Portland!

Today started at 4:30am with a drive to Newark to catch my flight to Portland via Phoenix. Slept off most of the first flight, the second was delayed and a lady offered to buy me lunch to switch seats with her husband. I insisted she didn't have to, but i got some $4.50 crackers out of the deal.

I got to Portland around 2, where my buddy Julien picked me up. I had shipped my bike and gear out to him a week ago and we got it built up pretty quick. He showed me around his workshop where he makes belts out of recycled tires. He's kinda got this internet success story dynamic going on where he used to just sell his stuff through etsy until his business took off through blogs and word of mouth and now he's making a living just selling recycled apparel. Check him out at http://www.rebicyclist.com/ 

We spent the rest of the day zooming around Portland. It's ridiculous here. Hipsters hanging outside of punk-houses with unicycles and hoola-hoops, people chopping up cars with jigsaws, and bikes, tons and tons of bikes. Everyone and there mom is riding bikes. There's tons of bike lanes and the traffic is so minimal that even downtown is relaxed.

I've decided to stay in Portland until Thursday when I'll head out w/ Julien to the coast and start my ride. It's been a long day and I'm stoked to sit back and watch The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.