The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - It may not be the massive invasion of cyclists Waitsburg hosted in 2010, but the 300 cyclists from Bicycle Rides North­west who descend on Day­ton this week will definitely be noticed.

The group, which ar­rives in town on Thursday and will spend two nights at the city park, is making a weeklong tour of northeast Or­egon and southeast Washington. Their trip started this week­end in Athena, takes them through La­Grande, Joseph and Asotin before ending in Dayton.

Bicycle Rides Northwest is a non­profit based in Or­egon. It was formerly known as Oregon Bicycle Ride Inc. It started in 1987 and typically takes a group of several hundred riders through scenic parts of the region.

"It's the board's prefer­ence to keep our group size limited to less than 300 rid­ers - small enough so that we can enjoy meeting new people and building friend­ships without getting lost in the crowd," according to the organization's website.

For that, there will be plenty of opportunity in Dayton and Walla Walla this week.

Dayton Chamber of Com­merce

Ex­ecutive Di­rector Brad McMasters said tours have been set up on Friday for wine tast­ing in Walla Walla; rid­ing up to Ski Bluewood; a Farm, Food and Wine route that includes Du­mas Station, Monteillet Fromagerie, Blue Mountain Station, Alexander's Choco­lates and Mace Meadworks; a history walk of Dayton that includes the Depot, the Boldman House, the Pa­lus Museum and the court house.

McMasters said a vol­unteer will be the cyclists' guide at every location. State Rep. Terry Nealey will give the tour of Dayton's court house. Later on Friday, the groups will be invited to gather at the Liberty The­ater to learn more about the Touchet Valley Arts Council.

"Only about half the bi­cyclists have been signed up for tours as of today (Mon­day), so upwards of 150 will be roaming the streets of Dayton" McMasters said.

The entire group will have a wine exchange event in the park late Friday after­noon after which they will be free to "hit the town," he said. "Restaurants, bars and stores can expect to be busy. There will be live music at Threshers."

The Oregon/Washington itinerary is the organization's second this summer. In July, it staged a similar weeklong tour of Montana.