Pedal Bike Tours, Oregon, United States

5travelcal033 5:00 PM Jan 17, 2016

The best way to see the gorge!!
I'm inherently skeptical of any place with too many 5 star reviews. It is impossible to please everyone, so I have assume something shady is up. Pedal Bike Tours appeared this way at first, but (1) it was my husband's birthday, (2) we were in Portland for the first time, and (3) didn't have a rental car.. so the Columbia River Gorge bike tour made the most sense as a chance to get some exercise, and see a part of Portland we couldn't easily walk or take a train to. BEST decision ever. The tour was far and beyond the highlight of our trip! We took the 9am tour on a Sunday and despite being a tad rainy and foggy when we took off, it ended up being an AWESOME day for January. It was just the two of us and our tour guide was Sarah. The first couple stops were gorgeous scenery. Sarah explained a lot about the area as we made the stunning drive out to the gorge and she definitely knew a lot about the area. She was also easy to talk to and very friendly. We stopped at, I believe, 5 waterfalls and rode the distance between each one. It was about 10 miles total, and a decent amount of walking/hiking up mountains (Gym shoes are fine, no need for any boots or anything). Despite it being an awesome day in January and fairly crowded out, we had NO issues with cars and I absolutely loved that. Portland people are so much nicer drivers to cyclists than Midwesterners! My favorite part about the tour was also how balanced it was. Sarah rode about half of the way with us, and hiked about half of the stops with us. It was a perfect balance of having her there for questions and to lead us, but also plenty of time for us to be alone and explore the area ourselves without someone hovering over us. I also can't say enough about how GORGEous the Gorge is (see what I did there? Ha! Did I just ruin any respect you had for me?) Yeah, yeah, you think.. nature is pretty.. but no. Seriously. This place was incredible. We don't have this shiz in the Midwest. If you live in Oregon, take a moment now and think to yourself how awesome your life is. Plan a hike this weekend in my honor. And I'll stare at a cornfield in your honor. Sigh.. So, seriously.. consider taking this tour. If you aren't from the area, save yourself the hassle of trying to find parking on a busy day and hire these guys to drive you around so you can pedal your little heart out. The rides are not too strenuous (very few hills and the ones they have a just a slow incline) and you only go about 1 or 2 miles at a time between waterfalls.

5Drliberty 5:00 PM Dec 28, 2014

Great for solo travellers
I had a day in Portland after a job interview. Pedal Bike tours was a great way to see the city without having to do any planning or scoping out of cool places. The only tour on offer that day was the Food truck tour, and although that's not my scene, it was a GREAT experience. Saw many neighbourhoods and stopped to hear a little more about the city and its highlights. The guide was friendly (not cheesy or intimidating). The other tour takers were all warm and made for a nice afternoon. The bikes are easy to ride and the pace was perfect. I didn't get the job, but this tour filled my time in Portland with good memories.