When Cycle Oregon rolls through town with a couple thousands riders, tents, and bikes and everything that goes with it, the casual observer may see organized chaos. But look a little closer and you’ll see prosperity and community riding into these rural Oregon towns as well. These cyclists aren’t just passing through – they are connecting with the locals, spending in local establishments, and hopefully making plans to come back real soon. And that is what Cycle Oregon is all about. Since the very beginning, Cycle Oregon has been giving back to the Oregon communities that have given so much to us. Over the last 31 years, grants from the Cycle Oregon Fund have gone to preserve historic buildings, to protect natural resources, to create programs for low income families, and have helped make Oregon even more bike friendly than it already is.

To highlight some of the ways in which Cycle Oregon and its riders have helped make it possible for important work to be done in the state, we created a series of videos.

The first edition features the moraines surrounding Wallowa Lake. We were lucky enough to get to camp on the banks of this breathtaking lake last year during the Classic and it truly is a special place. Grants from Cycle Oregon have been instrumental in helping to protect these sacred formations from development for the last 11 years. And just last week we heard more amazing news about the moraines. The the Wallowa Lakes Moraines Partnership reached an agreement to purchase 1,800 acres of the east moraine from a private family to make that land county-owned by 2020! This means 60% of the east moraine will be conserved, converted into responsibly managed forest, and handed over to the community. This exciting new purchase perfectly aligns with the Partnership’s goals of maintaining sustainable working landscapes to contribute to the local economy and rural ways of life, providing public access respectful of the landscape and its scenic beauty, and protecting open space for wildlife, recreation and natural resources. The uniquely unspoiled nature of this area will live on and we are thrilled to have been part of it.