by Lynette Chiang
www.galfromdownunder.com
You never know who you might meet on Cycle Oregon, maybe the perfect-sized riding partner just around the next rest stop! A personal review of this event by The Galfromdownunder, aka Lynette Chiang, Bike Friday World Traveler and author of The Handsomest Man in Cuba.
Summary: A superbly organized,'just add pedal strokes' cycle camping tour that's undeniably upscale, yet offers value for money.
"CYCLE OREGON XXII, that was the best ever."
"NO, 2001 was the best ever ..."
"I liked 1998. The best."
I had barely registered at the Champoeg picnic table before I overheard several people trading opinions on which particular Cycle Oregon was the funnest, hardest, coldest, hottest, wettest they'd ridden, sagged, supported or volunteered...
What, you mean people do this gruelling, week-long, all-inclusive tour of Oregon's beauteous boonies more than once? Oui and si: it happens to be an inked-in annual vacation for a giant peloton of the 2000+ riders who sign up for the famous moving cycle-circus each year. Some have done it at least four or five in a row - and I am told an elite few have all 17 tours under their Camelbaks, starting way back in 1988 with Cycle Oregon I.
The Land at Eden's Gate: the 2005 Weekend
Through the long, cold spring of 1843, almost 900 men, women and children gathered at the Missouri River and turned their eyes toward the West ... their destination was the Willamette Valley, the place they called The Land at Eden's Gate. Come see what all the fuss was about...
So began the evocative opener for the 2005 Weekend.
"Eden's gate" is, in fact, the new Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway, a state first. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department officially opened the 136-mile route at 9am on the Saturday of the Weekend with a bicycle-chain-cutting ceremony courtesy of the Bike Gallery's Jay Graves.
From the Cycle Oregon Weekend webpage:
This 136-mile route linking two of Americas greatest bicycling cities, Portland and Eugene, will be permanently signed, maintained and marketed, to showcase the scenery, history, agriculture, architecture and communities of the Willamette Valley. Join us as we ride into history....
Getting There and Back
The ride began in the woods of Champoeg State Park, roughly 30 miles south of Portland, and finished in Coburg, near Eugene with 1200+ paid-up riders. They can support up to 2000 riders. I was glad for the camaraderie of the 'less enormous' group. Within two minutes I'd connected with a woman who'd read my book, Bike Friday owner Andrew Black from Portland (we're about the same height so that he found me was a feat) and Bike Friday Club of Tacoma, WA leader Max Welker on his regular bike ... but I won't hold that against him!
The first 27 miles were Schwinn-cruiser flat and easy. I'd bet my Ortleib folding bowl that few people would bother training for a sagged weekend ride even if strongly advised to do so, so this section was a sensible warm-up. It began with a magical bike path alongside fields until we hit the road.
Terrific rest stop food. Both rest stop fuel and meals (lunch both days, dinner Saturday) were excellent. Road fuel consisted of fresh grapes, bananas, bagels, some palate-perplexing but thankfully organic fruit bars apparently developed by a Portland chef called Paley, and even cheesy Goldfish crackers. There was even V8 vegetable juice as an alternative to sodas, and potato chips. Of course we don't need potato chips in our diet but nothing tastes better that salty golden crunch on a long ride, right?
The only improvement I'd personally make to this stage of the event would be a large warning sign at the lunch table with a bike riding up the steep side of a wedge of cheese.
Just how scenic was this Bikeway? I've lived in Oregon for four years, so I tend to take the Northwest scenery for granted. For those who are more accustomed to long, straight roads disappearing to a vanishing point (as witnessed in the Bike Friday Arizona Desert Camp), the rollers of Oregon keep your brain entertained. It's the kind of scenery where you don't know what's around the bend; you crest a rise, stare straight across at distant snow covered peaks, teeter briefly above green fields spreading below in every direction, plunge down through the middle of it all at great speed, and next minute you're careening alongside a wooded riverbank or through a black chunky lava field for ten miles or more... in a land of 100+ cable channels I can only surmise that this variety is partly what gets people back doing Cycle Oregon year after year.
To read Lynettes whole travel story go to http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/cycleoregonwkd2005
Cycle Oregon Tours 2006 upcoming:
Weekend Ride July 22-23 Eugene-Oakland-Eugene (Home of Bike Friday! Call ahead for a test ride or factory tour.)
131 miles
$175 Adult
Week long tour September 9-16 Lake Wallula start then through 6 other small towns
490 miles
$799
More details www.cycleoregon.com
