Portland Twilight Criterium
Those warm summer breezes you’re feeling downtown tonight might just be being whipped up by some of the country’s fastest bike racers. Dozens of elite riders will gather this evening to face off in the Portland Twilight Criterium, a road race featuring all-out sprints around a one-half mile loop of the North Park Blocks. Average time for a racer to complete the circuit? Just over one minute. Not to worry, spectators get a 360-degree view of the action from inside the park blocks, so you won’t miss a moment. But should the whirling dervish of spandex leave you dizzy, feel free to right yourself inside the accompanying Widmer beer garden, or Handbuilt Bike Show.

Fanno Creek History Walk
Time to break out your walkin’ shoes: Saturday morning, Portland Hill Walks author, Laura Foster, heads up another one of Metro’s WalkThere! guide book excursions. This weekend’s two-hour outing takes place along Fanno Creek, and winds through three separate city parks. The spacious Fanno Creek Watershed is home to several species of small mammals and around one hundred different kinds of birds, so odds are there’ll be plenty of chances for wildlife viewing. Keen observations on the area’s past from Foster round out the experience.

Friends of the Forest Day
The National Forest Foundation has declared this Sunday “Friends of the Forest Day”. Naturally, that means it’s time for a little house cleaning. The house? The one and only Timberline Lodge. What to bring: a hearty appetite for do-gooding. The day’s agenda includes replanting efforts; trail maintenance projects; and restoration work on the lodge’s outdoor amphitheater. And because a well-fed army is a productive one, Timberline has you covered for lunch, too. Also in supply: guest speakers with plenty of insider history about the lodge, not to mention, several newfound forest-loving friends.