Cycle Oregon 2017 Cancelled Due to Wildfires

Forecasts call for more hot, dry, windy weather and an increase in smoke from new and existing fires along the Cycle Oregon 2017 route.

With all the media attention focused on Houston this week I completely missed the fact that Oregon is on fire. That is until I received an email announcing the cancellation of Cycle Oregon 2017, set to begin one week from today. "Oregon is in crisis," began Cycle Oregon Executive Director Steve Schultz in the email, citing these alarmng facts:

• 44% of the acres burning nationally are in Oregon,
• 50% of the firefighters nationally are in Oregon and Washington, and
• 8 of the highest trained wildfire teams in the U.S. are in Oregon. 

According to the email, the heaviest fires are in South Central Oregon, essentially encompassing the 2017 route. At this five of the seven days are impacted by fires and smoke with air quality levels ranging from unhealthy to hazardous. As a result, Steve and his team, along with the Oregon Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service, and others, were forced to cancel the ride.

I can't image the disappointment Steve and his team must be feeling. The years of planning, all the moving parts coming into place, hundreds of volunteers, food vendors, port-a-potty purveyors, etc., seemingly all for naught. But clearly they were left no choice.

I also sympathize with the riders who have been training for months, many planning to travel from around the world next week to Oregon. I am not one of them, choosing to do Ride the Rockies as my big ride this year, but I know the feeling of anticipation leading up the the big event of the year. Hard to imagine getting the news one week out. But the decision was made with everyone's safety in mind, especially the riders.

Smoke from a small fire near Glenwood Springs on RTR 2007.

I have experienced much less severe conditions on Ride the Rockies, encountering a small fire on my first RTR in 2007 and circumventing the Royal Gorge fire on the 2013 ride (making it the longest in RTR history)! 

Smoke from the Royal Gorge fire in 2013, seen from Canon City.

But neither of those situations threatened the safety of the riders. They were able to reroute us around the Royal Gorge fire. But in this case, even alternate routes are affected, according to Schultz. 

I hope the disappoint fades quickly and look forward to next year's route announcement!

Ride on...

Daren