Document text
41 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 24, 2004 For cyclists, there’s no place like home By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Southern Oregon bicyclists won’t have to travel far from home this year if they want to ride the state’s premier two-wheeled tour. Cycle Oregon’s 17th annual backroads trek will wind through Josephine and Jackson counties on a loop that begins and ends in Canyonville, just 70 miles north of Medford. The seven-day, 400- mile ride, which begins Sept. 12, will include overnight stops in Wolf Creek, Jacksonville and at Stewart State Park, along with a ride around Crater Lake. Cycle Oregon is a nonprofit organization that arranges the tour every year to promote bicycling and raise money for community development projects in the towns that cyclists pass through. Volunteers in each community feed the riders during the day and entertain them during the evening. "It’s going to be fun," said Frank Behnke of Jacksonville, who is working with Larry Smith to make arrangements for the tour’s 2,000 cyclists in Southern Oregon’s gold- rush town. "We’re still figuring out where they’re going to stay." Advertisement The cyclists will provide a boost for the region’s economy right after the end of the traditional tourist season. Many buy meals, snacks, drinks, overnight accommodations and souvenirs along the way. "It’s going to be nice to have some people in town in late September with some money to spend," Behnke said. The tour happens every year during the third week of September, because weather researchers determined that it’s one of the most consistently dry periods all over Oregon. While the tour usually attracts a strong contingent of riders from Jackson and Josephine counties, local riders may be more attracted to this year’s event simply because they won’t have to spend a travel day at the beginning and end of the ride, said Medford veterinarian Dwight Sinner. "It just makes it easier for me," said Sinner, who has ridden four of the previous tours. "I like the part about being close to home." Parts of Cycle Oregon tours have passed through several Rogue Valley communities in years past, but this year’s route marks the first time that riders will spend the tour’s full seven days in Southern Oregon. "We try to pinpoint regions that we haven’t been through a lot," said Tara Corbin, event manager for Cycle Oregon. "We realized that we hadn’t ever spent the whole tour in Southern Oregon." Corbin said about 1,000 riders have signed up for the ride since the route was announced late last week. The event is limited to 2,000 riders to keep it manageable and safe. While the tour raises money for small communities, it also showcases Oregon as a tourist destination. Corbin said about 40 percent of the riders do not live in Oregon, "and we do what we can to encourage them to spend, or come back and travel." While the tour is heavily promoted by Portland area businesses, inspiration for it originally surfaced in Ashland, when an innkeeper named Jim Beaver was looking for ways to promote his town. Beaver, a Missourian by birth, recalled an annual cross-Iowa bike tour that attracted thousands of riders. "I thought if they could get 15,000 people in Iowa to ride through the cornfields of the Midwest, imagine what we could do in Oregon," said Beaver, who now works as director of college relations at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. Beaver pitched the idea of an annual bike tour in a letter to Jonathan Nicholas, a writer for Portland’s Oregonian newspaper. When Nicholas floated the idea in the newspaper, it took off with help from state tourism officials and some of Oregon’s biggest businesses. "I just thought it was a neat idea," Beaver said. "It landed in a fertile field and sprouted like Jack and the Beanstalk." On the Web: www.cycleoregon.com Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times