Adventures of Bike Ninja: Vancouver or Bust!
Posted by: EmilyJan 10 2007, 3:30 pm
I’m a Ninja in many contexts, always striving for competence and ingenuity regardless of the environment. Becoming a “Bike Ninja� has been a long, sometimes painful process. I’m that person you sometimes see who is all caught up in their chain ring, usually due to either loose shoelaces or pant legs. I’m also that person you see, freaking out in mid-lane traffic because they just realized there’s a freeway on/off ramp joining their lane of traffic. Basically if you could do something silly or stupid on a bicycle, I’ve probably done it. Despite the many examples of stupidity I could provide, it’s also true that when I moved her I didn’t ride a bike at all, and I now ride every day in all weather conditions. I recently joined the staff of the BTA and I now have a medium through which to share some of the Bike Ninja Know-How I’ve developed since I moved here. What follows is my account of my first trip to Vancouver, WA by bike.
I’ve been living in Portland for slightly over 2 years and commuting by bicycle for slightly over 1 year. At no point during that time did I ever think to myself, “Self, you should ride your bike to Vancouver!� In fact, I rarely take part in organized or weekend rides of any kind. I already ride about 15 miles each day for work and errands, so the thought of a “weekend leisure ride� seems overzealous to my already aching legs and fanny. Generally speaking, weekends and evenings are my time to take a ‘car vacation’, give up the bike for a few hours, and workout all the sludge forming in the engine that my dad just spent his holiday visitation warning me about at great length. I try to give the guy a break as we’re from Detroit, MI, otherwise known as the “Motor City�. Coming from there he really doesn’t get the bikey-culture.
Given my penchant for evening relaxation, I was surprised to find myself scheduling a ride to Vancouver too meet the Department of Transportation folks there, attend an open house about “Columbia Street Bike Improvements�, and learn the route from Portland to Vancouver by bicycle. I left my house in NE Portland at 4pm to meet Todd Boulanger, Senior Transportation Planner with the City of Vancouver. One of the programs Todd runs, “R U Bridge Curious� is one that teaches folks how to navigate the bike route between Portland and Vancouver (see information and links below), and he graciously agreed to show me the ropes, as I have never made the trek to Vancouver without my trusty jalopy before.
From my house, it’s a friendly coast downhill to the intersection of Denver and Interstate, home of the giant Paul Bunyan statue, Dancing Bear (woops! Bare) ‘gentlemen’s club’, and the starting place of my ride to Vancouver. Both the statue and the sign for the Dancing Bare provide a good photo-opportunity.
At this point I feel I should pre-apologize for the fuzzy nature of the passage you are about to read. The route to Vancouver is confusing the first time you ride it, and my twilight zone vision is less than razor sharp. We started out by crossing Columbia Boulevard and continuing north on what is basically still Denver, heading onto a kind of service drive that is parallel to, but separate from, northbound I-5. This is a very busy intersection, with bike lanes all around that the drivers don’t seem to notice. Definitely use the cross-walk! Between Columbia Boulevard and East Delta Park, you have the opportunity to go left, cross Denver just south of the Portland Raceway, cut through on the Columbia Slough Trail and head toward Smith and Bybee Lakes (see link to map below). Be forewarned: There is no formal crossing or traffic light of any kind here and the car traffic is busy and fast.
Eventually we turned off towards the right and headed through East Delta Park. The park was pretty mellow when we went through it, but look out if you head this way during the summer (i.e. softball) months, as there are many spaces for organized sports, and many spaces for car drivin’ parking shenanigans. It was still barely light out as we made our way through the park en route to the Jantzen Beach area. The path through East Delta Park is not lit, and is bumpy-ish. Not enough to dump you off your bike, but enough to be a little alarming were you to hit a patch of roughness in the dark.
After exiting the park, we continued north towards Jantzen Beach. This stretch of the route is particularly confusing as it is not well marked, and has a few difficult intersections with heavy car traffic. Invoking previous apology here, I can recall a clover-leaf style of sidewalks, and markings painted on the ground (one to Portland/one to Van-WA). If you get confused here it’s really easy to end up on the I-5 on-ramp towards Vancouver, which by process of extrapolation is an easy way to end up dead. Again, definitely use the cross walks provided at the busy intersections along this way, and give yourself some extra time/daylight to make sure you’re headed in the right direction (see link to map below).
