The Baker City Cycling Classic will take place June 23 through June 25, 2017. Motorists can expect delays on Friday morning on Hwy 30 in Baker City and toward Haines, also Hwy 203 and into Keating, Hwy 86 back to Baker City and finishing on Atwood. Racing begins at 9:30 a.m. and will conclude around 12:30 p.m. Starting at 6 p.m., Friday evening, there will be an Uphill Time Trial at the National Historical Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

Saturday, June 24, two races will take place, the first begins at 8:30 a.m. and starts from the Baker City Church of the Nazarene on Hughes Lane and heads out to Hwy 30, where racers will turn right and follow the road to Davenport Road then to Chandler Lane with a final right turn onto Old Oregon Trail Road, finishing about a mile from Hwy 86. There will be a detour of north-bound traffic on Hwy 30 at Hughes Lane onto Pocahontas and then to Chico where it will rejoin Hwy 30. Detour will be in effect from 8 a.m to 11:30 a.m. The second event of the day will be the Tour d’Town Criteriums and Kids Races held in Historic Baker City from 1 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. There will be parking restrictions on  Main Street, Valley, 1st, 2nd, 10th/Broadway, Court, and Washington Avenue, starting Saturday morning and continuing through Saturday at 8 p.m.

The Baker County YMCA will be hosting the Y’s Kids Races on Saturday, June 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. It’s free and open to ages 4 through 15. For more info visit http://www.bakercitycycling.org/BCCC/Stages.html

Sunday, June 25, the event begins at 7 a.m., from Baker High School heading North on Hwy 30 to Hwy 203, where it will follow a rolling course through Medical Springs, Union and North Powder. From that point it will follow Anthony Lakes Highway to the finish line just past Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort. The public can expect delays on 203 and Anthony Lakes Highway so please plan accordingly. For those wanting to spectate from the finish, we ask that they be at Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort before noon.

Baker Loves Bikes would like to thank the community in advance for their support and patience. The event is entering its fifteenth year here in Baker County and is proud to support our local Baker High School sports and education programs. Each year we donate over $5,000 to Baker High School and local volunteer groups like the Lions Club and the Northeast Oregon Compassion Center.

We at Baker Loves Bikes and all the riders that take part in this great race truly appreciate your support and encouragement and we look forward to seeing you out at the races cheering and ringing your cow bells.

Submitted by Brian Vegter, Race Director, dogbri@icloud.com

People familiar with the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway know it is a prime route for cycling around that amazing mountain range known as The Wallowas! The two-lane band of pavement winds up and down, over and around, beside rivers, through forests and past sage brush, cows and all kinds of wildlife. Bicycles allow one to take in the scenery and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Northeast Oregon.

Cycle Oregon, Oregon’s well-known organized annual bike ride, discovered the route many years ago and has returned several times to bring over 2,000 riders on a week-long supported ride from town-to-town along the byway. They will return in September 2015.

Each year, smaller organized groups and hundreds of individual bicycle riders make the trip from valley floor to high-mountain pass and back down to the farms and ranches and friendly towns in the Baker, Wallowa and Grande Ronde Valleys.

This scenic byway and The Wallowas are so beautiful, the mountain range was selected as one of the 7 Wonders of Oregon by Travel Oregon. And, to celebrate the 7 Wonders of Oregon, Travel Oregon asked seven of the best bike builders in the state to build one-of-a-kind bicycles, one for each of the Wonders. Breadwinner Cycles created a “29er” bike custom-made to handle the wide-open spaces of the Wallowas and outfitted with gear for the remoteness of Eastern Oregon.

Learn more about the 7 Bikes for 7 Wonders and how you can search for the “29er” bike at TravelOregon.com. Then, start searching, July 13! You just might find a custom built bike for your next journey on the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway!