Contact:
Tara Corbin
Cycle Oregon
503-880-2912
tara@cycleoregon.comCycle Oregon Kickoff Party: New Routes, New Territory
2010 registration will begin immediately after announcement of all-new routes – and a venture into new places
PORTLAND, Ore. – Cycle Oregon, riding a wave of momentum after record-breaking sellouts for both its events in 2009, will reveal new routes for the Week and Weekend rides at its annual Kickoff Party, Feb. 4 at the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike campus outside Portland. And, as with 2009, the Week Ride will venture into places it has never been.
The yearly Kickoff Party has become the traditional method of announcing the Cycle Oregon routes, which change each year. This year the event will unveil the routes of both the Week Ride (Sept. 11-18) and the Weekend Ride (July 16-18). The choice of routes is a major point of speculation among the cycling community and is a closely held secret until the official announcement.
The party’s doors will open at 6 p.m., with the route announcements at 7 and registration available at 7:45 both in person and at www.cycleoregon.com. In 2009 the Week Ride, typically limited to between 2,000 and 2,300 riders based on route logistics, sold out in the first 12 days, and the Weekend Ride sold out as well, with more than 1,900 registrations received.
Jonathan Nicholas, one of the event’s founders, will reveal the course routes in a multimedia presentation in front of an anticipated crowd of more than 1,000 people.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of Cycle Oregon is the chance to take our riders to places they may never have been, to enjoy experiences that capture the essence of the people, places and cultures we treasure here,” Nicholas said. “This year we can promise riders they’ll see towns, and have experiences, that Cycle Oregon has never included before. And, of course, we’ll still have all the amenities that make Cycle Oregon the Best Bike Ride in America.”
The freshly updated Cycle Oregon Web site will go live at 7:45 p.m., the same time in-person registration opens. Because the events draw riders from across the U.S. and abroad – in 2009, 39 states and 10 foreign countries were represented at the Week Ride – simultaneous online registration gives everyone a chance to sign up before the events sell out.
Cycle Oregon’s 2009 events were among the most successful ever. The Week Ride, covering “The State of Jefferson,” crossed into California for the first time, starting in Medford and stopping in Yreka and Happy Camp, Calif., then returning to Oregon for stops in Lake Selmac, Glendale and Grants Pass before looping back to Medford. The Weekend Ride, dubbed “Cycle Oregon University,” was based in Monmouth on the campus of Western Oregon University.
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 as well as the communities through which it rides. The fund, which totals more than $1 million, typically donates $100,000 or more per year to projects around the state.
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