Here I am sitting in the small town of Elgin listening to a local band playing music realizing that I am extremely lucky to once again be out here breathing fresh air. The Cycle Oregon Rally is a five day cycling event that places us in the beautiful Blue and Wallowa Mountains allowing us to enjoy amazing scenery and small town Oregon with four hundred of my newest best cycling friends. Like minded people from all over our beautiful country coming together to ride, does it get any better than this?

Cycle Oregon is a nonprofit that puts all the money raised from these events back into small towns throughout Oregon and towards our state’s cycling infrastructure. A win-win, if I do say so myself.

I arrived this afternoon and set up my tent close to those enjoying the tent and porter service offered. I was happily one of them five years ago during the Cycle Oregon Classic. I figured I am pretty familiar with using my own tent these days and it would feel like cheating on my camping gear if I chose to dance with another partner out here in Eastern Oregon. Guess I am the guy from the other side of the tracks now, or perhaps the other side of a cow paddy.

Elgin will be our home for a couple days and how it got the name of Elgin is worth sharing. The community of Elgin was named after the Lady Elgin, a ship lost on Lake Michigan. A paddle steamer running on the Great Lakes was christened “Lady Elgin” after Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, the wife of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, Scotland. After a collision and the sinking of the Lady Elgin on Lake Michigan, the ship’s fate and those who were lost were memorialized in a popular song of the time, “Lost on the Lady Elgin”. The local postmaster searching for a unique name heard the song and chose Elgin as the name for this newly established community which now has about 1,700 residents. Now that is some kind of way to pick a name for your town.

After claiming my plot of land, I soon found a spot in the shade and met a man from Colorado that has done numerous epic rides in Colorado and well beyond. He definitely has me wanting to take a few trips down in Colorado and Utah. This gentleman was a geologist during his working days and was sent to Mount St. Helens soon after the eruption in 1980 to conduct research on the mountain and surrounding area. He personally knew the geologist that was killed while being positioned six miles away giving updates to the team monitoring the volcano as it erupted. Amazing story to say the least and a reminder of just how small we are on this sometimes volatile rock we live on.

Guess it is time for some dinner before the evening announcements that outlines tomorrow’s route. I am in my element people and I am looking forward to getting this ride started tomorrow morning. Here we go!

https://cycleoregon.com/ride/rally/