- Leaders: Dick and Elaine Carpenter Phone: 206-304-9689 Email: katdad@mac.com .
- Tour Dates: Monday, June 23rd to Monday, June 30, 2014.
- Tour Rating: Intermediate.
- Tour Fee: $850 CAD.
- Tour Numbers: minimum 12, maximum 20.
- Tour Registration Opening Date: November 12th, 2013 at 5:00 PM (1700) PDT .
Tour Description: Portland is noted as one of the United States most bike and running friendly cities with many bike routes. It is the home of Powell’s Books (rated by some as the best used bookstore in the US), and it has a great riverfront and beautiful parks.
To the west of Portland lie Forest Grove and McMinnville in the heart of the Oregon wine country. Think Pinot Noir! There are many tasting rooms in both cities and in the countryside in between. McMinnville has a world class Aviation and Space Museum.
McMenamin’s is an Oregon hotel chain that specializes in old historic buildings. The Edgefield in Troutdale was built in 1911 as the county “poor farm”; The Grand Lodge in Forest Grove is in a 1922 Masonic & Eastern Star Home, while the Hotel Oregon has been a McMinnville hotel since 1905. Downtown Portland has the Crystal Hotel in a triangular building from 1911. Each hotel has several unique restaurants and a McMenamin’s brewery, movie theaters and live entertainment. The Edgefield even has an onsite distillery. But please note, some of the hotels are “European style” with bathrooms and showers down the hall.
Riding Conditions and Logistics: Cycling will be almost entirely on paved roads and bike paths. Short sections of gravel paths may occur. Most of the riding will be on flat roads and paths in the valleys but three days have ridges to climb (one being 1,000 feet [~310m]). We will have a truck to transport luggage and any wine that you may buy. The tour will begin in Troutdale, Oregon which is 14 miles east of Portland on I-84. Parking for the week will be at the Edgefield Hotel.
Tour Fees include: Seven nights lodging, and four breakfasts and four dinners (each participant will receive a $25-$30 room credit for dinners and $10 credit for breakfast. The credit can be used for food, beverages or in the gift shop. Each rider is responsible for costs over the allotted amounts.
Tour Fees do not include: Three breakfasts and dinners, all lunches, beverages that are not paid for with your “credit”, personal items, and possibly car parking.
Registration/Participant Selection: Registration opens at 1700h, (5:00 p.m.), PST on November 12th, and is accomplished on-line at http://tinyurl.com/m9dw6g for a cost of $2.00 (non-refundable). Participant selection will follow the “CCCTS Tour Participant Selection Policy and Procedures”. Successful applicants will be CCCTS members selected on the basis of date-of-receipt of registration; their fitness, and health and cycling skills in relation to the Tour’s “intermediate” rating. Rooms will be booked for double occupancy couples or same sex roommates. Within 48 hours of an applicant’s acceptance, a Tour Leader will contact participants by phone and/or E-mail. Successful applicants will have 72 hours to pay their tour fee ($850.00), on-line at http://tinyurl.com/m9dw6g . Those canceling the Tour will incur costs made or committed on their behalves unless vacancies are filled.
Queries regarding equipment, cycling abilities in relation to health and safety, etc., should be directed to either Tour Leader. Once the tour is full, applicants may join the wait list at no charge by contacting a Tour Leader, but please note, you are expected to inform him if you no longer want to be waitlisted.
Itinerary:
June 23: Meet at 3:00 PM (1500h) at the Edgefield Hotel in Troutdale. We have dinner at the hotel this night and breakfast there the mornings of the 23rd and 24th.
June 24: We ride the Historic Columbia River Highway up to Crown Point then on to Multnomah Falls, then return; a 40 mile (65 km) ride with some good hills. Dinner is on your own. There is an old fashioned chicken and dumpling restaurant not far from Troutdale.
June 25: Today we cycle 45 miles (72 km) along the Columbia River and up over a ridge (a healthy 1,000 foot (310 m) climb) into the wine country to stay one night at the Grand Lodge Hotel in Forest Grove. Dinner and breakfast are again at the hotel in one of the restaurants or bars.
June 26: Our ride today is a leisurely 35 miles (56 km) on country roads (it is easy to extend the ride for those who want a few more miles) past wine tasting rooms to McMinnville’s Hotel Oregon. Tonight we eat at the hotel; breakfast is there in the morning.
June 27: This day you are on your own. Visit the Aviation and Space Museum (easy to spend several hours here. I specially liked the history of rocketry and the parallel history of the Russian and US space programs), look for more wineries, or take a country bike ride (a couple of routes suggested). Dinner is on your own.
June 28: Breakfast is on your own (a nice bakery is next door). It is 45 miles (72 km) back into Portland and two nights at the Crystal Hotel near city center. Our first dinner is on your own in the city.
June 29: Breakfast on your own. This is our day to explore the bike routes of Portland. You will be given a Portland bike map and suggestions for rides of various lengths. Don’t miss the Willamette River waterfront and Powell’s Books. We will have a group dinner the last evening that is included in the tour fee.
June 30: Breakfast is on your own in the hotel or in the neighborhood. We wrap up the tour with a 25 mile (40 km) ride back to the Edgefield Hotel to pack up our cars and head for home.