Love riding your bike? Ever dreamed of the joining the legendary Cycle Oregon ride, but don’t know where to start?
Here’s the skinny. Cycle Oregon, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the joy of bike riding to all of Oregon, encompasses four rides each year. Each includes meals, live music, baggage transport, signed routes, SAG vans, mechanical and medical assistance if needed, and overnight sites with camping amenities, beer garden, vendors, bike mechanics and more support.
In short, all you have to do is show up and pedal.
Three Signature Events
Cycle Oregon’s three signature events serve a broad spectrum of cyclists, all in pursuit of epic adventures across the state. Check each page for details including exact dates, various distance options for each day, and signups. E-bike riders are welcome.
- Cycle Oregon Rally (five days, replacing the former seven-day Classic ride): In 2026 the late-summer route will be through Grants Pass and Jacksonville, in Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley.
- Gravel (two days): In 2026 the Gravel grinder happens in Central Oregon’s Tygh Valley with a basecamp in White River Canyon, where high prairie meets the foothills of Mt. Hood. The routes roll through farmland, forests and wide-open skies.
- Joyride (two days): This event, open to women, female-identifying and nonbinary riders, takes place in the Willamette Valley town of Pleasant Hill in 2026 over two days in mid-June.
Riders can feel great about the impact they are making: Proceeds from Cycle Oregon rides are placed in a dedicated fund at the Oregon Community Foundation. Since the fund’s creation in 1996, Cycle Oregon has awarded 382 grants totaling $2.9 million through its community and signature grants. In addition, Cycle Oregon provides about $150,000 each year to community groups for the services they provide on the events.
Cycle Oregon events draw riders young and old, from all backgrounds. The event is a true opportunity to experience Oregon’s stunning landscapes up close, challenge yourself mentally and physically like you haven’t before, and find joy with new and old bicycle-loving friends from across the globe.
Here’s what you need to know. Make this the year you check it off your bucket list.
Giving Back to Communities
Since 1988 Cycle Oregon has led thousands of cyclists through verdant valleys, remote countryside and Scenic Bikeways of the Beaver State, often showcasing the landscapes to riders for the first time so they might return with friends and family. Cycle Oregon’s rides are among dozens of annual bike events in Oregon ranging from short to long, quirky to hard-core and everything in between.
What sets Cycle Oregon apart from other events is the sheer breadth of ground covered — nearly every corner of the state — as well as the amount of support they give to local communities.
Since 1996 the nonprofit has earmarked proceeds from its rides to distribute hundreds of community grants throughout Oregon. Past grants have been awarded to the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture for Native American arts programming; to the city of Seneca for a new fire station; and to the Creswell Heritage Foundation to repair a historic schoolhouse and to build a bike-repair station in the town of McKenzie Bridge at the entry to the Aufderheide Scenic Drive, among many other projects. Cycle Oregon also gives direct grants to the hosting communities’ school districts and chambers of commerce to use as they see fit.
“At a time when we need to come together as a community, in my opinion, it’s the perfect opportunity to do something that’s good for someone else,” says Schulz.
Cycle Oregon invests in major statewide projects as well, including the public purchase of a nearly 1,800-acre parcel of land at Wallowa Lake’s east moraine — the glacial crest of land framing the iconic lake on its eastern edge. Cycle Oregon has contributed $98,000 over the past decade toward the $6.5 million purchase of this property, which will now be owned and managed by Wallowa County and barred from development. It will be preserved as a working community forest, protecting native plants, wildlife habitat and cultural resources. For thousands of years, the moraine has been a refuge for wildlife and is sacred to the Nez Perce Tribe. Find more information on the project at the Wallowa Land Trust.
“It’s such an iconic landmark,” Schulz says about the Wallowa Lake site, which Cycle Oregon has traveled to a handful of times over the years. “The growth of the state is exponential. Our lands are being gobbled up. To be able to preserve that and work with the Nez Perce in management principles is just amazing.”
Evolving, Innovating and Adapting
Over the decades, Cycle Oregon has had the opportunity to constantly evolve, adapt and innovate. When wildfires caused smoke in Oregon in fall 2017, Cycle Oregon was forced to cancel their weeklong ride for the first time in the event’s history. The pandemic forced a cancellation of the 2020 rides. Most years, however, Cycle Oregon’s contingency plans have allowed them to move forward without cancellation. In 2023, the Cycle Oregon team announced that it would end its 33-year run of its flagship 7-day Classic ride, as it looked to evolve into a series of smaller and shorter events.
Each event has its own vibe, but follows the same framework. Riders have the chance to customize their routes. They may choose to join an organized excursion, tackle a more challenging route or opt for a shorter route to leave time to relax (and recover) at camp. Each event is powered by hundreds of volunteers who sign on for the route or come from the hosting community to make the event a seamless one — from food service to moving baggage, organizing recycling stations and setting up the finish line.
