Climbing the Wallowas

A Look Back...

About CO XII -

1] If memory serves me correct the number of cyclists registered was 2,204. Approx. 68 did not check-in and receive their packets with wristbands, etc. which means we started Sunday with 2,136 cyclists. Throughout the week approx. 30 notified us they were leaving the tour. Net at the finish was approx. 2,106. In comparison, Cycle Oregon X started with approx. 2,186 and finished with approx. 2,140.

2] The shower lines will always be a challenge. One improvement has been the newer shower units have more shower heads. Many will remember on Cycle Oregon X we had a tent shower and three self contained trucks. The total number of shower heads was 49 I believe, compared to 55 this year. Our number of rider guests was lower this year than CO X also. Any thoughts would be welcome.

3] Camping Areas. Scott noted that alcohol may be an issue with sites. It is true that this is one issue with sites. The basic challenges with a site are in 1995 we used 3 acres for the camping area, tent city. Both last year and this year our smallest area for tents was 5 acres. An acre is 43,560 square feet, a football field is 45,000 square feet. Without space for walkways, service roads, toilets, showers, baggage, etc. We need five football fields. We work with each community for over a year in preparing for the event. The campsite design is key to a successful experience for each community. We try to have fields dragged 6 weeks before the event and irrigated so that the hay stubble, meadow grass or wheat stubble softens up. This is currently the best option. The other choice is trying to lease land and contract for grass to be grown. The cost of this is significant. Regarding the subject of alcohol. Oregon law prohibits any alcoholic beverage on or with-in 100 feet of public school property. In the past when schools have been used participants have gone to the local stores and purchased items for consumption at their tent. Most did so inside their tent and discretely disposed of the container. Both Cycle Oregon and the communities have posted signs, made announcements and tried to avoid violation of the law. Unfortunately, the few who choose to leave containers behind and not in the garbage cans have placed the event in an awkward position. The other issue with school property is the disruption to the students. Many are recruited to assist the community and have created class learning projects around the events visit. Many veterans will remember the numerous schools that cancelled school for a day. This has become a much more difficult task in recent years for many reasons that vary by community. What is the solution? Input is welcome, but please remember that we make every effort to provide the best area possible for tent city.

4] What happened to day 7 lunch? We used the same catering company for lunches all week. Days 1-6 received 2,200 lunches while day 7 received 1,500. I asked if this meant that they worked for 6 days and rested on the 7th? Following the event we were told that the truck driver instructed the catering director that only 1,500 would be needed. No one on our staff authorized a change and the contract stipulated 2,200. We apologize for the delay to those that had to wait nearly an hour while we scrambled to build additional lunches. The free barbecue was our attempt to quickly provide an apology for our vendors mistake. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for understanding that no matter how hard you try, you can not control everything.

I hope this answers questions to many of the topics that have been discussed over the last few weeks. Over the next two weeks we will be meeting with the board of directors, volunteers, vendors and staff to debrief this years tour and finalize details of the next Cycle Oregon adventure. We look forward to everyone's continued thoughts and ideas.

May there always be a tailwind,

Brian Harney
Ride Director [CO 12]