Oakridge Mall

Trail Review

• We biked along Branham Ln to Martial Cottle Park, then biked neighborhood streets to Ori-deli, an Indonesian market, and then biked across Highway 85 via Martial Cottle Park, before biking to Oakridge Mall via Blossom Hill Rd.

• Biking at sunset in Martial Cottle Park was lovely, biking the wet rainy road on Branham Ln was less nice.

• There were very few places to park bikes at Oakridge Mall. We parked our bikes at a less-than-sturdy bike rack on the Thornwood Road side of the mall. After the fact, I found a sturdy bike rack near the old P. F. Chang location.

What I Learned

• As mentioned above, we parked our bikes near the mall entrance near Macy’s on a slim bike rack made with steel. Unfortunately, after two hours at the mall, we came back to the bikes to find the bikes stolen. Someone had cut through the steel bike rack to slide the bike lock through and take the bikes.

• It was my first time using the highway underpass at Martial Cottle and I found it to be super convenient (even though it was flooded and we had to walk our bikes)—much easier than going over Highway 85 via Blossom Hill Road.

What Happened?

8.1 miles, 58 mins, 62 ft of ascent

For a date night, we thought it’d be more fun to bike to Loving Hut, a great vegan restaurant located at Oakridge Mall. Since the mall is so close, we decided to swing around to Martial Cottle Park and it turned out to be a nice ride. On the way, we even stopped by Ori-deli to pick up some Indonesian sauces.

At the mall, I couldn’t locate a bike rack, so we went with what was available and paid the price by losing our bikes to theft. Due to that, we walked home.