Hello Portland!

Last week, we packed up my parents' car and drove up to meet them in Portland for Christmas. I wanted to bring Babe the Blue Ox but time and energy ran out. It was a pretty hectic drive with snow, rain, and lots of wind anyway. However, now we've been up here for the past week bike-less. Although we have been spending some time taking the Max and the buses, not having a bike feels so limiting. Holiday eating and not biking is a yucky combination for me. My dad's old Serrius is up here at my brother's house but I didn't get to it in time to get it in riding condition before we left their farm today.

Back in town, I had a date with some PDX Cargo Bike Gang members. Our friend, Kath, made a couple of events to get folks together since Madi (of familyride.us) and I are both up for a few more days. Madi will be giving a book reading on Tuesday at Clever Cycles since she's now an amazing published author (go buy Urban Cycling) in addition to being an amazing cargo biking badass. Twenty-five awesome Portland bikers showed up at the Barley Mill pub for a late lunch. It was wonderful being back amongst my own kind and I had the luxury of being kid-free (thanks, Gampa!).

One of Portland's many bike corrals.

After lunch, I decided to stop into Clever Cycles and check out their cargo bike rentals since it was just a few blocks away from the pub. I had tried to hook up with a person-to-person bike rental from Spinlister.com but the cargo bikes available weren't easily accessible except for one whose renter was out of town and another listing on the website that wasn't loading for me. It looks like a great system and I'm interested in listing a few of my bikes when I get home.

Clever Cycles only has one rental bike available, a Workscycle Kr8. The store itself is amazing! Filled with gorgeous bikes for everyone in the family and all the beautiful accessories they'd need. It's really family-friendly with a kids' play area and clean bathrooms, but I was still happily unencumbered so I could drool all over the inventory while they made sure the Kr8 was in good shape.

My minivan for the next few days

Kath is the expert when it comes to knowing all the flat routes around Portland. She rocks a heavy Workscycle bakfiets and regularly carries one or two kiddos. I wasn't too worried since I only had 4.5 miles to get back to my folks' place and I had an empty, kid-free box. I choose a pretty straightforward route from Google and set off. Almost immediately, I noticed the differences from all other cargo bikes I've ridden. First thing: it's hard! There is no moment in riding this bakfiets that is easy. Doesn't matter if it's flat ground or downhill, making sure the Kr8 is moving forward take effort. I'm sure I'd get used to it over time but this ride home was hard! Secondly, the riding position was really awkward for me. The handlebars are really close and it's such an upright ride which makes it difficult to get a strong start or to power up hills. Also, it's slow! No matter what gear I was in (although this is actually a Nuvinci internal hub without actual numbered gears), I couldn't find a comfortable cruising speed. Compared to the nimble Bullitt, riding the Kr8 felt like trying to steer a cruise ship through choppy water. Finally, getting back to the house, I realized that finding storage can really be an issue with a bike of this size. Luckily, we had space but it's definitely a different situation from what I'm used to with the slim HaulaDay.

Despite the adjustments to riding the Kr8, I was thrilled to be on a bike again and be free to take the boys around town easily without the car. I'm a little nervous about the added weight but they're going to have a blast so that'll get me over the hills--slowly but eventually! I did really love the Dynamo lights and huge amount of cargo capacity in the Kr8. It'll certainly be an adventure for these final few days in Portland! There are so many fun things to explore via bike around here! I have a newfound respect for bakfiets riders in hilly areas now, too!