Last week I published a post about the GPS computer artwork that Vancouver artist Ruth Scheuing makes. This week, I have a guest Post from Ruth’s partner, Trace Bond, about cycling around the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon – and some GPS computer artwork of that trip too.
Now, over to Trace Bond:
One of the highlights of Ruth Scheuing and my visit to Portland, Oregon was circling the Willamette River by bike. The two maps illustrate that bike ride.
The image on the left is a scan of the paper bike trail map we used that day to find our way.
Ruth made the image below by projecting our GPS path (from data collected by the GPS device she carries) onto a Google Earth view.
Referring to the GPS path image, north is to the right side, south to the left. Our hotel (the Jupiter) is on the lowish right of the image. It is on Burnside St on the east bank of the Willamette. Downtown Portland is across the Burnside Bridge on the west bank.
Cycling around the Willamette River
We headed south on the hotel side of the river, eventually following the new Springwater Trail beside Ross Island. See far left side of the GPS path image: we crossed to the west side of the river on the Sellwood Bridge (built in 1925) and headed uphill by switch-backs through beautiful Riverview Cemetery. The day was cloudy but rainless, with the coolness perfect for cycling. The long northward route was on Terwilliger Road, which is high on the ridge above the river.
The art below was made by Ruth to celebrate the trip. The squiggly path-lines mark where we parked our bikes and wandered around the hill-top Oregon Health Science complex (and ate tacos).
At sunset, we were descending into downtown Portland by the 6th Ave route. After working our way to the river bank, we continued north, enjoying the bike/pedestrian tranquility of Waterfront Park. Along the way, we saw the many homeless folk that the city seems to allow shelter under the bridges.
See far right side of the GPS path image: we crossed the river on the Steel Bridge and turned south. Along the east bank, the bike/pedestrian trail was on top of a series of rafts floating on the river. (Unhappily, on both sides of the river, noisy irksome car highways often crowd right to the river’s edge.)
Back to the hotel for a little bum-resting. At day’s end, we made the little rectangular path south of the hotel when we visited the GreenDragon/Rogue brewery for food and drink … hhmmm! Our bicycles get us around!
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