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