Our annual trip to Big Bottom happens July 3rd - 5th (note- we leave on FRIDAY, not the usual Saturday).  Details are available on our calendar!

Note: The July 18-19 trip to Barton Park has been changed to Stub Stewart.  Someone rented the entire tent campground for a family function, and there were no sites available for us.  I am currently working with Clackamas County to try to establish a small number of dedicated hiker/biker sites at Barton Park to avoid situations like this. 

What is Cycle Wild?

Our mission: To reconnect people with nature via the bicycle

In today's busy urban world, it's easy to forget nature - even though it surrounds us wherever we go.  Our busy schedules make it difficult to slow down, breathe deep, and remember that we live in a natural world.  Cycle Wild aims to reconnect people with that world, and to help them understand the difficulties, challenges and opportunities in preserving it.  We do this by scheduling and leading free camping trips into nature - using the bicycle.  Simply by riding a bike, camping (and life) moves at a slower pace.  Riders relax, enjoy the sun and the wind (and sometimes the rain), and truly notice the trees, the mountains, the rivers, and the wildlife.

Cycle Wild provides people with the resources they need in order to explore the natural world by bike, through its website, through printed materials, and through hands-on classes covering subjects like basic camping, plant & animal identification, and navigation and route-finding.

Cycle Wild also provides a calendar of camping trips scheduled by local individuals and organizations within the Portland rideshed. 

Cycle Wild accomplishes its mission by:

• Encouraging the use of the bike as a means of recreational transportation
• Teaching people the basics of camping by bike
• Teaching people how to respect and enjoy nature
• Teaching people the basics of wilderness survival, route planning, land navigation and "Leave No Trace" principles
• Connecting people with those organizing bike camping trips to local campgrounds and state and federal forestland within our "rideshed"
• Providing people with links to additional information on bikes, nature

What is a Rideshed?

A rideshed is the area which can be traveled to within one summer day of loaded riding.  For the purpose of Cycle Wild, our rideshed is within 90 miles of Portland, Oregon.  Cycle Wild's rideshed actually extends further to the east and west due to Portland's light rail system, MAX, which allows us to get a "head start" of 25 miles in either of those two directions.  A few of Cycle Wild's rides take place in an "extended rideshed" equal to 2 days' travel - this can be extended greatly through the use of Amtrak Cascades to allow trips to start from as far north as Vancouver BC and as far south as Eugene.

Does the thought of riding 50 miles fill you with dread?  How can you ever ride that far?!?  Actually, it's not nearly as hard as you'd expect - if you take the time to train.  Here's a schedule to get you on track to a summer of bike camping!

Start off easy, with just a 5 mile ride twice a week.  For the average person, that's about 30 minutes of riding, and can fit into an evening without any trouble.  After a week or two, bump it up to 3 times a week, and after another week or two, bump it up to 10 miles twice a week, with a longer ride on the weekend.  Each week, increase the distance of the weekend ride.  Here's a sample schedule that will get you in shape for the long distances in 3 short months!