What lasts 7 days, has 4400 wheels, travels a distance of 435 miles, climbs nearly 28000', and consumes over 10,000,000 calories per day? The answer is Cycle Oregon VIII! For the last 8 years, the Oregonian has sponsored and helped to organize the bicycle camping trip known as Cycle Oregon. I had heard a lot about this tour from many people, including folks on last year's infamous Fear and Loathing trip to Southern California. It sounded like a fun ride, and I finally had the time to do it, so way back in April I sent in my $435 registration fee and hoped that I would get in (the tour is limited to 2000 riders and filled-up in a matter of a few days once registration opened on April 4). By the end of April I had received my notification - I was on my way to eastern Oregon!

Getting there

The journey actually began on Thursday, September 7, with the long drive to Portland. The route up the coast was actually quite pretty, especially since the long and wet Winter and Spring had made everything so green. In Portland I had a chance to visit with a pen pal that evening and take a look around the city a bit.

The following morning I took a nice ride along the bike paths paralleling the Columbia River and then headed east along the Sandy River. Portland is a very bicycle-friendly city with well-designed bike routes and many separate paths along nearly every major street. I saw a lot of bicycle commuter traffic. It's amazing what a little planning can do. Around noon I checked out of the motel and headed east along Interstate 84 to Pendleton. The drive through the Columbia River Gorge was spectacular! Leaving Portland, the terrain was steep, rocky, and tree-covered. The river was always off to my left, and the right side offered views of vertical cliffs and the occasional waterfall. Then, near a tiny town called Biggs, the green changed abruptly to tan as the gorge walls gave way to prairie. It was as if I had been magically transported to the Midwest! This part of Oregon is definitely not for people who suffer from agoraphobia, and the vistas add a new dimension to the phrase, "wide open spaces".

Pendleton is a city that has seen better days. A good part of the downtown area consists of closed shops. In my conversations with a few of the locals I learned that the population has actually been decreasing over the past few years, but that it's a nice place to live - if you have a job! There is hope that the economy will revive when some high-tech industries relocate to the area having been drawn by the rural atmosphere, inexpensive land, and some enticing tax breaks.

On Saturday, I packed up once again and made the trip from Pendleton to one of the designated starting points at Fossil, a tiny town with a population of only 400 people. Since the ride began and ended in different locations, participants had the option of parking vehicles at the starting point or the ending point and taking a bus shuttle or arranging other transportation to the proper location. I opted to park at the finish, to shorten the trip home at the end of the ride, and take a bus to the start. The adventure begins ...

Saturday, September 9: Fossil to Athena

Upon my morning arrival in Fossil, I got my first taste of the incredible organization behind Cycle Oregon. Cars were routed to a drop-off point where luggage was unloaded, and then we were directed to parking areas along side streets and even on people's vacant lots and spare parking places in driveways! Next, armed with a small bag of tools, I rode my bike down to the official bike boxing area. With the help of one of the numerous volunteers, the seat and pedals were removed and the handlebars turned sideways to fit my Della Santa into a huge bicycle box. The box was taped shut, marked with my name and registration number, and placed into one of six semis to be transported to the start. While packing my bicycle I encountered Rich Hoops, one of the several Pedalers on this ride. I then returned to the luggage drop-off to collect my two allowed bags and board a bus to Athena. This was no dull ride, however, since yet another Cycle Oregon volunteer kept us occupied by discussing the ride route, support services, and procedures for check-in, meals, and showers.

The bus discharged its occupants at the entrance to Athena's large high school. I claimed my luggage and walked out to the football field to set up camp for the night. Check-in was as well-organized as everything else and took only 5 minutes. I collected my tools again and was directed to the bike unboxing zone to claim and reassemble my transportation for the next 7 days. A quick ride around town (didn't take long because there's not much town there!) to ensure that everything was working properly, and I was off to my tent and a nice nap before dinner. Once again I was impressed with the level of organization necessary to feed some 2500 people with hardly a hitch.

Athena is located just a few miles north of Pendleton and is noted for its annual Caledonian Days: Scottish games that first were celebrated in 1899. Naturally, the opening ceremonies this evening included Scottish pipers and singers as well as a folk music group called The Billys. We were also introduced to a few of the many volunteers who laid-out the route and would be working on the tour. The festivities ended at 9:00 PM and it was off to my tent for the start of the ride tomorrow.

Sunday, September 10: Athena to Elgin

After breakfast and packing and loading gear, I was off on my first day of Cycle Oregon riding. The mileage today was only 45 miles and there was only one hill. The hill, however, was nearly 30 miles long and involved about 4500' of climbing. People left camp very early whereas I was on a more leisurely schedule, so I ended up passing at least 1500 of the riders on the way up! The change from rolling wheat fields to the Blue Mountains was truly spectacular. On the climb we were treated to great views of the mountains, the plains, and even a belly dancer (really!). We were also treated to the first of 7 days of HOT weather. It was definitely warm, and the medical teams had their hands full keeping people from dehydrating. The lunch stop was close to the top of the climb at Spout Springs which is a ski resort in the winter and a mountain bike park in the summer. A few more bumps and I was on my way downhill to Elgin.

Elgin is located in a valley between the Blue Mountains and the Wallowa Mountains; the camp of 2000+ riders was located at the high school's football and athletic field complex. Thus began a routine that I would follow for the next seven days: find my luggage, set up my ground cloth and tent, head to the portable showers to clean up and change, rinse my cycling clothes, stretch, take care of any bicycle problems if any. After setting-up camp and cleaning up, I was off to see the sights. The community put a lot of effort into entertaining the cyclists: cowboy poets, a tuba band, and a play staged in the town's restored opera house/city hall, The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch. As with all of the places we stayed, the townspeople had set up a booth and we were given information about events happening in town that day and a street map to help find our way about. I stopped by the community center pool for a dip, and then watched the play. Evening entertainment was provided by The Billys.

Monday, September 11: Elgin to Joseph

I was getting better at the routine of breaking camp and preparing for the day's ride after only one day of it and managed to get everything ready to go in about 25 minutes. It promised to be an easy day with only 3200' of vertical over a distance of 52 miles, and over half of that spread out for the last 30 miles to Joseph. Although it was below freezing this morning and there was actually ice on my tent, it was once again in the 90s for most of the ride.

Leaving Elgin, the tour followed the Minam River into the Wallowa Mountains and up some beautiful forested canyons. The ensuing descent brought us into the Wallowa Valley and the lunch stop at the town of Wallowa, a small (population 800) ranching and logging community. Leaving the lunch stop I caught up with Kathy Gilbert (a Pedaler) and Mary Ganzel (a runner who is converting to cycling!). We next passed through Enterprise, a veritable metropolis of nearly 2000 souls, where the entire downtown area had been closed off to allow the cyclists to stop and shop. A few more miles brought us to Joseph, a thriving art community with many galleries, museums, and shops.

For me, however, the big attraction was the fact that Joseph is right at the edge of the Wallowa Mountains, the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and Wallowa Lake. The area is often referred to as the "Alps of Oregon", and with good reason. School buses shuttled people out to the lake and to the Mount Howard Tramway where I rode the tram up to the top. The views on the 2 mile hike around the top were nothing short of spectacular! I could see the entire Wallowa Valley, the Snake River area in Idaho, and the most impressive mountains on the entire trip. Once back at the bottom, it was only a short walk over the state park at Wallowa Lake. While waiting for the shuttle back to Joseph, a bunch of us were entertained by the local deer who seemed to have developed a taste for Powerbars.

While looking around one of the nicer bronze sculpture galleries, I got to see part of the evening's festivities: an historical re-enactment of Joseph's only bank robbery. There was much shooting, shouting, and horseback chasing of the culprit (who became the bank's president in later years).

