In a cruel parting shot, our fiery summer of 2015 has unexpectedly slammed the door on this week’s eagerly anticipated visit to Wallowa County from Cycle Oregon.

With temperatures dropping a week in front of the fall equinox, and even as we were sleeping to the sound of another gentle rainfall on our roofs at night, Cycle Oregon’s trip planners were finishing pulling the plug on the Halfway-to-Joseph leg of their cyclists’ journey. This was an unavoidable adjustment given the proximity of the recently sparked Dry Gulch Fire, which is now rather sizable, and which has firefighting forces running their emergency vehicles quickly along the same scenic route to our county that Cycle Oregon would have used.

The abrupt change of plan came as a disappointment to Wallowa County businesses and non-profit organizations, many of which stood to gain a welcome shot in the arm either from added late-season trade or the donations the Cycle Oregon organization makes to local groups. Less tangible but equally valuable, though, are the lasting impressions that can be made upon visitors, and in this respect Wallowa County may be suffering a significant loss.

We have no idea exactly how many members of this year’s Cycle Oregon group have pedaled inside Wallowa County before, but even these previously visiting members could have taken away something more than they expected in 2015 — an impression of improving conditions here for bicyclists. To reach Enterprise from Joseph, no doubt a number of the cycling visitors would have eschewed the most direct route, Highway 82, in favor of the longer but pleasanter Hurricane Creek Road, which has been widened and is now more safe than when Cycle Oregon was last here. And any visitor who took a moment to learn about the various local projects and proposals that are in various stages of planning couldn’t help but be excited by the prospect of one day finding our county’s western end accessible via a new trail-beside-the-rails, which would be a greatly welcome alternative to the hideously dangerous (for bikes) canyon portion of Highway 82.

Meanwhile, back beyond Highway 82’s eastern or southern terminus at Wallowa Lake, bicyclists and pedestrians alike may relish the idea of passing between the head and the foot of the lake without hassling the fast motor vehicle traffic along the shoulderless Highway 351. Granted, currently conceived options for this particular project all carry price-tags steep enough to induce sticker shock, but the fact that advocates and agencies are putting time and thought into the idea anyway serves to highlight how highly we value the non-motorized modes in our beautiful areas.

It’s both a financial blow and an emotionally deflating turn of events to miss the big influx of Cycle Oregon bikes this year, but Wallowa County takes a back seat to no other part of the state in offering the intense beauty, mild climate, and reasonably good roads that serious cyclists truly appreciate. So Cycle Oregon folks will undoubtedly try it again here in some near-future year, and even if they don’t, Wallowa County figures to be attracting non-motorized two-wheelers in increasing numbers. —RCR