Last Saturday we did the first ride in our Safe Routes To Work series. Starting at the Little Red Bike Cafe in North Portland a group of intrepid riders headed out into the wilds of Portland’s back streets with one mission in mind, get downtown safely. Now, of course, Portland being the most bike friendly large city in the US, this isn’t difficult. However, even here there are lots of people who are still a little leery of cars and would appreciate a little help figuring out just what is the best way to get where they’re going. With the help of the official city of Portland bike map the Pedal bike gang was able to outline a super quiet and safe way to get to our destination, The Portland Farmer’s Market, mostly on bicycle boulevards or quiet streets marked on the map in green. Although many in the group were accomplished commuters, we still were able to show them some streets and back ways they hadn’t previously known about. Along the way we saw lots of beautiful houses and greeted friendly neighbors and cats. Once we got to the market, it was packed, as usual. Also as usual the line for Cafe Velo was a mile long.

Cafe Velo- so good it

. After buying supplies for a small picnic back at the shop we continued on, leaving downtown by a completely different route than we came. Back at Pedal hq we dined on the season’s first strawberries and apple cider from Wandering Aengus ciderworks before rolling along back to Red Bike Cafe. Thanks to everyone who took part in the first Safe Routes To Work.  Join us tomorrow for the second installment starting from Delphina’s Bakery in Northeast Portland.  Happy Commuting!

Super commuters Stacy and Kristen