A nice change of pace

Run. Swim. Run. Swim. Lift weights. Run. Swim. Run. Swim.

There's a pattern to my exercise habits. Generally, I like it. Today, though, I was inspired to break the routine with a bicycle ride through various Northeast and Southeast Portland neighborhoods. During and afterward, I had to ask myself why don't I do this more often?

At 6:30 a.m., it would be cliché to say the city is just waking up. No, there are people up and about; it's just that you see things at that hour that you probably wouldn't 60 minutes later. A few examples:

-- Cruising south along 28th Avenue, just north of Broadway, I came upon a shirtless man of about 65 to 70 fetching something from his car. I suppose if you're going to expose your pasty torso to the neighbors, you might as well do it when few of them are looking.

-- As I crossed Sandy Boulevard at 28th, I looked in the open door of Marina's Kafe & Deli and saw the proprietor behind the counter, getting ready for the day. She's an Eastern European immigrant who never seems to have more than two people in her coffeehouse at one time, leaving me to wonder how she makes it. Maybe I'll drive down there this morning and give her a little business.

-- Heading further south to Stark Street, I came upon a set of unlocked gates leading to Central Catholic High School's athletic field. A dozen footballs lay on the rich green turf and a solitary kid awaited the arrival of other players. A sign at the gate declared: "No sunflower seeds." Why anyone would prohibit that particular item is beyond me.

-- Turning north onto 24th Avenue, I noticed a metal sculpture on someone's lawn; an elderly dude in a bamboo hat with a fistful of letters walking down the middle of the street (not on the sidewalk, mind you), presumably to a mailbox; and a jogger (curiously, every one of the five I spotted on the ride was a woman).

-- A quick detour to 22nd and Oregon brought me to Urban Grind coffeehouse, where a worker was setting out fresh water in a dog dish and awaiting her first human customers. I had planned to attend an event there Wednesday (a discussion with three local filmmakers) but decided against it in the face of 100-degree temps. The woman said they had a decent turnout but they all sweated through it without air conditioning.

-- Riding parallel to the Banfield Freeway, I came upon a guy skillfully backing a tractor-trailer into a garage at the Pepsi distribution plant. Those drivers are amazing when you think about it, maneuvering multi-ton vehicles in and out and through the city and beyond, delivering their sugary products day after day.

All in all, I was on the streets for 40 minutes, but it seemed like only half that long. That's a good sign of a relaxing activity that I need to do more of. Gives my knees and feet a break from the pounding they take on my urban runs and, more important, gives me a great window into sights and sounds I wouldn't experience otherwise.