Well, at least on this Saturday (12/15), the answer is:

Pedal Bike Tours!

That’s right.  Our friends and staff are gathering together after hours to celebrate all of these things.

A healthier choice of transportation.

Join us tomorrow at 6pm at the shop for some warm drinks and holiday cheer!  We’ll be hanging out and having fun as we prepare to cruise to southeast Portland for a look at the beautiful lights of Peacock Lane.  But first….

You know you’ve got some gold hammer-pants at home…

Witness the spectacle of Portland’s own Gigi Malibu as she and her team take us on a trip down memory lane with tunes from MC Hammer, lively aerobic dance moves and lots of  day-glo fashion.  That’s right.  It’s Hammercise! Catch the magic at 6:45pm.

Finally, we’ll take to the streets at 7pm for an easy-paced ride to Peacock Lane.  Once there, you are on your own as we join the masses for “pedestrians only” night!

Join us for this exciting evening!  All are invited!

yuk

Ok, the sun is out. Now that you can see the inch-thick layer of grime and mud that has accumulated on your bicycle, it is time to do something about it. You could invest in some rubber gloves and dirt brushes and spend the evening going to town on your bike or….you can go downtown to Pedal Bike Tours!

Tonight 12/13 Pedal Bike Tours is sponsoring a free bike cleaning night from 5 – 8pm at our shop at 133 SW 2nd Ave. There will be hot and cold drinks and chocolate compliments of our awesome tour partner, Cacao – Drink Chocolate.

yum

Come see us again next Thursday for Hot Lips Pizza and more bike cleaning!

Also we are offering in store discounts during these events!

If you’ve ever ridden to Cascade Locks from Troutdale, you probably remember the least enjoyable part of that ride as the trek along the shoulder of I-84 as you travel to Eagle Creek.  Even on a sunny day, this is a terrible bike ride.  It’s noisy, there are huge gusts of wind from passing semis, and, as with most modern roads, there is nothing particularly scenic or interesting about the shoulder of I-84.

It has always seemed odd to me that in order to get to one of the best bike rides around (the section of the scenic highway closed to car traffic for the last 60 years or so), one must complete a treacherous, very bike-unfriendly ride on the Interstate.  But even with the treacherous ride, getting to the section of the scenic highway between Eagle Creek and Cascade Locks is worth the effort.  The road has been car free for years.  A carpet of green moss now covers the worn cement lanes.  Huge trees toppled by gorge winds lay strewn across the road in some places.  And the silence that surrounds one in the forests of the gorge is hypnotic.

So I was pleased to learn of the significant progress being made on a new bike path that will allow both cyclists and pedestrians to bypass the interstate in order to get to Eagle Creek and beyond.  Currently, the project is scheduled for completion around August of next year.  Not as soon as we would like, but soon enough.  Read more about it here:

Article

or see the map of the path:

Map