From here we headed onto the I-5 bridge, over the Columbia River and into downtown Vancouver. The bike/pedestrian path on the bridge is pretty meager. I’m kinda broad-shouldered and I had some serious fears that the railings and supports on the bridge would clock me off my bike if I were to swerve slightly on the path. The words “nerve wracking� and “birth canal� come to mind. However, if you can chill out, go slowly and roll in a straight line, the view as you ride over the river is amazing, and a stop half way across provides a second opportunity to capture yer mug on film with the “Welcome to Washington� signs in the background.
After all the nervousness and beauty of the ride to this point, my actual entrance into Vancouver was somewhat anti-climactic in it’s calmness, yet thriving with anticipation for all the many destinations available just over the river! The bridge deposits you onto Columbia Street in downtown Vancouver. If you turn right/east and follow Columbia River Drive, you will encounter the McMenamin’s on the Columbia where a “brew with a view� is available along with other snacks and beverages. If you head forward/north to roughly Columbia and 8th, you will intersect with Evergreen St., which turns into the Evergreen Trail and follows the Columbia River Gorge.
Once we arrived in Vancouver, Todd took me on a brief tour of downtown Vancouver, including a ride through the Columbia St. improvements that were the focus of the open house that evening. We stopped at Mike’s Bikes (contact info below), the only bike shop in Vancouver, met the owner and got a product review of the latest inventory of bike lights. From there we headed to the open house, where I had the opportunity to meet with local cyclists there to check out the planned improvements.
Alas, 8pm arrived, the open house was over, and it was time for little ole me to navigate my way back through the darkness, the busy-ness, and the Jantzen Beach cluster to my home in Portland. Needless to say, I was nervous about this portion of my evening, as I had tried to absorb as much information as possible along the way, but I was skeptical of my ability to re-trace the route and successfully land in Portland.
This is the part of the story where Todd Boulanger became my first hero in biking! Todd took me to the transit center in Vancouver (on 7th and Columbia), and showed me how to use the bike racks on the bus! I have never used them before and have been nervous to try as I don’t really want to be that person who angers the driver and passengers as they fumble through racking their bike on the bus, causing everyone to be tardy and mad. Todd was patient and gentle as he showed me 3 times how to use the bus bike racks, and sent me on my multi-modal path back home via the #6 bus route. I made it home safe and sound, and now that I know how to use the bus-racks, I feel liberated like never before!
Conclusion and Summary:
Vancouver is close. Really close. The total time from the Alberta Arts area to Vancouver is something like 30 minutes or less. The ride is flat and friendly, and there are some interesting things to see and do, both along the way, and once you get to Vancouver. The route needs improvement. Signage and connections could be better, and the bike/pedestrian ‘path’ on the I-5 bridge needs to be much wider. If you are not yet familiar with this route, I recommend joining Todd for one of his “R U Bridge Curious� rides, or giving yourself lots of time and daylight to take it slow figuring it out on your own.
Todd is great! He is a skilled, well-informed trip leader, and a great person to spend 4 hours of your life with in general, and more specifically learning about biking in the region. I definitely recommend checking out the bi-weekly rides to Vancouver during the summer months, or contacting Todd for other bike related concerns, suggestions, questions, and resources in the Vancouver area.
Maps and other info on biking in Vancouver
City of Vancouver: Bicycling in Vancouver
Search for “R U Bridge Curious� for information on guided rides to/from Vancouver
Things to do once you’re in Vancouver
Mike’s Bikes
2310 Main St
Vancouver, WA 98660
360/906-0209
McMenamin’s on the Columbia
1801 S.E. Columbia River Dr.
Vancouver, WA 98661
360/699-1521
Hook up with the Evergreen trail along the Columbia River Gorge
Other Resources
Map of cut-off to Smith and Bybee Lakes near the Portland Raceway
Todd Boulanger, Senior Transportation Planner; City of Vancouver
(360) 696-8290 phone
(360) 696-8588 fax
e mail Todd
nice work ninja! almost makes me wanna ride my bike to the 'Couve! I look forward to future additions of your "biking hijinks!"
