Cycle Wild presents: Bike Camping!
This month, we’re going back to Champoeg State Park, and this is a FIRST-TIMERS trip! What does that mean? It means we’re specifically encouraging people who’ve never camped by bike to come with us. It also means we’ll keep a pretty slow pace and stay together as a group the whole way as much as possible. If you’re a veteran, you are welcome and encouraged to come (share your knowledge and experience!), just be advised that we’ll be taking it easy on the way down.
This trip passes through gorgeous Oregon wine country, and we’ll likely stop briefly for a wine tasting on the way down, probably at Adelsheim Vineyard. If you wear cleats, bring some extra shoes, because Adelsheim doesn’t want folks damaging the floors. Thanks!
Here’s the short version, details afterwards.
When: This weekend, July 14-15
Where: Champoeg State Park (near Newberg)
How far: 37.6 miles
Leaving from: Hatfield Government Center MAX Station (downtown Hillsboro)
Meet at Starbucks, 1 block east of the MAX at the Hillsboro Civic Center on Main
What time?: Meet at 10am, ride at 10:30. Come early if you want to walk through the Hillsboro farmer’s market before leaving.
How much: $5 park camping fee per person (hiker/biker site) Bring food or buy it at farmer’s market or Fred Meyer in Newberg. Fred Meyer is about 5 miles from our destination, so if you stock up there, you won’t have to carry food the whole way. Bring a few dollars to chip in on firewood.
Cycle Wild does not charge for trips. At all. There is a park fee, and campers typically pool $1-$2 each for firewood.
Route / cue sheet: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1385885
Weather: http://tinyurl.com/CW-Champoeg
Printed maps / cue sheets will be available at the start of the ride.
Breakfast – Matt Picio will be making pancakes on Sunday morning. If you’d like pancakes for breakfast, bring a plate, a fork, and $1 to give him to defray the cost of the (real) maple syrup.
FAQ
What do I need to bring? You should have a tent, sleeping bag, camp pad (unless you like sleeping on hard ground), enough clothes to be comfortable in temperatures down to 50 degrees, and a towel if you want to use the showers. Also, the basics for the road – bike, rack, bags, phone, patch kit, etc.
What facilities are at the park? The park has restrooms, showers (free), firewood and ice for sale, and is about 2 miles from Oregon’s oldest operating general store, which does have some (very) limited groceries.
Can I bring dogs/kids? We’d prefer you not bring your dog, but that’s only because not everyone appreciates them, and we’re trying to encourage lots of first-time campers on this trip. We’ve had kids on our trips a number of times, and we welcome families. It’s fairly likely that there won’t be other kids on the ride, though, so be prepared that they might get bored with a bunch of adults sitting around the fire talking.
What about tallbikes, extracycles, cargo bikes, tandems, trailers? One of the awesome things about bike camping is you can do it on ANY bike, and we’ve seen all of those on our trips. On this trip, since we’re taking MAX to Hillsboro, you should be aware that Trimet’s official policy is NO TRAILERS. Also, no bikes blocking either the doors or the aisles. If you get a friendly MAX driver, they may let you on anyway, but don’t count on it. Also, since we’ll be returning on MAX on Sunday afternoon, there may be difficulties once the train fills up on the way into town.
If you need to ride to Hillsboro, or just want to: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1136868
(note that this adds almost 20 miles to the trip)
What if I can’t keep up? Cycle Wild is “no drop”. If you are riding slowly enough that it impacts the entire group severely, then 1 or two riders who know the route will stay with you, while the rest of the group continues ahead. Someone else WILL be with you.
What if I can’t make it? We’ll be near transit on much of the trip, and if necessary we can figure out a way for you to get to the campground / get home.
What time are we getting back? Typically, we return to town in 2 groups – an early group and a late group. The early group leads whenever they agree to get up and leave. It’s negotiated on-site, and sometimes the early “group” is 2 or more groups leaving at different times. The late group is usually the larger group, and tends to leave about 11am. The return trip takes about 4 hours, and MAX takes about an hour to get back from Hillsboro. The latest group should be back in Hillsboro before 4pm and back in Portland before 6pm.
