November 2017 Newsletter
2017 THE CLASSIC – REGISTERED RIDER UPDATES
Refund checks and pre-purchased merchandise have been mailed out to registered riders. For those that made donations in lieu of their refund, those funds have been deposited into the Cycle Oregon Fund at the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) and OCF is currently mailing out donation letters.
As we look forward to an amazing 2018, please mark the following dates on your cycling calendar.
2018 Important Dates:
January 31, 2018 – 2018 Events Kickoff
February 1, 2018 – Event Registration Opens
June 9, 2018 – Joyride
July 13-15, 2018 – WEEKENDER
September 8 – 15, 2018 – The Classic
CYCLE OREGON AND THE CYCLE OREGON FUND
There have been a few questions regarding Cycle Oregon and the Cycle Oregon Fund grant awards, so we wanted to take a moment to explain this relationship.Cycle Oregon, Inc. and The Cycle Oregon Fund are two different entities. Cycle Oregon, Inc. – which produces Cycle Oregon events – is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt non-profit (to which donations are not tax deductible). Proceeds from Cycle Oregon events are then donated to The Cycle Oregon Fund maintained by the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit (which is eligible to accept tax deductible donations).
The Cycle Oregon Fund is a donor-advised fund. Cycle Oregon Inc. advises OCF in regards to awarding grants from The Cycle Oregon Fund. Cycle Oregon Inc. does not award these grants directly from operating funds. Additionally, The Cycle Oregon Fund is wholly separate from funds and grants made by other organizations housed within the OCF.
RIDING BIKES AND GRANTING WISHES
Cycle Oregon is best known for, well, cycling around Oregon. That part is obvious, but what a lot of people outside of our community don’t realize is that we have a second, equally important part to our mission – giving back to rural Oregon communities. Since its inception in January of 1996, the Cycle Oregon Fund has awarded 225 grants totaling $1.8 million dollars. Read more
STREET ART PORTLAND STYLE
If freewheeling down your own personal bike lane isn’t enough to bring a smile to your face, then this surely will. Portland, the city that routinely yarn bombs sweaters onto statues and attaches tiny horses to iron rings on curbs, has been making great strides lately in the arena of bike lane art. A practice that has subtly been going on since the late 1990s is having a renaissance of sorts. Depending on where you’re riding around town you may come across a Portland Timber themed design, a chicken riding a bike, or even Stumptown-style tributes to Prince, David Bowie, and Jerome Kersey.If you’re thinking that the city would be against this kind of guerrilla art on their public streets, then you don’t know Portland. In fact, The Portland Bureau of Transportation is loving it. And why wouldn’t they? Their striping crews were the ones who started the whole thing in the first place. The PBOT and Multnomah Country Libraries even recently launched a “Bike to Books” bike lane stencil contest. The contest encouraged elementary school kids to make their own design based on the standard “stick man on bike” icon. Winning designs are now permanently melded onto bike lanes near the artists’ home libraries.
These funky bike lane characters are just one more item on our list of things we love about exploring Portland by bike –a list that just keeps on growing.
For a more in-depth look at these characters over the years, check out what our good friends over at bikeportland.org have written.
CYCLE OREGON TEAM NEWS
Over the past four years, Chris Knott has been communing with volunteers, wrangling riders, answering emails and taking calls for Cycle Oregon. According to Chris, ”It’s been an incredible mix of challenge and reward.” Read More
IN PRAISE OF “WEIRD-ASS PEOPLE IN FUNNY CLOTHES”
Twin Bridges, Montana is another place that has benefitted from cycle tourism. Listen to Bill White tell in his own words how his Bike Camp came to be and how it has really bolstered his community. Road trip to Montana! Who’s with us?