Wow! I didn't think a bike ride to Vancouver would be this easy and possible. I ride my bike to work and school almost every day but like you, I've never seriously considered a "leisure" bike ride. I might join Todd for a ride soon too…
The 'Couve is a nice destination. I ride over there frequently just for fun and exercise. The downtown area is sprucing up a bit and it's good to see some condos going in.
You can make a nice loop ride of it by heading east along the riverfront down to I-205 to cross back over to Portland. There are pretty good route descriptions below.
http://www.blueberryrides.com/maps/40milelp.htm
http://www.bikeportland.org/forum/showthread.php?t=538
Wowee Ninja! YOU ROCK! i leave Vantucky every morning in my car…and have thought about communting via bike to work in the summer! Thanks for the input and advice…
Vancouver has never seemed so appealing. Really. I might actually do this ride one of these days.
Are you going to be in the couv all the time now?
Thanks for the good info!
Thanks, Ninja! When a friend of ours invited my husband and I to visit her in Vancouver, we were inspired by your post to ride there on our bikes. However, since we live in Gresham, we took the I-205 pathway instead. If you or any other readers would like to try this route, here's what we experienced.
The I-205 pathway is pretty easy to follow, with crosswalks at all major intersections (at least from Burnside on). There's one area that could be confusing where the path splits in two, with the right-hand fork going to Airport Road and Columbia Blvd. Go left downhill and under an overpass to cross the bridge. It's very noisy and somewhat windy, but we found riding in the middle of the bridge, with the cars on either side of us, not as scary as we'd imagined (and the wind was probably minimized by not being on the edge!) Another Vancouver resident who rides in to Portland warned us that lots of dust blows around, so he advised us to wear goggles and some type of nose and mouth protection (like a bandanna), but since the morning started out rainy, the dust wasn't an issue.
If you have a, um, active set of kidneys and are well hydrated like I am, you'll be happy to know there's a secluded little area to visit nature's bathroom just after you come down the ramp leading off the bridge on the Washington side. You'll make a left-hand turn, where you will then parallel Rte 500, and then keep a lookout on your left at this strip of scrubby woods to find a path between the trees…you won't be the first to duck behind the trees for a rest stop, judging from the well-trodden look of the path!
Regardless of whether you take advantage of this impromptu rest stop or not, soon you'll come to the end of the bike path and get deposited on a residential street. (I don't remember what it's called, but you can't go anywhere else.) Go right, then to the end of the street to Ellsworth Avenue. We needed to go further north, so we took a right on Ellsworth, up a hill, crossed an overpass over Rte 500, and continued up a long hill. (Don't be tempted by what looks like a bike path just before the overpass. I don't know what the deal is, but you end up on what looks like the shoulder of an entrance ramp leading to the 205. It looked too dangerous for us to continue there, so we didn't find out for sure.)
You can then go left on SE 10th at the top of the long hill and then right onto 97th/98th (the road bends a bit and changes its number). This street will cross Mill Plain; you have several options for heading into the downtown area from there. SE 10th is a quiet street; Ellsworth and 97th/98th have bike lanes. Our route didn't take us into the downtown area; we ended up going east and then north again up a street with a bike lane that's variously 136th, 137th, and 138th Ave. The lane eventually disappears in a less crowded area.
One thing we learned on our maiden voyage to the 'Couv was that the bike lanes can disappear abruptly, with no indication of a route you can turn off onto, on busy streets with four lanes! However, the motorists seem used to the presence of bikes and were very courteous to us, simply going around us with no hassling or rudeness. Nevertheless, it's unsettling! There are also a number of sustained hills of moderate grade, not for the newbie (especially because there aren't always good curb cuts to make your break for the sidewalk and get away from the cars.)
All in all, we had a fun trip of about 40 miles to and from our friend's place. The 'Couv was a delightful place to visit, with thoughtful motorists and a reasonably bike-friendly infrastructure. We'll be back! Thanks for inspiring us, Bike Ninja.
Oops! I realized that what I described in my previous post as Rte 500 may actually be Rte 14. Sorry about that!