In 1993 I was a broke college student unable to replace a stolen bike and living several miles from campus. I started taking the bus.
Since then I’ve mostly lived and worked downtown or along major transit routes. My car free and bike free arrangement has mostly served me well, and I know the Portland bus lines as well as anyone.
But a couple years ago, as I approached my late-mid-thirties, I got too old for retired from playing indoor soccer and figured I should find a low impact activity to stay in shape. I started to think about getting a bicycle. Maybe I could save money too by forgoing my spendy monthly bus pass.
I researched, asked my bicycle-nerd friends for advice, shopped around, and eventually spent about a grand on one of these babies.
At the time, I lived about a mile and half from work. Riding a mile and a half on flat city streets on a bicycle takes less time than driving a car, and requires about the same physical effort. A coworker lived on one side of the West Hills and rode to work on the other side. His bicycle commute was a workout. Mine, on the other hand, was a joke.
And then I had to contend with finding bike parking, and deciding about rain pants, fenders, or spending the day with a wet butt and pant legs, or bringing a change of clothes. It was a big hassle.
And having relied on TriMet and my own two feet for so long, I was used to not rushing. On a bike, you have to rush; you’re traffic after all.
I don’t like being traffic.
I started walking to and from work again. Walking was much more pleasant, and better exercise given the distance I had to cover.
Now, if it’s under 3 miles it’s walking distance. Over that I take the bus.
I have a different bike now, a $200 single-speed beauty with coaster brakes. On a nice day, I sometimes take it out for a spin.
But most of the time, I’d rather walk.
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I like to ride unicorns to work.
I heard that Portland was built on an ancient unicorn burial ground.
I do tons of walking also. Lower SE Division to downtown, no problem. Many times I start out thinking I will take the bus but end up walking.
I bike also but I often forget to or it just seem better to walk.
“coaster breaks”?
Are those like coffee breaks, or bio breaks… or was that meant to be coaster brakes?
Heather, Steve – Fascinating!
Nevets – Yeah, close-in Portland is so walkable that the only reason I’d bike is to save time.
s h a r o n – Fixed! Thank you for your eagle eyed copy editing!
I walk a ton, too, but like commuting by bike, as I’m 5 miles out. Since I get to bike downhill all the way into downtown, I don’t get too sweaty getting to work, but I do get a workout on the way home. Oh, and I can carry lots more on my bike than just by myself, so I prefer riding my bike to the store. For most small trips, I still prefer walking – I get to enjoy my neighborhood more that way, and notice details I would otherwise miss.
devlyn – I currently live almost exactly 3 miles (according to Google maps) from work, so I walk and bus . . . I’d have to reconsider bicycling if I lived 5 miles out . . . though I’d probably only bike in good weather
I had to comment, just for the title of the post! I spent about 10 years doing nearly all of my cross-Portlanding on my bike. Then about 4 years ago I returned to walking and was hooked again! Portland may be set-up for bicycling, but it certainly isn’t fun or relaxing. If it is under an hour, I’d rather walk. and I find that spending an hour walking to work I feel much more ready for it than if I spend 20 minutes fighting car traffic to get there.
Sadly, now that I don’t live in Portland anymore, there is no where to walk to…
Ashley – That’s exactly my sentiment. An hour of walking is excellent low impact exercise, refreshing, low-stress, and you can go surprisingly far in that amount of time with no worries about parking on either end!
I am just like you, I usually walk if it is under three miles. Well for my current job it is three miles away, so I take the bus so I will not be sweaty during the summer heat. I walk home because I enjoy the exercise, and it saves on bus fare. I used to buy a monthly bus pass, but since I only would take the bus once or twice a day the pass actually cost me more than quarters for fare.