Tuesday, September 12: Joseph to Halfway

Day three marked the first day of "real" cycling - 78 miles and 5600' in the Wallowa Mountains and the Hell's Canyon National Recreation Area. It was a challenging ride, made more so as I chased The Amazing Amazon Twins, Melinda and Melissa, up the hills; I could only manage to catch them when the road flattened out. About 45 miles and 5000' later, I was at the lunch stop located at an overlook of Hell's Canyon and the deepest river gorge in North America created by the Snake River. After the wet Winter and Spring, the place looked more like heaven on earth than Hell; there were abundant wildflowers and lots of green! My reward for having made it to the top, other than a nice chat with the Twins at lunch, was a 22 mile descent towards Halfway. Since it was a fairly gradual grade, it was a new experience to be able to use my aero bars on a downhill, and I made excellent time all the way to Halfway.

"Circus" was the theme for our stay in Halfway (which was literally half way through the ride), and the riders were greeted by clowns and appropriate Sousa March music. There was a pit barbecue for dinner, and ex-Renoite Inga Thompson gave a cycling clinic (I'd had enough riding for the day, thank you!). The post office stayed open late, enabling me to get some postcards sent off to friends, and Lillies of the Valley, an antique and gift shop on the main street, offered an incredible English garden full of petunias, snapdragons, plums, pears, and apples.

I skipped the evening entertainment in favor of a long night's rest to recover from today's ride and be fresh for tomorrow's hills.

Wednesday, September 13: Halfway to Sumpter

The fourth day was also the longest one; 84 miles and 4500' of vertical. Fortunately the climbing was gradual, so it was an easy ride. Once out of the hills outside of Halfway and through the town of Richland, we hit the high desert of dirt and sagebrush and heat. The vegetation and terrain is virtually identical to that in most of Nevada - it was as if I'd dropped through a wormhole and ended-up back home! Our lunch stop was the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center which featured living history demonstrations, dioramas, and many displays and exhibits. Located high on a hilltop, I could see the route of the Oregon Trail marked by the wagon wheel ruts still visible in the desert. From the lunch stop we continued on through Baker City, easily the largest place that the ride passed through. It was quite an experience to once again have to deal with traffic and even stoplights! From there it was an easy cruise into Sumpter, the camping spot for the evening.

Sumpter is a one-time mining boomtown that has essentially become a ghost town (current population = 150). It's claim to fame is now the partially restored and operating Sumpter Valley narrow gauge railroad and the country's largest abandoned gold dredge. It was also the worst camping site of the entire ride since we were occupying the fairgrounds and the grounds were mostly loose dirt. The amount of dust raised by some 2500 cyclists and support personnel is impressive. In spite of the fact that we outnumbered the town's population by a factor of over 1600%, they had quite a number of events lined-up. The railroad gave rides, a barnstorming pilot buzzed the camp, and at sunset a Pony Express rider picked up commemorative letters.

Thursday, September 14: Sumpter to Prairie City

You would never guess how hot it was going to be later in the morning by how darned cold it was when I got up! Although I'd often had to start the day's riding wearing a windbreaker, it looked like I might actually need my tights on this one. The fears were groundless, however; as the sun began to light up the Dust Bowl the temperature started to climb quickly. The miles were short today, only 46, and the climbing was a bit less - we only had to cross the Dixie and Tipton mountains, a mere 3300'! Lunch stop in the tiny town of Unity was great as we were treated to some great fiddle music. From there it was a short jaunt over Dixie Summit and then downhill all the way to Prairie City.

With a backdrop of the Strawberry Mountains and wilderness area, it is in a beautiful setting. Once again the community rose to the occasion of being inundated with cyclists and provided a natural history slide show, cowboy poetry, and a gold panning exhibition. We were back on a football field again, so I was able to clean up the dirt and dust from Sumpter. One of the best kept secrets of the town was a small park located along Dixie Creek. Although only a few blocks from camp, the tour participants passed it by in favor of the beer garden set in the larger city park. It was wonderful to get away from all the people for a few hours and just kick back with my feet in the creek, catch up on all my tour notes, take a quiet nap, and do some reading. (You're right, Gretchen, sometimes people need that time alone!)

