Here’s the official press release from the Cycle Oregon folks about their 2008 weekend and week-long rides:
Cycle Oregon 21, Sept. 6-13, route centers on the Wallowa Mountains;
Cycle Oregon: The Weekend, Aug. 1-3, to be based at Fort Stevens State Park
PORTLAND, Ore. – Jan. 31, 2008 – Cycle Oregon announced at its annual Kickoff Party today the week-long and weekend routes for its annual bicycle tours of Oregon’s back roads and small communities: the Wallowa Mountains for the 21st version of the longer tour, and the area around Fort Stevens State Park for the weekend event.In a multimedia presentation before more than 1,000 people at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike campus outside Portland, ride founder and Oregonian writer Jonathan Nicholas announced the routes, along with the recipient of the Cycle Oregon Fund’s 2008 Signature Grant, a preservation effort for the glacial moraines surrounding Wallowa Lake.
The week-long route will be a loop starting and ending in Elgin, and include stops in Union, Baker City, Halfway and Wallowa Lake. There will be two-night stays in Halfway and Wallowa Lake, with a side trip into Hells Canyon from Halfway and an optional “Scavenger Hunt” into Joseph and Enterprise on the layover day at Wallowa Lake. There will be multiple options for ride length on five of the seven days of riding, appealing to a broader cross-section of riders. Total mileage for the week ranges from 276 to 465 miles.
The Weekend Ride will explore the rivers, bays and coastline of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington from the base camp at Fort Stevens. The first day will feature several loops east and south of the park, all stopping at historic Fort Clatsop for lunch. The second day features a ride across the Astoria-Megler bridge into Washington, a 4.1-mile bridge featuring the world’s longest continuous truss. Riders can choose to ride all the way to the Long Beach Peninsula and Cape Disappointment. Rides from five to roughly 60 miles will be offered each day for this family-friendly event, along with activities within historic Fort Stevens State Park.
Cycle Oregon was founded in 1987 to boost bicycle tourism and provide financial support for Oregon’s small rural communities. Each year the Cycle Oregon Fund supplies grants to support bicycling in Oregon, and to fund projects in communities through which we ride. In 2006 the fund donated more than $100,000 to 10 projects around the state.
In 2005 the Cycle Oregon Fund initiated a $50,000 Signature Grant to help the community of Halfway complete funding to repurchase the land for their county fairgrounds. In 2007 Cycle Oregon’s Signature Grant helped restock Diamond Lake with trout after the lake was intentionally poisoned to kill off an invasive species.
For 2008 the fund’s Signature Grant will go to help protect Wallowa Lake’s glacial moraines from development pressure. Cycle Oregon will work with Wallowa County partners, Oregon State Parks, the National Forest Foundation and others to ensure the moraines’ long-term preservation.
