About four years ago my wife Margaret and I were riding a venerable fully supported bike tour in Wisconsin.... GRABAAWR. The GReat Annual Bicycling Adventure Along the Wisconsin River. Like Dr. Frankenstein, what we won't do to jolt an acronym to life, right? GRABAAWR has been around for a long time, is a great experience and has a nice theme; tracing the route of the Wisconsin River from the far northern reaches of the state until it connects to the Mighty Mississippi at Prairie du Chien.

One day on this ride we were rolling along with another couple and started chatting each other up. The topic inevitably came round to other tours we had ridden and they asked "Have you ever heard of Cycle Oregon?" When our blank expressions indicated the answer to that question was "Huh?" they began proselytizing. The dreamy tone of voice as they relived their experience convinced us this recommendation was worth a look-see. At the end of the day's ride I jotted down "check out Cycle Oregon's web site" in my journal and stashed it away.

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When we got home I'm embarrassed to admit I forgot all about it. Life, laundry, and lawn care demanded our attention and Cycle Oregon faded into the distance.

Fast forward to January of 2018. Margaret had just made the agonizing decision to retire from her career as an art teacher. She loved her profession but was ready to start checking things off the bucket list that a pesky day job gets in the way of. Once she had made up her mind to retire, her directive to me was "Find us something to do in September, because I'm going to be a wreck if I don't have something EPIC to take my mind off not being a teacher anymore."

Hmmmmm .... I puzzled over what that event might be, and then the cartoon light bulb icon appeared over my head. Cycle Oregon!?!? That was in September, wasn't it? I checked their web site. Hell Yes it was, and registration was opening in at the end of January on a first clicked, first reserved basis. Timing is everything in this life.

I sat at the computer on January 31st with my finger poised over the mouse button, constantly refreshing the page so we could dive in to grab our spots the instant registration opened. I had read online that often all 2,000 slots filled within an hour or less. And, there was expected to be a lot of pent up demand, because in 2017 the ride had to be cancelled because of the wildfires sweeping the West, including many of the areas Cycle Oregon was to be riding. I was sweating it out, not wanting to fail my wife's hope to enter retirement with a bang.

As you might have guessed from the fact I'm writing a journal about the ride ... yep, we got in. And, Oh Boy .... Brothers and Sisters ..... Cycle Oregon was everything that couple said it was, and more. In fact, they undersold it. Gather round, and let me fill you in .....