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Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Thousands of cyclists visit Sisters
By Jim Cornelius

Some 2,000 cyclists were to start rolling into Sisters at about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11.

The riders will stay the night Wednesday and enjoy a layover day and night in Sisters on Thursday, September 12. There will be live music, a gallery walk in Sisters and a variety of outdoor activities scheduled for the riders.

The seven-day trek began in Nyssa in Eastern Oregon on September 7 and wraps up on the coast at Florence on September 14.

A small army of Sisters volunteers will set up and operate the base camp for the cyclists at Sisters High School, which includes tents, a stage, showers, refreshment tent and more.

Each cyclist has about 60 pounds of gear and personal items that are carried in three 52-foot tractor trailers. Cross country team members will unload those rigs and port the gear to the cyclists in camp.

"When they come in, it's almost like a military operation," said local organizer Jerry Norquist.

SHS cross country runners and baseball players are helping out, as are Community Action Team of Sisters (CATS) volunteers and 4-H participants. Each group will receive funds from Cycle Oregon for its work -- funds that will be used to support programs.

Norquist and fellow organizer Pat Lamoreaux said that folks in Sisters are making every effort to welcome the riders, who will hit town after a six-hour, 100-mile run from Mitchell.

Welcome packets include a map of Sisters and coupons for local businesses. The Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation is providing a shuttle service from the high school to town. Many businesses plan to stay open until 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday evenings so the riders can enjoy the downtown area.

Many riders have booked rafting trips on Thursday, fly fishing clinics, hikes, golf and canoe trips. The Deschutes Basin Land Trust will host tours of the Camp Polk Meadow Preserve.

"It's been a great community effort," Norquist said.

Community members are invited to join the riders for live music at the high school stage, including a Thursday evening performance by Gator Beat, a Cajun-flavored band in town for the Sisters Jazz Festival this weekend.

"We're really hoping for an experience the cyclists never forget," Lamoreaux said.

Many of the cyclists are repeat riders in the annual Cycle Oregon tour, which has been running since 1988. According to Norquist, himself a passionate cyclist, about half the riders hail from Oregon and the rest come from all parts of the nation.

"They've had riders from all 50 states and I think they've had riders from a number of foreign countries, too," Norquist said.

The riders will create quite a spectacle on Oregon's highways. They ride with an Oregon State Police motorcycle escort on routes that have been thoroughly scouted and signed.

According to organizers, those who wish to greet the main body of riders can see them roll into town between 2 and 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

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