Originally Posted by
jamawani
Actually, not that difficult - -
Cycle Oregon may have had to meet prior financial obligations,
but had they chosen to put out a broad request for alternatives - -
it could have been done.
How? Use churches and other organizations that can make quick, independent decisions.
Churches are an important choice because it is hard to challenge their generosity.
Where? Areas with little fire risk and limited smoke with possibilities for lodging.
That would then point to northwestern Oregon.
...
PS - They should have been preparing an alternative months ago.
It is a HUGE production. Think 2000 tents. Think of General Sherman's march to the sea.
There is a local churchyard here near my house. Maybe room to put up 50 or 100 tents. I haven't seen extensive cooking quarters. But, to use churchyards for camping would take at least 20 rural churches with large churchyards. It might work for lunch stops, assuming that people spread out over a few hours.
They also apparently have live entertainment and activities in the evenings which wouldn't work well with a distributed crowd.
Originally Posted by
Doug64
The folks that maintain CO could have come up with an alternative route need to look at the Hazardous smoke warnings for the state of Oregon. You might also look at Northern California, Washington, idaho, and Westending Montana.
Things change rapidly.
Here is the map accompanying the cancellation notice.
Much of the northwest and coastal area appears to be unaffected.
Since then, a major fire has erupted in the Columbia Gorge east of Portland, and the latest maps seem to show clearer skies where the original route was than along the coast.
Looking at the two maps, I think the fires are mainly in the high Cascades in Oregon, Washington, and California, and in the Rockies in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Where the smoke goes depends on the winds (or no wind), reaching into the coastal range which is largely unaffected.
I've biked around Eugene (with some of the highest smoke levels in the country), but I wouldn't organize a tour here.
Perhaps
fietsbob can confirm coastal conditions. Perhaps right along HWY 101 would be ok, but not inland.
Based on the two maps, it looks like the least affected area of the state might be the southeast, along the Oregon/Nevada border. That could be one HOT, DRY ride.
Perhaps an impromptu Cycle Nevada?