It was finally time to hit the gravel. This is Courtney Martin and Jenn Dederich cresting a climb on Hale Ridge Road with the Blue Mountains in the background.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

This is our final post in a series on riding in eastern Oregon with the support of Treo Bike Tours. See the other posts here.

The group’s final day of riding in eastern Oregon was filled with mixed emotions. It was the first taste of gravel road riding for some people, it included a fast, curvy descent, and it’s conclusion meant a return to work, routines, and the end of a magical four days.
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Mike Bernard rides in the mirage just a few miles south of the Columbia River on Highway 74.

This is the third in a series of four posts on riding in eastern Oregon with the support of Treo Bike Tours. See the other posts here.
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This is how riding in the John Day River valley makes some people feel.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

This is the second in a series of four posts on riding in eastern Oregon with the support of Treo Bike Tours. Our journey began yesterday with a ride from Wasco to Condon highlighted by a stop at Cottonwood Canyon State Park.
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The descent into Cottonwood Canyon State Park.
(Photos by Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

What’s better than riding the dreamy roads of eastern Oregon with a handful of good friends? How about door-to-door support for you and your entire group on board on air-conditioned shuttle bus that’s stocked with yummy drinks and snacks? Fortunately, as I found this past weekend, that’s no longer just a dream.
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For just $30 you can get 7 days of
bus service between Portland and several
destinations along the Oregon Coast.
(Photo: Tillamook Breeze)

As bike tourism matures throughout Oregon, its economic ripple effects are being felt in many interesting ways.

With more people seeking out the growing number of bike adventures being developed by both the public and private sector, transit providers are responding to meet a growing demand for car-free tourism. This demand is growing because for many people, having to drive a car to their riding destination is a major buzzkill, if not a deal-breaker altogether.

Fortunately, we’ve noticed a growing number of developments in bike/transit options that allow people to access destinations they could never (or don’t want to) reach by leg-power alone.
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Riding the gravel roads of eastern Oregon.
(Still from video – Watch it below)

Remember last August when I had the very good fortune to sample the Treo Bike Ranch in eastern Oregon? I didn’t mention it at the time, but during that trip we were joined for one of the days by a professional film crew that was shooting for Travel Oregon.

It turns out our riding at Treo was just one of several pieces of an impressive new video just released by the statewide tourism agency. Communities Powered by Travel: Bicycle Tourism highlights several bike tourism success stories. It features business owners and community advocates that graduated from Travel Oregon’s Rural Tourism Studio training program which the agency says, “is designed to assist rural communities in sustainable tourism development.”
The three success stories in the video are Treo Bike Tours, the Old West Scenic Bikeway, and First City Cycles (based in Oregon City). Watch it below…
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Morning sunrise behind me, the dream-like Hail Ridge Road in front of me.
It would be a very good day on the bike.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland unless otherwise noted)

Spending three days riding some of the most exhilarating roads in our state has left me with many fond memories and new excitement about the bike tourism potential of eastern Oregon.

But there’s one thing that happened on my last day that was particularly memorable: a tense encounter with a huge angus cow.

On Tuesday, my last day at TREO Bike Ranch in Hardman, Oregon, I attempted to tackle the “TREO Century.” The route is one of a seemingly infinite number of routes mapped out by TREO owner Phil Carlson and his crew. I set out from the ranch and headed northwest toward the sweet little town of Condon. After about 15 miles of dreamy, carfree, hard-packed gravel on Hardman/Hail Ridge Road, I popped out onto highway 206 with about 14 miles to go until Condon. Right after the intersection of Hail Ridge Road and 206, I finally got to experience the “Condon Curves,” or what former Cycle Oregon Ride Director Jerry Norquist refers to as, “The best downhill in all of Oregon.”

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Their logo pays homage
to pheasant-hunting roots.

A 300 acre ranch located near a ghost town about 190 miles east of Portland is the latest sign that bicycle tourism is poised to deliver a jolt to Oregon’s rural economies.

Phil and Kathy Carlson founded Treo Ranches as a bird hunting destination in 1987. Since then they’ve built a strong business, but now they’ve realized there’s another market worth shooting for: city slickers on bikes. A press release about Treo Bike Tours‘ new, all-inclusive group cycling retreat packages states that the ranch, “is reinventing itself as a vacation destination for urban cyclists who want to experience the Old West by bicycle — and maybe even shoot few rounds while they’re at it.”[Read more…]