Kelly, Ben and Silka

Our goal is to spend a week traveling in Portland with camping supplies in tow, and see what happens. No hotels. No hostel.

This is easy out in the countryside or in small towns, but cities can be lonely places crammed with lots of people.

“Are you Willie?” I turned to see a tall, young man asking me. Kat and I were down by the river, working out a loop of the excellent trails Portland provides.

“Yes” I answered with surprise. How did this stranger know me?

“Willie Weir? The bike guy? My girlfriend told me to come down and ask you. She attended your talks at the university when she was at U of O in Eugene.”

That is how we met our first hosts. Kelly and Ben … and their dog Silka.

They said it would not be a problem to pitch our tent in the courtyard of their apartment complex. We mentioned that we were going to check out Zoo Bombing and invited them to join us.

So B en and Kelly provided us with our first night’s lodging and hours of laughter and conversation, and we provided them with an excuse to try out a legendary Portland event.

The city bike journey begins at the AMTRAK station in Portland

Every bike trip I’ve ever done begins with landing in a city … and getting out as fast as possible. The trip doesn’t really begin until you get out into the countryside and set up your tent.

But what if rather than having a city as a starting point, the city WAS the adventure?

We are setting off for a week long bike trip … in Portland. Fully loaded. Tent. Stove. Most everything on our bikes that we would have for a 3 month trip to Colombia or Turkey or Thailand. Portland’s reputation as the most bicycle friendly city in the country is well known. We’ll spend a week finding out why.

We have visited Portland before. But how will our experience differ while pedaling around the city on a couple of fully-loaded touring bikes?

The norm for a city tour would be to set up base camp at a hotel or hostel and then do day trips throughout the city. We will attempt a week without the hotel option.

Where will we sleep? We’re not sure. In small towns and out in the country it is easy to find a place to pitch a tent. But there are lots of folks with plenty of lawn space to pitch a tent in Portland. Will Portlanders be receptive to a knock on a door from a couple of travelers? Or will the CITY mentality prevail. We’ll see.