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'7 BIKES FOR 7 WONDERS' Finder gets to keep special bike built in Ashland Travel Oregon asked Mike DeSalvo to build them a bike so seekers would come to Crater Lake Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 5, 2015 at 2:31 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 5, 2015 at 2:31 PM » Social News In a shrewd move to build up tourism in creative ways, Travel Oregon has commissioned the building of seven high-end bicycles — including one from Ashland — and hidden them at each of the state’s Seven Wonders for a much-ballyhooed scavenger hunt. The beautiful titanium bike built by Mike DeSalvo in his Hersey Street shop is crammed with all the extras — electronic shift, disc brakes — and painted a vibrant blue to match Crater Lake, the spot where bike seekers, acting on online clues, will stalk it starting Saturday, Aug. 8. Clues to its location will be posted online at traveloregon.com and on its Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. It's the final bike hidden this year. The first one to find the much-coveted bike, valued at $8,500, gets to ride it away — and could ride it straight to a show, as Oregon Shakespeare Festival will give two tickets to the finder. Details are at rideoregonride.com/7-bikes-7-wonders, or call 800-547-7842. The website says: “Drawing on both the boundlessly deep blue of Crater Lake’s water and the roller-coaster thrill ride of the road around its rim, Ashland’s Mike DeSalvo created a sleek, fast road bike that can take on climbs and descents and leave you with the energy to soak up the scenery along the way.” The bike hunt is part of an annual tourist promo by the state’s Travel Oregon, and each week hides a bike at one of the “7 Wonders of Oregon” — Mt. Hood, the Painted Hills, Columbia Gorge, Oregon Coast, Smith Rock, the Wallowas and Crater Lake. DeSalvo and the six other bike builders from around the state were vetted, interviewed and told to build a bike that would be custom-made for the terrain and the spirit of their wonder spot. He appears in a video at rideoregonride.com/7-bikes-7-wonders-crater-lake-bike, riding around Crater Lake, showing off the custom bike and explaining the joys of wheeling around the magnificent caldera, which exploded as a volcano 7,700 years ago. “When you’re riding the rim, you’re really out there,” he says in the video, “and you can stop and see it from many viewpoints … It’s fun to let it roll.” The video whets the appetites of both joy-riders and cycle-hunters, with DeSalvo pointing out the raw titanium rear fork and the blue, with which he tried to match the lake. “It’s a wonderful riding bike … and it’s going to be a bike that has a long life,” he says, in the movie. DeSalvo’s bicycles start at $3,500. He makes up to 80 a year and works up to 60 hours a week, he says. He started working in a bike shop at 13 and came to Ashland in 1999 for training at United Bicycle Institute, then worked there, soon opening his own shop. He still teaches there on contract. He custom builds the range of bikes: street, mountain, cyclo-cross and others. He calls it an honor to be chosen to build a bicycle for the Travel Oregon event. It included a trip up to meet Gov. Kate Brown and learn about bicycle tourism, which brings $425 million in sales to the state, for lodging, wine, beer, entertainment and other items, he says. “I feel great about it. I was very surprised to be picked,” he notes. “They interviewed a lot of bike builders throughout the state. Oregon has the highest concentration of frame builders in the nation, so I was lucky to be chosen.” DeSalvo worked with the noted Wieden+Kennedy ad agency in Portland on the ads. The agency creates Nike ads. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected].   By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 5, 2015 at 2:31 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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