Cycle Oregon base camp: Umatilla

[Editor’s note: I wrote this last night but couldn’t get on the web until now.]

So here I am in McNary Dam State Park, Umatilla Oregon. I’ve never been this far out into the Gorge. I feel like I’m out on the frontier.

It’s Day 0 of the 19th annual Cycle Oregon and the sounds, sights and scope of this whole operation are overwhelming.

Thousands of people are settling into this temporary compound; 2000 riders, hundreds of volunteers, vendors, staff, it’s like a tiny nation-state in the middle of nowhere. Generators and refrigerated trucks hum incessantly and riders are like bees in a honeycomb, busily setting up their tents and fidgeting with their huge bags of gear.

The camp itself has been laid out with military precision. Each section has its purpose; the main stage, the vendors area, tent farm, porta-potties, beer garden and so on. Amazingly, somehow it all comes together (even though the stiff wind has been trying to blow everything apart). Everyone (it seems) is happy and that’s really all that matters. And hey, what’s not to love; we’re about to embark on a seven day riding adventure through some of the most gorgeous country in, well, the country.

But before we start, there’s Umatilla base camp.

Standing guard over camp is the Smith family. I noticed this trio of gunslingers standing by the bike corral and found out that they’re all related; dad Rob, son Trevor and grandpa Mark. Rob’s great-great Grandpa was a real-life Sherriff in North Dakota back in the 1800s. And yes, the guns are loaded (with confetti).

Bike Gallery is here in a big way. They’ve got a retail store set up, but the product mix has been tailored a bit for Cycle Oregon; toothbrushes and motrin are their best sellers.

Cycle Oregon’s main mission is to support the small towns they travel through. On that note, they’ve got a community market area that features local vendors and organizations selling foods and crafts. These cute kids from a local elementary school were selling nice, big Hermiston watermelon for $1 per slice.

But I didn’t want to fill up with watermelon, because I noticed the grilling machine going full tilt. What’s a grilling machine? The caterers have this custom-made trailer that can grill 1,000 New York steaks at one time. It’s essentially a conveyor belt and the steaks go ’round-and-’round, dipping themselves in a vat of marinade with each rotation. Vegetarians, avert your eyes…