Westside

I rode out to Dani's place last night in the NW. She lives about two city blocks from one of the entrances to Forest Park, which is this huge 5000 acre park here in Portland. I wanted to see a bit of the park, more of the NW, plus Dani was buying me coffee and a brownie for helping get her computer running again, so I jumped at the chance to bike over.

It was quite a long ride over - about 10 miles one way. The ride wasn't bad, although it did get a little hilly close to her place. It was nice to see the swanky neighborhoods of the NW - like the Pearl District, which I rode through a little of. That side of the Willamette really is a different feel than my side. My side, the SE and NE, is grungier with a lot more tattooed, hipster-douchebags. The NW is more polished and refined. Also more expensive.

I don't have any real plans for today. I may head down to the water for Chariot Daze, which is part of Pedalpalooza. There are a few things going on today with Pedalpalooza that sound good, so I may head out to multiple events. I'm also kinda jonesing to go for a ride on the motorcycle, so I may do that, too.

Ni Hao

I start Chinese class tonight downtown. When I looked around for a class to take I found several offered all around Portland. I signed up for the one I start tonight because it's being offered free, for the Summer only, but hell, free. Hopefully it won't be a case of you get what you pay for because it's a long ride down and this part of downtown is a little sketchy, especially after dark. I may come out to find my bike stripped to the frame. Hopefully not. I should probably learn the Chinese word for "godamnit" just in case.

Since I have to go right by Whole Foods on the way, I'll probably stop off and grab a few things on the way back. No sense in having an easy ride home, right?

It's a Beautiful Pizza

Yesterday was a complete wash - I never left the apartment. I was busy working on getting copies of Undercover TV digitized so I can more easily duplicate them and start getting them uploaded to GoogleVideo. Plus I have 3 Netflix movies that have been here for like 2 weeks I need to watch and return. I got through 'Before the Devil Knows Your Dead', which was pretty good.

For those that don't know, Undercover TV is a project started by my predecessor, Gabe. Each 30 minute episode is a compilation of animal rights videos from different groups. The intention is to get them aired on public access stations. Pretty smart idea. The video can be tough to watch, but I encourage anyone who reads this (vegetarian or otherwise) to check it out. It's just insane the absolute torture animals endure at our hands. I don't know how anyone can see these images and not be changed. Unless you're Ted Nugent. Evil fucker.

Alright, I'm off the soapbox - but please do check out UTV.

Tonight I'm going to It's a Beautiful Pizza with the MeetUp group. It's probably a 6 to 8 mile ride round trip. I may go cruise around afterward depending on what time it wraps up. I feel like I need to get out and ride after doing nothing yesterday.

MeetIn Portland Ride

I finally got a response to an e-mail I sent James over the weekend about meeting at the Pride Parade. He told me there was a ride tonight downtown sponsored by MeetIn Portland. Everyone was fully clothed, but I went anyway because I was looking for a ride tonight.

The ride started off at the waterfront, on the Willamette River and wound around on a multi-use trail that ran parallel to the river called the Springwater Corridor. It was really pretty and went on for miles and miles. Overall it was a really good ride. I'm looking forward to hitting the trail again at some point.

The weather was beautiful today and there were a lot of people out enjoying the trail and the parks the trail wound around through. It was funny - everywhere I turned it was like someone was filming a TV commercial for a new anti-depressant - two couples enjoying a picnic, the lady and her dog playing fetch, 3 guys playing frisbee, people feeding geese, a group of people doing Tai Chi.

Completely unrelated, I've racked up 50 miles since Friday night on the bike. The odometer now reads 150+ miles. I rock.

You Go Girl!

Today was the Gay Pride Parade downtown. It started at 11:15 and by about 12:30, the sun was cooking my neck, so I hit the road. It was pretty conservative by Pride parade standards. I've been to the one in NYC and today's was way more PG-13. It was still good - just not as many ass cheeks as I was expecting. But after what I witnessed yesterday, I guess everything will seem pretty damn tame.

I've uploaded some pics here. Enjoy.