Portland...bridges and other

[j3gq_imp]

Bright and sunny today, so very inviting for a winter ride. Temps 43-45, but strong winds make it feel quite chilly.

First photo opp was from the James Gleason boat ramp near the airport. Not many private boats on the Columbia today, but dredges and tugs doing their thing with a plane landing at PDX.


You can take Marine Drive--which hugs the south side of the Columbia--right into Bridgeton Road--a neat area where there are some cool looking boats mored.


Street level view


That aerial view above corresponds to the red circle in photo below, giving you an idea of the size of the Columbia River.


Took me awhile to find the St. John's Bridge, which traverses the Williamette River, which bisects Portland and runs north into the Columbia. The red line shows me getting lost several times...


The St. John's Bridge


But the wind blowing off the water from the Columbia and Williamette Rivers makes for cold air temp, fingers were getting numb.


From the St. John's, took hiway 30 towards Portland, and then on to the 405 bridge to cross the Williamette again. Traffic slowed so it was a good time to snap a photo:




Brrr...once I get cold, can't get warmed up. Time to head home, nice 60 mile outing that was "just to buy some guitar strings, be right back".

You seem to be really moving fast at exactly 1k rpm ... in the left lane ... amazing what a nice coastline can do to a bike like the Honda

Lovely, pdedse. Riding in fog is the pits. One’s visor fogs but also slowly gets covered in tiny droplets of moisture. You have to ride slower than usual so the water won’t blow off. You gradually go blind which is a really fun way to ride!

Glad you had a good ride, though. Thanks for another pic of Mt Hood. It’s very striking.

Very important for your "pre-flight", excuse me "pre-ride" planning. Avoid it, and if you can't at least stop at early signs of mist. DO NOT hope it will get better soon.
Getting into fog on a stretch of tarmac where yo can't stop, with or with no traffic, ... can really make this a day one you won't forget for a long, long time.

Another chilly, sunny wintry day...better than gloomy, cold rain any day.

Arrived in Oregon City via Redland Rd from the southeast by 1pm. Little traffic. Found the OR City Arch Bridge and crossed it for the first time.



I love to see boats on the rivers! In the distance, hi-way 205 over the Williamette.




The Williamette Falls and hydroelectric power reservoir area


Made my way north on 43 towards Lake Oswego. Mt. Hood in distance.


Crossed the Williamette again using the Sellwood Bridge. Another bridge I had never crossed before. They tacked on $20 to DMV fees to pay for this bridge. I mean, it is a nice new bridge, but I've been paying about $100 every two years for some time, so I'm happy I finally got to use it.


Then the Ross Island Bridge, crossed back to the west bank of the Williamette:


And then I crossed both the Hawthorne and Morrison bridges, but I didn't see any good place to pull over for photos. Have to redo these two and include the Burnside, Steel and Broadway bridges.

I don't know why I'm on a bridges kick...I guess it's because I'm always riding east and southeast of Gresham where I live to beautiful foresty areas, so this is a nice change of pace.

This is (so far) one of my all-times-best CB1100 picture I have seen. Thank you !! (please see my PM too)