JOSEPH — Bicycle Rides Northwest has organized a group bike ride tour that will pass through Elgin and have riders stay in Joseph on June 19-21. About 275 riders are expected to pass through the county next week.

The bike tour called “WallaWow” because it passes through Walla Walla, Washington, and Wallowa County is a seven-day, 400-mile ride which introduces its participants to the various beautiful landscapes throughout Southeastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon.

The tour’s organizers, Bicycle Rides Northwest, is a 35-year-old nonprofit organization that emphasizes helping out the towns they ride through, and making sure riders get to know the people and the places they ride through.

To try and give back to the community of Joseph, which will be hosting the riders from Monday to Wednesday morning, the organization will be providing $1,000 in grants to the Joseph Charter School (where they will be setting up camp during the stay in Joseph).

The Joseph wrestling team will be running bag service for the riders, which will be used as a fundraiser for the team. Bicycle Rides Northwest also will throw a free public concert for people to attend while also getting a chance to meet the riders.

Jim Moore, executive director of the organization, recounted what a father told him on a tour when his child was able to meet an Australian for the first time who had stopped off on a tour.

“It’s so great that our kids get to see a bigger world, and your riders get to see our world,” he said.