Last night, on my way home from work, I happened upon a bunch of people with their bikes in the Ladd’s circle right by Palio. Palio has awesome bagels, by the way, and the owner is a helpful saint. Anyway, I stopped and asked somebody which ride they were about to embark on, and they told me it was the History Ride. I had read about it online earlier in the day, and it didn’t take much encouragement to get me to abandon the grocery shopping I had been planning and tag along. Thanks for the encouragement!
So we headed out, going in some direction, and I was so busy making new friends and reveling in my most excellent Big Dummy, that after 30 seconds I had no idea where we were. We stopped on some corner, scooched up tight and listened to some guy tell (I know, I’d make a great reporter, the way I remember all the details, right?) us about Dr. Hawthorne and his insane asylum which used to be where the Hawthorne & 39th Fred Meyer’s is now. Then we went down some more streets and ended up on the Eastbank Esplanade. At this point, I actually knew where I was. Another guy - or was it the same guy as the first guy? - told us about Mr. Benson and the bubblers and the flood of 90-something, and the art of the Esplanade. Next we rode North on the Esplanade and stopped just shy of the Steele Bridge. Do Hawthorne and Steele both end in e? I never know. Then we went up the ramp and North on Williams, which I know because we passed Pix. We kept going, and stopped at a park and then another park. We turned right on Rosa Parks, went around a little triangle, and ended the ride at Good Neighbor Pizzeria on the corner of Dekum and Durham. All the best rides end with pizza and beer, you know. I remember looking at the street signs and wondering, “Hmmm, I wonder where this corner of Dekum and Durham actually is?”
This ride was full of excellent friendly people and one excellent friendly dog. As is my habit, I can only remember the dog’s name: Kansas. Hi, Kansas! Some of the people kindly let me ride back to Southeast with them, since I was lost. They kind of were too, but one had a map. And the leaders (there were 3 of them) were incredibly well educated about Portland, the greatest city on Earth. Thanks to the leaders and the riders for yet another great ride!