Heading to Eugene for the World Athletics Championships? Take your bike!

Driving down I-5 is, well, the worst.

Yes, you will see beautiful scenery. Oregon’s bucolic farmlands punctuated by hills sprung from fairytales, sure, it’s lovely. But the driving part? It’s so boring there’s a real danger at any moment you may doze off, which is terrifying. So instead of dozing off, you end up white-knuckling until you reach your destination, jaw clenched and sweating.

Plus, you know, all those lone driver vehicles cruise-controlling down freeways are a major contributor to climate change, which let’s just agree to agree isn’t good for anyone.

But the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 are on, and if you live in the Portland or Salem area, you don’t have to let your fears of personal or global destruction get in the way of a trip to Eugene. Take the train (or, let’s be honest, frequently the Amtrak bus).

Tickets from Portland to Eugene and back start at $25 each way, plus $10 for a bike, also each way.

This is how I chose to go, to help cover what was happening outside the championships. I started my bike/transit trip on a Sunday morning, leaving the house at 6 a.m. to glide through Portland’s quiet streets to Union Station, which was also calm and basically empty before 7 a.m.

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The process of getting my bike onto the Amtrak bus was as simple as sliding it into the luggage bay and there were 10 people, including me and the driver, on our bus when the trip began.

The ride down I-5, since I wasn’t driving, was pleasant and pretty and when we arrived at Eugene’s Amtrak Station, I gathered myself together and set off for the Airbnb where I would be staying with other reporters and editors in town for the event.

Eugene is of course known for its track obsession and university, but an off-shoot of both of those things probably are some of the best bike paths I’ve experienced in my life. The city is a wonderland for bicyclists – flat, well-paved paths cover miles on both sides of the Willamette River, with a number of pedestrian bridges going back and forth. And that’s just the most visible of the many bike paths and lanes the city offers.

There are several other bike paths throughout town that take you in various directions.

My route followed the one-way streets with ample and sometimes protected bike lanes that take you across downtown and onto the Amazon path, which starts (or ends, depending on how you look at it) at South Eugene High School, and takes you several miles through parks and past a public pool.

I learned to ride my bike, among other places, in the South Eugene parking lot. I was born in Eugene, both my parents grew up here, and though I only lived in the city myself for a few years, as an infant and then again as a young kid, my grandparents all lived here, my best friend went to the University of Oregon and I worked at a Girl Scout camp that serves the kids of Eugene. I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve spent a lot of time in Eugene, a lot of summertime in Eugene, and so riding my bike next to Amazon Creek brings back pleasant memories.

But, I don’t think you need a brain full of positive associations to appreciate the bike paths of Eugene. Really, you just need a bike.

Many of the neighborhoods in town are easy to get to on two wheels, I thought to myself as I zoomed along. What a wonderful time I am already having!

Past the Amazon path, the route I had picked after consulting my dad, the bike map and Google, led me to a hill. It should be noted that part of being in the Willamette Valley is the existence of hills, ridges, high peaks and mountains. So I rode up the hill until it turned into something more, basically a 60-degree angle straight up, that I just couldn’t ride with my laden bike and my not-Lance-Armstrong’s lungs and legs. So I got off and pushed my bike. And pushed it. And pushed it. To the top of a mountain.

After a few strong words to an editor about the choice of a house literally on top of a mountain, I took a shower, ate some lunch with my coworkers and headed back down.

The World Athletics Championships, and the nearby ongoing Eugene Riverfront Festival, are easy to get to by bike, and both events have free bike valet parking.

Oregonian sports reporter Ken Goe calls the parking at the event “unbelievable,” so no matter how you get to Eugene, you might want to consider parking somewhere far away and riding a bike in. Eugene has a bike share program called “PeaceHealth Rides” that has bikes all over town and could be a good option if you’re visiting without your own bike.

I spent two days riding around Eugene. Up and down the Ruth Bascom path on both sides of the river, crossing footbridges, looking for stories and then reporting on stories I found.

The scenery along the trails varies from grass fields to woods to beaches to ponds. They take you past Skinners Butte and some epic playgrounds. You will hear the river run and birds chirping. You will find bathrooms, rose gardens, drinking fountains. You can ride for hours and stop when you want a rest, to sit on one of the many benches looking out over the river or clamber down to a beach and put your feet in.

For Northerners, this Willamette River is completely different than the massive thruway we have in Portland. It’s shallower and more narrow and, of course using all proper safety measures (never swim alone, wear a life jacket, beware of cold water and currents), a lovely place to swim.

On my second day of reporting by bike, I stopped at McMenamins North Bank, where the outside seating offers idyllic views and a sunny spot to eat french fries and refuel. This is one of the joys exclusive to Eugene – an open table right off a bike path with a perfect view of the river (and a $20 sandwich).

In my first two days in Eugene, I rode around 40 miles, though only once up that mountain. While I am truly committed to cutting down my fossil fuel consumption and strengthening my legs, I am not a world athletics champion myself. So after that first trip pushing my bike straight up, I came up with a new plan: I called the editor who chose the Airbnb from the bottom of the hill and he drove down and picked me up.

— Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker