Toto, I think we’re not in Kansas anymore

Today I decided to try a new bike route from Washington Park to Sunset Transit Center. I got really lost:

Details of my lovely morning…

The jagged circle was where I got lost in the cemetery. I remembered Keithp talking about his route home, and how it involved going through a cemetery and a gate that only bikes could fit through. I found a path through the cemetery, and a gate that I could take my bike around.

I walked my bike down the steep gravel road, only to discover that it ended at a chain link fence. I had to walk my bike up the hill, through the gravestones, to get back to the road. It was really creepy. Especially when I noticed the flock of crows, grazing on the grass, next to a huge patch of mushrooms. I shuddered at the thought of what the fungus found tasty.

I finally found the bike route again and zoomed down the hill. Along the way, I noticed that the route was marked by an orange spray-painted symbol. It was the letters “WC” in a circle with a line or two that pointed in the direction you
were supposed to go.

Or so I thought. Apparently the symbols actually lead to the path to Beaverton Transit Center. By the time I realized I had made a wrong turn, I was at the bottom of a hill at Cedar Hills Blvd, which is a very busy road. The bike lane
ended just before a big intersection.

I spotted a bus sign, and looked for a stop ID so I could call Trimet. I didn’t see one, so I called Jamey to ask him to look up the intersection.

“Hi, I’m really lost!”

Jamey goes, “Oh!”

“Can you look up the bus schedule for the intersection of Cedar Hills Blvd and Butler Rd? It’s bus 20 and — Jamey, are you there?” I looked down and discovered my cellphone screen was dark. Not surprising, since I hadn’t recharged it the night before.

I ended up biking across the scary intersection and heading up Barnes road to get to Sunset TC. I borrowed a cell phone and called Jamey to make sure he knew I was OK. The biker I borrowed the cellphone from was the one who told me the
WC marks point to Beaverton Transit Center.

I got to work about an hour later than I normally do. That isn’t too bad, considering webwalking.com says that my route was 11 miles long.

It was a tiring morning. On the bright side, the bike route from Washington Park Max Station to Sunset TC is pretty fun (now that I actually know where I’m going). It’s mostly downhill, or on low-traffic streets. I think I’ll try it
again on Monday.