Oregon sustainability tour

Permaculture & Sustainability Tour
During this sustainable cycling adventure, we'll be contributing to some of Oregon's most well-known eco-villages. Riders will have the opportunity to engage in a diversity of educational hands-on activities, getting their hands dirty with some of the region's best natural building communities. This trip is sure to be an experiential learning intensive for all those who participate!

The reality of host logistics makes it impossible to absolutely confirm an itinerary but we have a list of planned activities which include a visit an innovative restaurant that has used the art of cob building to create a unique environment and assist in a cob-building activity while there.

We will be part of the permaculture transformation -a model of sustainable living in an urban environment, our host features a rainwater catching system, organic gardening, permaculture landscaping, a photovoltaic electric system, a passive solar hot water system, constructed wetlands, composting, fluorescent lighting, and natural building practices (straw bale walls, earthen plaster, passive solar design, and use of recycled and sustainably harvested lumber).

We will hike through ancient forest stands and learn about forest health and politics from an environmental watchdog group, take a land use bike tour of downtown Eugene, visiting neighborhood demonstration sites of sustainable alternatives in an urban setting and camp at a fruit orchard in the shadow of Mt. Piska, and learn about applied permaculture, organic farming and the economic realities of this business practice. We will visit local organic dairy farms (and maybe milk some cows!), for a taste of the sustainable alternative to an otherwise ecologically destructive industry and be inspired at the innovative intentional community, Aprovecho, where wood stove technology is being developed and shared with the global south to increase efficiency and decrease smoke production and firewood consumption. 

Route & Mileage: Ride to Champoeg (OR) and south on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway (scenic, very low-traffic farm country roads!) to Eugene (OR). A number shorter rides allow us to visit hosts in this area and then continue north back to Portland. The majority of the biking days will be 20-60 miles/day. There will be some non biking activity days and some shorter ride days between hosts. Total mileage ~400 miles. The two-week tour starts and ends in Portland. The one-week tour starts in Portland, and ends in Eugene.

Included with your tour package: A comprehensive training preceding the trip (which covers bike maintenance, safety, the areas we'll be visiting, and basic group dynamics), service projects with hosts working on sustainability & progressive thinking, and three balanced & nutritious meals daily that are mostly locally-sourced, organic and vegan during both the training and the length of the ride. Please note that we do stop at restaurants along the way to satisfy meat eaters & non-vegans! There will be a Support-and-Gear (SAG) vehicle that carries all group and individual gear except that needed on the road with riders (snacks, water, camera, patch kits, etc.) and comprehensive directions and maps of the route.

To see our coastal route vacations, click here Our tours are unlike any other - the people, the places we visit, and the things we talk about. Intrinsically political, they nourish a fire of hope, inspiring riders to work towards making their own communities thrive. Many of our past riders have called the experience 'sacred'.

Each tour starts out with a full-day training, that gets riders introduced, covers basic bike mechanic and touring safety skills, and provides other bits needed to make a successful tour. Bright and early the next morning, we hit the road, supported by a gear van that carries most of the riders' gear.

Our riders quickly form an impromptu an on-the-road community, with the facilitators providing very minimal group facilitation, letting things flow naturally. With the usual diversity, an incredible dynamic usually ensues together with campfire discussions where one is just as likely to hear about permaculture as a chat about situation in middle east or about the advantages of solar and wind energy.

Roughly a third to half the time is spent biking, the other time spent at host sites, doing service projects, in discussions, and simply chilling out. We also offer a number of extra options on our tours, such as kayaking and various activities in Eugene. The group quickly comes to function as a self-sustaining pod on wheels seeking higher meaning, authenticity and community, as the ropes are learned.