I’M NOT EVEN close to Mt. Tabor yet when it becomes apparent: This will be unpleasant.
It’s a humid Thursday, threatening rain, and I’ve just gotten leave from Motivate, the City of Portland’s bike-share operator, to have my way with a lumbering, fluorescent orange Biketown bike that—as I ride—won’t be available to Portlanders for more than a week.
Tom at Motivate has taken me through the selling points of the bicycle: the built-in solar-powered computer; the sturdy onboard U-lock; lights that automatically shine while you ride; a shaft drive that takes greasy chains out of the equation; and, most importantly for me, eight speeds.
When I announce my intentions of summiting Mt. Tabor on the Biketown rig, the people at Motivate assure me those eight speeds will make it a breeze—slow but easy.
They are incorrect.
Headed east from the Hawthorne Bridge, ascending the gentle grade that precedes looming Tabor, I feel all 59 pounds of this bike. I am sweating noticeably when a construction flagger calls out appreciatively, “Is that one of those new bikes?” and even harder a very short time later, when her coworker gives me a nod and a “Nice bike!”
Oof! I feel your pain. The slight hill on NE 12th just south of Knott got me nice and sweaty. I have a feeling my first ride up from the lower deck of the Steel bridge is going to be, well, special. BUT I AM GOING TO DO IT. And the roads themselves are much less bumpy when riding the orange beast (not the Donald. Or maybe they are the Donalds. Hmm… “I’m going to ride a donald to my meeting later today.”)