After a spectacular sunset, the bike techs (ever notice how they don't call them mechanics anymore?) had a bike rodeo which more resembled a demolition derby. Glad they used their own bikes ...

Friday, September 15: Prairie City to Monument

Day six: 72 miles and 3800' in still-record heat. We had over 20 miles of gradual downhill to start off and passed through John Day, the site of the Kam Wah Museum which recounts the herbal medicine practices of the many thousands of Chinese mine laborers who were employed in this region during the mining boom days. We had received a lot of press about how neat this museum was, so a number of people took the side trip to see it. It was closed! 2000' and 22 miles later we arrived in Fox for lunch. The heat was brutal and there was not a tree in sight; shade next to the tiny schoolhouse was at a premium. Some relief was available inside the school where Cycle Oregon participants were asked to help judge an elementary student art show. More climbing brought us to Long Creek which has the dubious distinction of having experienced the worst tornado to ever hit Oregon - in 1894, 200 mph winds blasted the community into the ground. Finally it was a quick and steep 12 mile descent to our goal of Monument.

This tiny community of 200 is located right next to the John Day River, and we were greeted by most of the schoolchildren as we crossed the bridge into town. The place had one tiny store and only one pay phone. Most of the area around the school where we camped and the city park was closed to traffic and the locals had set up booths to sell fresh-baked pies after dinner. The park was the site for a street dance that lasted way past my bedtime. The favorite spot was a huge swimming hole right next to the bridge into town. It was safely deep enough to entice a few brave souls to dive from the bridge into the cool water.

The geology of the country we rode through today started to change. From plains and mountains showing evidence of volcanic and glacier origins, we were now heading into distinctly sedimentary terrain. Geologic markers easily outnumbered historical ones, and most of them pointed the way to various fossil beds.

Saturday, September 16: Monument to Fossil

This was it, the last day of riding! It promised to be a relatively easy day covering 60 miles and with only 2600' of climbing. There was even some cloud cover and a hint of rain which would be a welcome break from the heat. The first 40 miles were an easy downhill cruise to Service Creek with a brief stop for lunch in Spray. From Service Creek, however, it was 10 miles and 2100' straight up, probably the toughest climb on the whole ride. Finally going downhill again, I knew that the end was near when I started to see giant pink saber-tooth tiger tracks on the road. They turned off the highway into town and an arch of balloons and cheering residents marked the end of the Cycle Oregon VIII ride.

Fossil, named after the discovery of some fossilized elephant bones, is known for just that: fossils! After reclaiming my bags, finding my car, and setting up camp on a school lawn for the last time, I walked over to the fossil beds located just behind the area high school and spent an hour hunting for a few treasures. The closing ceremonies this evening were unique, even for an event like Cycle Oregon, because the main event was a wedding. We were then introduced to some of the hundreds of volunteers who made the ride possible, from the route designers to the people who cleaned the Sani-Huts several times a day! The final performance by The Billys was upstaged by a spectacular lightning show in the mountains.

Most people left Fossil this evening after the closing show. For those going back to Athena, bicycles were repacked and reloaded onto the trucks. Since I would be leaving Sunday morning, I loaded all but my camping gear back into my car and sat back for a while to enjoy a last night of stargazing unimpeded by city lights.

Going home

After breakfast on Sunday morning, I packed my camping equipment, paid my last visit to a blue Sani-Hut in what I hoped would be a long time, and headed down the highway back to Reno as other participants boarded buses back to Portland. Instead of the scenic coastal route that I followed on the trip to the start, I stayed inland on secondary roads through Bend, Lakeview, and Alturas. Boring, but an uncrowded and relatively quick way back home.

