Tents were being set up Friday near the western edge of Timber Linn Park.
At Timber Linn Park in Albany, they’re getting ready for a bunch of people on bikes. The park is the starting point for Cycle Oregon 2023, a seven-day bicycle tour that will take participants through the Willamette Valley wine country, across the Coast Range and down the coast on inland roads.
For me, the days of long-distance bike touring are more than 30 years in the past. But I rode through the park Friday to take a look at the preparations.
The parking lots were empty but closed with barricades for an “event.” Elsewhere, tents were being set up, along with food trucks and other gear, including showers and portable toilets.
Hundreds of bicyclists will arrive in Albany Saturday and spend the night before an early start for the first leg of the trip on Sunday.
They’ll head north through Independence to Carlton. From there the route heads west to the coast, then down the Coast Range on forest roads to Toledo, then east again through Alsea and back to Albany on Sept. 16.
This is not an easy ride. The organizers say riders will have to climb 14,814 feet, more if they want to test their legs on optional detours.
But remembering a similar route the Mid-Valley Wheelmen followed in the 1980s on an unsupported loop tour, I think the riders will think it all worthwhile once they hit the long downhills from the crest of the mountains to the valley below. (hh)
One of the many Cycle Oregon support trailers and other gear in Timber Linn Park on Friday.
Cycle Oregon displaced the annual AYSO soccer tournament in 8/9. All the soccer kids have to go to Lebanon and cram onto the too small fields there. They also only get to play 1 short game vs the multiple games they normally play due to not having enough room at Cheadle Lake.
I hope Cycle Oregon enjoys the brand new soccer fields! The kids certainly can’t!
I think I read somewhere that this is the last Cycle Oregon. I did the first one in 1988, my only. I never was an avid biker but I did enjoy it.
On a Mountain Bike. No small feat!
concerning the cheadle lake soccer fields, when i drive by, i see some really young kids out there. are the fields at cheadle lake smaller for younger kids? seems to me the fields should all be the same size.
So T Ball base paths should be 90′?
Fields are sized according to age, as are team sizes, U8 will play 5v5 on the smallest fields, then U10, U12.
U14 and U19 play 11v11 on regulation fields, of which Cheadle Lake had one on the north end (back in the day, anyway.)
Thanks Hasso for spotting this. While I’ve never done this particular ride I’ve alway considered it.
It’s the first time in the 30 year history that this ride is starting in Albany. Rides like this help folks from different communities such as city and rural get together which normally wouldn’t occur. It’s something that’s positive for todays society for sure.
And yes…this will be their last big classic long ride, but sounds they’re planning some shorter rides to keep costs down.
I rode the Mid-Valley Bicycle Club’s Covered Bridge century ride again this year meeting new people from around the state. Bicycling is a great way to connect with folks!