have access to multi-modal transportation, meaning I'm free to start my journey on the bicycle, but then roll it onto a light rail train, or clamp it to the front of a bus.
In practice, I was looking forward to rolling the metal steed onto an FX2 articulated bus, as it was getting dark. I was coming back from Oaks Park on Springwater Corridor, having paid a visit to the business side of the mausoleum where Humphrey Bogart's 3rd wife's remains are kept, an historical fact about which Portland is proud.
I'd take the FX2 from the OMSI stop to around 36th and Division, was my plan. Alas, the bus that came wasn't one of the articulated ones, and both bike slots were already full. So I got more exercise then, taking Orange Line to SE Clinton and cycling up the hill to SE 36th, home to Harrison, instead of bussing it.
The main event we attended (Beth and Derek by car), was free summertime music, Hank Sinatra in the parking lot.
I'd done a similar ride the day before, cycling to Sellwood and riding the Orange line coming back. This is a habit I could see getting more into: multimodal adventures. One of the perks of living in an urban area with bike-friendly infrastructure.