Comments and Impressions

If I could pick one word to describe this event, it would be, "amazing!" Just to witness the logistics of how flawlessly this rolling community of some 2500 people operates is a sight to behold. In addition to three meals a day (as well as dinner on the night before the ride started and breakfast on the morning that the ride ended), the organizers provided numerous rest stops along each day's route, a camp site to accommodate all these people each evening, portable showers at each site, a myriad of porta-potties (the infamous "Blue Rooms") at the camp and at rest and lunch stops, and first rate rider support services. That's not all! The ride had four ambulances staffed with paramedics and doctors. Three traveling bicycle repair shops set up free repair facilities every day at camp and helped with problems along the ride. Four Oregon State Police motorcycle troopers followed the entire ride daily (the two that I talked to said that this was truly a plum assignment!). Airtouch provided cellular phone services in the areas that it would work; in many of the areas we rode through, communications relied upon State Police channels and HAM radio operators. Five sag wagons accompanied the riders. A sports massage team of 25 masseuses provided massages for a fee; chiropractic treatment was also available. There was even an expresso stand set up every morning and evening.

There was definitely no lack of food on the ride although the menu wasn't overly exciting. I managed to pack away an impressive amount of victuals on this ride and gained only two pounds (ended up in my quads!). Breakfast almost always consisted of granola, bagels, fruit, various condiments, juice, coffee, and one main dish. Lunch was always in a box and included fruit, a turkey or beef sandwich, and salads in styrofoam cups. My impression was that a lot of the contents of these box lunches were thrown out or put in the "recycle" boxes untouched. Dinner had a bit more variety although the greens and other salads were somewhat lacking. There were always plenty of drinks (no limit!) and dinner always included dessert. As an example, here's a partial list of the food for lunch at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center: 625 lbs. of turkey, 266 loaves of bread, 300 lbs. of cheese, 1632 cans of soda, 34 cases of Gatorade, 2000 lbs. of salad, 147 lbs. of bean sprouts, 44 flats of grapes, etc. etc. etc. If the food supplied by the tour wasn't enough to fill you up, there were always community bake sales; the apple pie at Monument was memorable! The only common complaint heard about the food was that the actual menus seldom matched the ones published in the tour book that each rider received.

You definitely don't go into a ride like this without some serious preparation, and it was easy to spot the people who hadn't. Less than halfway through the tour I daily passed a lot of riders on very high-tech bikes who were sporting various styles of knee taping and struggling to make it up even the easiest hills. I knew that I was going on this ride in April, so, starting with the Chico Wildflower Century, I embarked upon a strict training regime to prepare for this event. The effort paid off, because I can't remember ever having sore legs or feeling tired when riding out onto the course at the beginning of the day. Titanium, disk wheels, and carbon fiber (and there were enough exotic materials on this ride to build a couple of space shuttles!) didn't help out-of-shape bodies ride for seven days and climb nearly 28000'. This was not an event where you could ride yourself into shape during the course of the week, as many people found out.

The highlight of the tour was the people. The volunteers did an exceptional job organizing and keeping things running smoothly. With 2200 cyclists, it was amazing that I never once heard anyone raise their voice in anger about anything. Maybe the majority of them were just too tired to be mad at anyone, but I believe that the common experience of such a challenging event brings out the very best in people. The privilege of participating in a ride like this is what the sport of cycling is all about for me and makes the effort more than worthwhile.

Running a close second to the people on the ride was the route through eastern Oregon. This is some of the most rugged, wild, remote, and incredibly beautiful country in the West. I rode through plains, deserts, and mountains. I saw a part of rural America that I thought had ceased to exist; communities where people didn't worry about locking their doors at night, where you could leave a bicycle standing in front of a store and not have to worry about it being there when you came out, and where children played in a park without fear. It was truly a remarkable physical and spiritual journey for me, and one that I will be anxious to do again.

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