2013 Cycle Oregon (The Week Ride)

Few places in America give Colorado a run for it's money in terms of natural beauty.  One of those places would be Oregon.  Most people think of the entire state of Oregon as tucked away in the sleepy, rainy part of the Pacific Northwest were hipsters go to retire, but Oregon has several different ecosystems.  Cycle Oregon's route this year took us through the Eastern part of the state, which is arid, and mountainous with large sweeping desert prairies.  In other words, not entirely unlike the Colorado front range:

My mom had never been to Oregon, so she signed up to do this ride with me.  In early September, we jumped in the car, and did the 1,000 mile ride across the Mountain West to John Day, OR. When she found out that the route would basically take us through what looked like Eastern Colorado, she said, "I came here to see a different ecosystem, call me when you're done with this ride." and got in the car and headed west. 

And yes, the ecosystem was not quite what we were expecting,  but it was a beautiful, late summer ride.  If you do it, you can expect really any kind of weather, being that it is high altitude, high latitude, and only a few hundred miles inland from the Pacific Ocean.  Fortunately, we were spared any rain, but there were a few days that were oppressively hot.  Even if the ride is flat, riding 90 miles in the desert can make one exhausted.  Oh, and since we are riding through the desert, don't forget, it gets cold at night.  Bring your sleeping bag that is rated down to 10 degrees, and lots of layers!   Oregonians take their cycling culture very seriously.  And no where was it more apparent than in the management of the Cycle Oregon event.  In previous rides, I may have ridden from town to town, reveling in the local night life, and even feasting on a local dinner.  The rides really were a way to bring money into a local economy.  In this cycling event, towns were few and far between.  In fact, there were many places where Cycle Oregon had to bring the town to the riders.  One night, lacking an overnight layover, Cycle Oregon leased a farmer's pasture, and brought their own food, showers, entertainment and beer and wine.


Sometimes Oregonians take their cycling culture too seriously.  I met lots of Oregonians on the trip, most friendly, but some that clearly had to prove they were taking this hobby to a level you'd never seen.  I would be bossed around by extreme riders who didn't like if I was riding cautiously on the right down a mountain pass (just had a concussion 6 months ago, still a little jumpy about that, sorry!) Our sponsor bike shop had a segment in the afternoon called, "Ask a bike mechanic." And a lot of the answers to questions were ironic.  And while we'll never have to question who the coolest bike mechanic is on the tour, those kind of answers lack heart and soul that brings us all together.  Which is really a shame, because in spite of that, the mechanics working for him as support on the tour were really decent salt of the earth type people.

Cycle Oregon entertainment stage

And as you'll see in the pictures below, it was not ONLY desert on Cycle Oregon. Yes, there was quite a bit of it.  But there was also a decent amount of mountain passes and alpine ecosystem.  I heard this was one of the flatter rides, and with that in mind, if you do it, you'll still want to train adequately.  There were a sufficient number of days with over 3,000 feet of climbing.  Depending on where you live, this may or may not sound like much of a challenge, but 3,000 feet is not insignificant, and you'll probably want to plan a route at least once a week in your training so you can understand what it feels like to do that level of climbing.  You also want to get comfortable with the downhill portion, which is exhilarating, but can also be a little frightening if you're not used to long, steep descents. 

It's not just desert in Oregon, lots of ranches too

The cost of this ride is $895.  For the price of admission, you will receive a nice place nightly to pitch your tent, three square meals (with vegetarian options), remarkably well-supported rest stops, and showers. This is probably one of the pricier rides, but in my opinion was well worth it.  Going in-between desolate mountain communities requires a higher level of support, from sag wagons carrying ill-prepared cyclists, to finding a sponsor willing to hand out so many fizzy electrolyte tablets and goo packets to athletes. Oh, and one huge benefit to bringing the town to the cyclists: for the first time ever, I was able to have a glass (or bottle, don't judge) of wine with my dinner at camp.  Widmer Brothers also had a wide variety of beers to enjoy after a nice long ride, which, I'll be honest, I was always craving at the end of a ride. 

Lastly, I'll say they did do a good job of capitalizing on the natural scenery, entertainment and culture of the area. The ride took us through quite a few National Forests, Wildlife Refuges and even a natural hot springs.  Nothing feels better after a long ride than a communal soak in some hot medicinal waters. 

A natural hot springs in the middle of a ride?  A great place to rest your legs!