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We Rode, We Donuted, We Pinballed!

Gathered For The Ride

Gathered For The Ride

Woo hoo!  Last Saturday approximately 15 pinball/bike riding fans rolled out of the shop and hit the streets to go in search of some fun.  Led by our staff pinball wizard Miles, we hit the road en-masse on our way to four stops around the city.

Outside Red Flag

Outside Red Flag

We left the shop and headed east, through the quiet streets and mansions of Irvington, our longest ride of the tour.  On the edge of the Laurelhurst neighborhood we found our first stop, Red Flag.  The fact that’s it’s a relatively new bar with four pinball machines goes to show how popular pinball still is.

Keeping right on schedule we hopped back on our steel steeds and shot the short distance to our next stop, The Standard.  Another newish bar, The Standard is tucked cozily away off the main drag of Burnside.  Once you pass through the patio into the bar you’re greeted by five gleaming machines of pinball beautaceausness!

Working It

Working It

After several quarters worth of ‘balling we tackled the deepening gloom with one thought in our heads, donuts!  Past the former headquarters of Jantzen swimwear we pedaled at top speed to reach the second incarnation of that purveyor of deep fried delights, Voodoo II.  The line was so long we had to take turns standing in line and playing games.  A few pinheads even decided to try their skills at the bubble hockey table.  Lucky, lucky Laura (she of the “Bile” t-shirt) actually got the VERY LAST Bacon Maple Bar!  Now that’s some good ju-ju!

mmm, Bile

mmm, Bile

Stomachs fortified by dough and heads buzzing from sugar we rode through the Lloyd district back to our own dear neighborhood and into our last stop Billy Ray’s Neighborhood Dive.  When was the last time you visited a bar set in an old house with the entire second floor devoted to pinball?  That’s right, we moved in, took over and ‘balled until we were spent.  (Bonus, the Blazers beat the Mavericks on the tv behind us).

In time, some pinners moved reluctantly on to other pursuits while others were still pounding the flippers way into the wee hours.

Great tour everyone thanks for coming!

See more photos here.

You Must Concentrate, Grasshopper

You Must Concentrate, Grasshopper

Babies Bike Too!

Check out this great photo of baby Kyle from Dallas Texas in his super sporty Pedal Bike Tours Onesie.

Kyle’s grandparents Sue and Larry from Iowa went on our Historic Downtown tour and just couldn’t leave the shop without a few of our American Apparel t-shirts including this onesie.  We’ll be looking for you on a future tour Kyle!

Speaking of babies, while vacationing in Portland from Ship Rock, NM Frannie and her mom and dad, Stewart and Blair rented two bikes and a trailer for a week and took two of our tours!  All the while she rode along behind dad and uttered hardly a peep! 

Myriam From France Loves Oregon Wine Country

Here’s a note we received from Myriam who took our Wine Country tour.  As you can see, even the French love Oregon!

Here are a few pictures I took on July 24 when I was biking with Pedal Bike! I keep a very good memory of this tour among the vineyards.

The French people to whom I showed the pictures here were impressed at seeing such nice and orderly vineyards. But I would add that not only the landscape was nice in Oregon but the people very friendly.

Myriam from France

Rails To Trails- Banks Vernonia State Trail

Wow, had a great day riding on the Banks-Vernonia State Trail on Friday.  It’s a project of the Rails to Trails Conservancy, a truly awesome non-profit organization dedicated to turning our nation’s unused railroad tracks to non-motorized multi-use paths.  The Banks-Vernonia trail is only 30 miles outside of Portland and over its 21 miles goes from the farmland of the valley to the thick undergrowth of the coastal mountains.  The highlight is definitely the 600′ long Buxton trestle, 80 feet above the valley floor.  It’s sheer joy to roll across this bridge, marveling at the wide open views of the thick forest all around and the grassy valley beneath.

We stayed the night in a cute little one room cabin in Stub Stewart State Park which the trail runs right through.  This placed us perfectly for hitting the trail first thing the next morning (after driving to the nearest town for a serious logger’s breakfast of course!)

One thing I didn’t realize was that the trail runs almost exclusively downhill in one direction.  We hardly pedaled all one direction.  Thankfully, it was a gentle grade, which is exactly why railroads make great bike trails. 

Oregon Tours

1 (503) 243-2453 info@pedalbiketours.com
133 sw 2nd avenue portland, or, 97204