Eugene and Springfield are built around a river, similar to Portland. Here it's the Willamette River that snakes through downtown and passes the University of Oregon. The Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System runs along the river on both the north and south banks. It's named for the feisty first female mayor of Eugene who was in large part responsible for its development.
We parked at the Valley River Center (mall) and biked clockwise, first along the North Bank Path and then returning along the South Bank Path. Most of the ride was lovely, passing through parks and natural areas. The trail is multi-use and mostly rather wide and well paved, so we never felt really crowded.
At some points the trail parallels major highways, so we were reminded of our old riding days in Los Angeles. Part of the South Bank Path actually runs along a city street by the University of Oregon and is not well signed. One vehicle honked its horn and drove quite close to me, clearly not happy about sharing the road. We had to double back to find the route at one point, and we clearly missed parts and ended up on street more than the route intended.
At one point the path runs along the Owen Rose Garden, so of course we stopped to smell the roses.
Several ped/bike bridges cross the river, so you can decide how far to ride. We rode to Island Park on the North Bank Path and doubled back to cross to the south on the Knickerbocker Ped/Bike Bridge. At the west end of the South Bank Path we crossed the Greenway Ped/Bike Bridge back to the North Bank Path, right near our truck.
We sat on the ground overlooking the river to eat our picnic lunch before getting back on the bikes and riding to the Center for Appropriate Transport. From the web we had gotten the idea that they had a museum, but it's a bit of lightheartedness. They have several bikes suspended from the ceiling in what they call their "rideable museum." They do have an amazing collection of used bike parts. They sell used bikes and custom built new ones, with emphasis on cargo bikes and other unusual transportation solutions. They also rent space and tools for do it yourself bike repair.
We stopped at Costco on our way home. It was a good day, and we even got home in time to slip the casserole into the oven for dinner at 6:00 p.m.
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