Bicycle Adventures, an award-winning Pacific Northwest-based active travel company specializing in two-wheel tours in North America, Hawaii (the Big Island), Spain, New Zealand and Taiwan, is keen on Oregon this summer.
“This state is tops for craft beer, oysters, mountain lodges, quiet bike lanes and scenery spanning both mountains and shore,” claims Todd Starnes, Bicycle Adventures’ owner and president. Permutations of this potable-edible-great-scenery mix show up in both new and tried and true trips, including one itinerary that delves into the 100th anniversary of Crater Lake Lodge where a guest from Florida said, “If I had one last day on Earth, I'd ride the rim at Crater Lake National Park.”
Here’s a sampling of this year’s Oregon bike tour line-up with Bicycle Adventures:
Oregon Crater Lake Bike Tour (http://bicycleadventures.com/destinations/oregon-bike-tours/Oregon-Crater-Lake-Bike-Tour) is a seven-day trip biking on average 45 miles a day. The journey begins in Portland before cycling one of the Top 10 Roads in the West, the stunning Aufderheide Scenic Byway to old-growth forests on the McKenzie River. Oregon’s adventure capital, Bend, comes next, along with craft beers that fortify riders into Crater Lake National Park. Riding the crater’s rim is a 33-mile visual feast that topped Bicycling Magazine’s ‘Dream Rides’ list. Guests stay here at the century-old lodge. But the excitement isn’t over yet. More stands of virgin timber await in the forested wilderness around Rogue River Lodge before heading back to Portland. The per person rate is $3,395 including accommodation, nearly all meals, guide, bike and more. This trip can be tailored to all levels. Departures begin July 5 and continue through Sept. 6, 2015.
Bend Frugal (http://bicycleadventures.com/destinations/oregon-bike-tours/Bend-Frugal---NEW!) is a six-day tour in and aroundBend that can also be thought of as high-desert ‘Bend on a Budget’. The trip begins and ends in this adventure capital and the average biking per day is 35 miles. Sites such as Crane Prairie, the climbers' mecca known as Smith Rock, McKenzie Pass - gateway to a volcanic moonscape, Sunriver Resort, craft brew pubs, music and nightlife are wrapped up in a $2,225 per person double rate. This year’s departures are July 5 and Aug. 2.
Prairies to Pines Epic (http://bicycleadventures.com/destinations/oregon-bike-tours/Prairies-to-Pines-Epic---NEW!) is a new trip this year that offers nine days on bikes departing the athlete-and-brewpub center of Bend and moving east through the other-worldly region of the Painted Hills and John Day Fossil Beds. After tackling the peaks and valleys of the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, guests relax atWallowaLake, known asAmerica’s Little Switzerland. Then it’s back in the saddle through Eagle Cap Wilderness, Hell's Canyon and into the high pastures of central Idaho. Think Snake River and Hells Canyon and Payette National Forest and McCall, accomplished in over 100 miles. Departures are from Boise. Guests average 70 miles a day on bikes. The per person double rate is $3,595, with departures on June 20 and July 5.
Oregon Coast Classic (http://bicycleadventures.com/destinations/oregon-bike-tours/Oregon-Coast-Bike-Tour) is a six-day tour that can be tailored to all levels of riders with an average of 40 miles biking per day. Miles of craggy coast, glittering water, sandy beaches, and a bounty of oysters are the hallmarks of this journey along the Oregon coast. Antique lighthouses guard jutting headlands; country roads wind inland through ancient forests and valleys laced with dairy farms and sparkling streams. This region is hailed as one ofOregon's seven wonders. Bicycle from Astoria, oldest American settlement in the West, south along the Oregon Coast Scenic Bike Route to finish in Newport, where fishing boats share the bay with southbound whale pods. The per person double rate is $2,795, with departures July 19 and August 2.
The company also offers an urban escape with its Portland Pedaler, four days of biking, coffee and beer in the City of Roses. There are also tours of Columbia Gorge and a classic journey from the Oregon Coast to Crater Lake that includes whitewater rafting on the Wild & Scenic Rogue River.