I’ve got to give a shout out to the owners of the Indian food cart on Yamhill (or Morrison, I can’t remember). That place is just downright spectacularly awesome. It’s my favorite lunch spot around the hotel. It’s the only thing there next to the parking lot. It’s even got some covered seating.

It’s all vegetarian and the portions are absolutely huge. Seriously. I can get two meals out of one order. And they’re only like $5, $7 if you add a mango lassi which I’d highly recommend. Especially on a hot day.

So just go out the door of the Hotel deLuxe, turn left, walk down the street and turn right on Yamhill (or Morrison). Walk over the freeway and just a couple blocks on you’ll see it sitting on the corner. Just an old trailer. But don’t be fooled, it’s the bomb.

Later,
Keith

OK, all, just a reminder that this year’s Top Down Film Festival is about to finish up this coming Thursday, Aug. 28.

The finale arrives in the form of “Super Argo and the Faceless Giants.” What in the world is that? Well, I don’t know exactly, but it involves a professional wrestler turned superhero/spy who fights a mad scientist who plans to kidnap the world’s best athletes to turn them into robots. I’m in.

The Top Down festival is put on by our friends at the Northwest Film and held on the rooftop of our parking garage. If you’ve never seen a movie on a garage, don’t miss this last installment. The evening also includes a live music pre-show at 8 by Will Carpenter’s Towering Trees as well as food and drink. Our grappling hero gets started at dusk (9ish).

See you there,
Emily

I don’t think Emily has probably got this one circled on her calendar. But if you’re into skateboarding, BMX or freestyle motocross, doing it or just watching it, you’ll want to know about the Dew Tour.

Basically it’s all the crazy tricks and reckless behavior we expect from extreme athletes. And to see it live and in person gives you a whole new appreciation for the kind of brain ailment you need to do what they do. Especially the motocross. Insane.

There’s also other stuff to keep you busy between events, like you can get autographs from competitors, try out video games and interactive displays, and even test ride some 2009 bikes. And then on Friday Gym Class Heroes perform. (I hear their also playing Sat. at Satyricon if you miss them Friday.) Oh, it’s Aug. 21-24 at the Rose Quarter.

Later,

Keith

Nah, I’ve got the cool thing to add to your agenda while you’re here. Even if you’re not bringing your bike. Which more and more people seem to be doing these days. Which is great.

It’s called Tour de Fat. It’s going to be total bike mania. People dress up, decorate their bikes and then ride around town in a big spectacle of a parade. It all wraps up with a party put on by sponsor New Belgium Beer. Fat Tire. Get it? Beer, music and food is the reward.

The whole point is to raise people’s environmental awareness, get them thinking about how a bike can become a great way to get around. But it also raises money for local charities.

So dress up and pedal yourself over to Waterfront Park on Aug. 16 and join the madness. Should be a blast. Oh and it’s free.

Later,

Keith

I just discovered that the Steel Bridge is closed for the next three months! Projected reopening is not until the end of August. Ugh.

Until then, if you want to use the bridge you have no choice but to go car free: The lower deck for bikes and pedestrians is apparently still open. That’s something anyway.

While definitely inconvenient, hopefully the work being done to the Max line, which is necessitating the closure, will make the commute that much easier when it’s all completed.

And who knows, maybe we’ll get a few more cars off the road permanently. It seems like since the work was done on the Burnside Bridge that traffic on Sandy has been reduced.

In the meantime, traffic is going to be a nightmare as people figure out alternate routes. So be nice to each other out there.

Vroom,
Emily

After Keith’s, um, enthusiastic cupcake-centric post my offering is going to seem just about perfectly timed… It is nearly swimsuit season after all.

With all the buttercream and ganache and frosting you’re enjoying, you’re going to want to consider a Jane Fonda workout video or maybe just a good brisk walk around town.

Luckily the City of Portland Dept. of Transportation has got you covered with the Ten Toe Express, a program that offers a series of weekly guided walks. The walks are free and open to all on Thursdays at 6 pm and Saturdays at 9 am, May through October. They have a number of different routes, which seem to run about 4 miles and about 2 hours in duration. Check their web site for dates and routes. Just steer clear of NW 10th…

Cheers,
Emily

Speaking of bikes, a reader asked me to recommend where if you’re from out of town you can rent bikes. An excellent question. I should’ve thought of that. There are a lot of options. Here are a few:

Fat Tire Farm – This is probably closest to Hotel deLuxe. It’s at 27 NW Thurman. And it has the best name.

Waterfront Bicycle – This isn’t really too far either on 1st and SW Ash. They’re the closest to downtown. You can jump right onto the path that runs along the Willamette.

CityBikes Workers Coop – They’re on the other side of the bridge on 7th and SE Ankeny.

Wherever you go, ask for some recommended rides. You can also check out sites like OregonLive for ideas.

Cheers,
Keith

Congrats, Portland! We just earned the platinum level from the League of American Bicyclists. We’ve made gold before, but with this we become the first large U.S. city to earn platinum and join Davis, Calif., as the only other platinum Bike Friendly Community in the country.

LAB identified a bunch of reasons why. Like we have 270 miles of on-street bike lanes and paved trails, we have a city ordinance that requires bike parking in development projects and we have six bike corrals, each of which replaced one on-street car parking space with 12 bicycle spaces. And the list goes on.

About 16 percent of Portlanders use a bike as either their primary or secondary means of transportation to work. How can you not dig that? So helmet up, and join the party!

Later,
Keith

Yeah, I actually got to ride to Hotel deLuxe in some clear skies and sunshine the other day! The hot hot heat and hilly ride wasn’t as fun going home, but what are you going to do?

Yesterday I was riding over to meet some friends after work and nearly got munched by two cars. Maybe the closest call I’ve had in Portland. So I wanted to tell people about the nasty spot in case they’re riding over there.

Here’s my advice: be very careful riding through the intersection of NE Broadway and N Williams. It’s a total circus of cars and bikes and on ramps. You’ve got to really pay attention or you could get mashed.

I just read on the bikeportland blog that the city is planning to do something about it, but until then, I might say avoid it if you can. Especially if in this crazy Portland weather…;-)

Later,
Keith

I swear this isn’t because of my gripe about the construction disaster going on, but this past weekend we rented a canoe and actually paddled by downtown. I didn’t even know you could do that. It was pretty blasted cold, but you got to see parts of the city you never see.

What we did was rent a canoe from Alder Creek, which is just on the other side of the Hawthorne Bridge. You get the canoe, or a kayak, for half day for $30 (all day was $50, I think). You put in right there. I’m sure there are probably other rental places, too.

We brought a cooler with the appropriate river roaming beverages and just tooled around for three or four hours. We’ll definitely do it again when the weather warms up. Like maybe for the Blues Festival, hmm…

Later,
Keith