It has been over seven monts since Annie and I decided to sign up for Cycle Oregon. This is a ride around Oregon that has been going on for 23 years. It was started by a journalist from the Oregonian newspaper, Jonathan Nicolas. He was from the UK and was a bicycle enthusiast and a total convert to the beauties of the state. His idea was to lead a ride around the state that would highlight some of the natual beauty of the area, as well as to provide some economic stimulus to some of the smaller towns around Oregon. Cycle Oregon has a long history of putting money back into the communities it passes through, as well as offering follow-up grants for innovations in sustainable practices.
We have always been attracted to the ride, but as it was generally scheduled on the second week of September, we were usually unable to participate. Schools generally discourage teachers from taking a week off school after only being in class for a week!
That all changed when we retired. But still, it was not an easy decision. The ride isn't cheap and it is physically demaning. It covers some 450 miles over the course of a week. The good news is Cycle Oregon takes care of all the logistics, so all the participants need to do is ride.
This year in even included the option of going to the Pendleton Round-Up. In the end we decided to go for it. At the very least, it seemed like a great opportunity to get in shape and give us a goal for our exercise program.
So for the past seven months we have been riding like mad, working out with the Biggest Loser tapes and doing miscellaneous fitness like stationary bike and rowing.
This week it all came to a reality. On Saturday we drove to Elgin, Oregon for the start of the ride. We camped with 2000 of our closest friends and prepared for day one. We were very pleased to hve Barbara Gribskov, one of our family friends, along for the ride as well. As it was her second Cycle Oregon, she was a valuable guide for us for the event.
Day One gave us everything we could handle. It started with 10 miles of uphill, maxing out at 5.8% grade. After that it was a long, cool down grade just as steep and a beautiful ride through the Wallowa River valley. This was a fairly short 47 mile day, but tomorrow is a full 80 miles. I guess we will see how that all goes. The great thing is that Cycle Oregon has a Blogmobile with laptops that allow for social networking and updating blogs. It their web access holds up I should be able to post our progress regularly (or not)!
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