Volunteers with Bicycle Rides Northwest scout a route into the Cascade Range community of Alsea last summer that is now part of a seven-day ride that begins Sunday in Corvallis and spends three days on the central Oregon coast. (Bicycle Rides Northwest photo)By DANA TIMS/Lincoln Chronicle
One of the country’s longest continually operated bicycle rides ran into unforeseen trouble last December, when a massive landslide blocked the ride’s planned route along Oregon Highway 229 west of Siletz .
The sheer size of the slide doomed any chance the expected 300 or so cyclists could camp in Siletz and continue on to Pacific City the following day.
So, Jim Moore, the long-time executive director of Bicycle Rides Northwest, called around looking for alternatives. Soon, he found Zach Lillebo, athletic director at Taft High School in Lincoln City, and together they hatched plans for riders to stay there, instead.
The result of their scramble is that the 39th edition of the ride will kick off Friday in Corvallis for what will be a week-long, fully supported ride through coastal and near-coast communities such as Alsea, Waldport, Lincoln City, Sheridan and Cloverdale. By the time it ends back in Corvallis on June 27, riders will have covered 380 miles and climbed more than 20,000 vertical feet.
“We certainly had to pivot once that landslide took out the highway,” Moore told the Lincoln Chronicle. “But Zach and everyone else involved were just great and we’re all now just looking forward to a wonderful ride.”
This year’s ride theme is “Ride a Different Road” and offers cyclists the chance to explore routes most will not have experienced before.
“All of these roads are lightly traveled,” Moore said. “They will definitely provide a new way for a lot of folks to see and explore the Oregon coast.”
Among the last
That the ride is taking place at all is a testament to the riders who regularly travel from throughout Oregon and different states to take part. Moore and others who know the sport well realize those participants are part of a dying breed.
Bicycle Rides Northwest volunteers came to the Newport area last summer to scout possible routes for its seven-day ride that begins Sunday in Corvallis, and eventually spins through Newport next week. (Bicycle Rides Northwest photo)“The fact is that the average age of our riders goes up by one, year after year,” he said. “It’s now 66. We have some riders who are up in their 80s, but everyone knows they can’t do it forever.”
Many of the longer, fully supported rides that could draw thousands less than a decade ago are gone, Moore said. He attributed that marked decline to the road-bike market simply getting smaller over time. In its place, ride sponsors are putting on shorter events, often appealing to electric bikes and increasingly popular back country “gravel” events.
He listed a handful of the longer rides that have been scrapped altogether, some of which he helped found decades ago.
“The generation behind us wants to ride gravel routes or events that are just one or two days,” Moore said. “And the budgets just aren’t there for a lot of marketing. In our case, it’s mostly word-of-mouth.”
Bicycle Rides Northwest participants leave camp between 7 and 8 o’clock each morning and ride at their own clip through the day. Rest and water stops are provided along the route, with support vehicles following each day. The organization brings a mobile caterer, a shower trailer, bags trucks, a massage and wellness team, and a crew of 35 to work each tour.
Participants this year are paying $1,995 to take part. If two generations of a family ride, they receive a discount of $300. The price drops to $800 if a non-rider and vehicle accompany a registered rider.
“We are just like an entire circus, moving from town to town,” Moore said. “It’s amazing to see the places we stop the day before and the day after. A whole town has popped up and then, boom, is just gone.”
Here’s the route of the seven-day Bicycle Rides Northwest trek through the Coast Range and along the central Oregon coast beginning Sunday in Corvallis.This year’s route and stops
After checking in Saturday in Corvallis, riders will depart Sunday, hit a rest stop in Monroe and complete the rest of the day’s 58-mile route to Alsea, where they’ll camp for the night.
Day 2: The first part of the ride is on a little-used road through Lobster Valley before completing a 47-mile route to Waldport for the night.
Day 3: This Waldport-to-Lincoln City patch covers 67 miles and 3,090 feet of climbing. In addition, the Lincoln City stop marks the day that ride sponsors won’t serve lunch to participants. Instead, all riders will help support local restaurants by lunching at The Pines Dine, a 12-cart local eatery
Day 4: A pedal along Devil’s Lake leads to a 10-mile sojourn through primitive forest on Slab Creek Road. The total route covers 50 miles and ends at Cloverdale.
Day 5: The route includes 3,600 feet of climbing in an out-and-back configuration that once again ends back in Cloverdale.
Day 6: The 43-mile ride from Cloverdale to Sheridan covers remote areas that promoters promise will “feel a hundred miles from nowhere as you ascend from the coast.”
Day 7: It’s back into the Willamette Valley from Sheridan to Corvallis on a route that covers 60 miles and 2,460 feet of climbing.
So far, just over 200 riders have registered for the ride, Miller said.
“We’d love to have a few more than that,” he added. “But what we know is that we’ll have at least 200 cyclists who want to do this ride and who will have a good time doing it.”
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]
That’s awesome. I would love to help out with the riders. I am a avid bike rider who rides year around.
Lying here in bed 2 days after a total hip replacement so participating only by proxy. What a great parcours! Stay safe and ride the heck out of it!
I think they should start making bicyclers pay fees to use the roads just as kayakers have to pay fees to use the waterways, bicycles are a pain in the ass, they have no business riding on narrow roads rural or not. If there’s not at least a 3′ paved shoulder they should not be allowed to ride on them regardless they don’t obey the road laws and this time of year cause more hazards than they do good
I pay taxes for public parks schools swimming pools and librarys that I never use. It is what a civilization does…. bikes don’t damage roads like trucks. We don’t threaten others who are on the road. We use bikes when you use a car and pollute. We stay healthy and keep down Medicare health costs. It’s a win win for all.
I agree. While I support the idea of group rides, I had the unfortunate experience of having to navigate the slew of riders along the Alsea-Waldport route yesterday. There is no shoulder for the riders so they are on the road and trying to get around them on this narrow, windy road was stressful and dangerous. For safety’s sake, please find a route that offers a shoulder in the future.
The riders are welcome to stop at the fresh drinking water faucet at Mile 6.6 on Hwy 34 just West of Don Lindley Park. Plenty of safe stopping space. I live across the road.