the.nation.needs

well i've landed. joined the circuit (no beanie given with my membership) and gotten in one fight with a driver. so far so good. Oh and it's sunny today. time to go climb inside. ; )

I was regularly working 50+ hour weeks sitting in front of a computer doing special effects. I'm from the Northwest and wanted to get back to the area and find something else to do. I think they call it a quarter life crisis.

Being from Idaho I have to pass the buck onto all of the Californians that relocated to Coeur d'Alene. Most of the native drivers I know had to learn pretty quick with the winters here. Thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward to the change in pace.

"Know somewhere else where folks who want to make a left turn go halfway across the road blocking oncoming traffic from the left for a long time until they can make a left? Or that bump you at a stop sign/light if you take too long." Oh man this bugged me to know end. I always wished I had the money to just run into people and make the point. I have to say I was excited to move from one of the least friendly bicycling cities to one of the best. It's good to know. Boston it seems to me is very aggresive city to drive in. It took me awhile to realize there is in fact a method to the madness. It's somewhat difficult to reign that in now that I'm driving in the Northwest again.

Thanks for all the info and help. I've looked into the Hawthorne area and it seems to be along the lines of what I'm looking for. Thank you very much. I was leaning more towards the circuit, you kind of reaffirmed my thoughts. Maybe I'll get a regular gym membership as well, or just ride my bike more. I'll be sure to buy a Red Sox beanie, so I can fit in there yet maintain some east Coast mystique. Do those knit hats w/ the brim count? Yes, Google is a phenomenal search engine. In fact, not only is it how i found this forum, it's how I learned about PRG and The Circuit. As well it allowed me to more or less rule out StoneWorks and Club Sport. However, it lacks both the human touch of personal experience and the ability to converse. Did you know Firefox has a convenient Google search window in the upper right of its navigation bar? Serious thanks to everyone with legit info. I'm really getting excited for the move.

Hello, I'm relocating to Portland in January and was hoping to pick the brains of this list's members. Specifically I'd like to get an idea of what the climbing community is like. Being car free I spend a lot of time in the gym. How do the two primary gyms compare? I understand that PRG has lead climbing and TR but how much bouldering do they have? Does The Circuit have any other facilities of note? Cardio machines and the like? What about the atmosphere at the two? About Portland in general, I'm in my late 20's and moving from Boston. Anyone familiar with both able to fill me in on which areas of Portland would be most like either Cambridge or Jamaica Plain? Uh, I think that's enough for now. Thanks a lot for the help. Of course I'll be looking for people to climb with as well. Not sure how the grades compare out west but I lead up to 5.11 and boulder up to V5 on the East Coast. Fairly laid back but I take safety seriously. -ryan