Loop Tour Event Notices

Loop Planners,  03/09/2025

       Mid-Valley Bicycle Club Loop Tour 2025

 Wheelin’ Wallowa → Elkhorn → Blues

Route Map

Start and end in Baker City. Ride counterclockwise. Each color represents a day’s route. Eight days of riding with a layover day at Wallowa Lake State Park near Joseph.

Elevation Profile

The tour dates are July 12-20 (Tour 1) and July 26-Aug 3 (Tour 2).   

Priority Registration opens on April1 and closes on April 30.

After a few days, Open or Waitlist Registration opens and remains open until the start of the tours. The LTC sends updates on registration via [mvbc-announce] email to MVBC members.

In 2025 we are going back to the Wallowas but we will also explore new territory in the Elkhorn range. The nine-day tours will start in Baker City and travel counterclockwise to Halfway, Ollokot Campground, and Wallowa State Park. Following a layover day at Wallowa SP, we will continue to the Wallowa River Wayside, Grande Hot Springs Resort, and then up to Anthony Lake Campground and on to Union Creek Campground past Sumpter for our last night.

The riding surface is nearly 100% paved.

The distance varies from 20-54 miles per day with an average mileage of 42 miles per day. The total mileage is 336. The daily elevation gain varies from 215 to 5232 feet with an average of 2658 feet. The total elevation gain is 21,260 ft.

We will be camping in US Forest Service campgrounds, an Oregon State campground, a private campground, a school and a wayside. All camp spots have water and toilets and most have showers. At least one group meal is provided, otherwise food is the responsibility of the participant.

Two SAG vehicles will support riders and offer an option (with fee) to have personal gear transported.

Watch this document (notices.looptour.org) and the event home page (www.looptour.org) for updates on the 2025 event.

The LTC requests that all members who are considering this tour, particularly ones new to MVBC touring, read the The Loop Tour Participant GUIDE, located at guide.looptour.org. You may find photos from other Loop Tours at gallery.mvbc.com.

Thanks for your interest!

INTRODUCTION

Information about the Mid-Valley Bicycle Club Loop Tour (www.looptour.org) that may vary from year to year is detailed in this document (notices.looptour.org).  You may return here anytime to check for event information updates.

Once registration opens you may Sign-Up for the Loop Tour at www.looptour.org, and find other resources and information at references.looptour.org.

To register for the Loop Tour, you must be a member of the MVBC at the time of registration, and that membership must be valid throughout the duration of the tour (see join.mvbc.com).

Loop Tour Planning Committee (LTC)

loop@mvbc.com

SECTIONS

1. Event Capacity
2. Registration Policy
3. SAG Policy
4. Fees
5. Refund Policy

APPENDIX

1. Tour Summary Tables
2. Resources

We have set a cap of 35 riders (including SAG drivers) for each of the 2025 tours, but there may be some flexibility here.  A Wait List begins when registration exceeds the capacity.

Online Registration and Payment

1. Registration, Waiver/Release and Payment takes place ONLINE (see www.looptour.org)
2. Announcements about Loop Tour registration status (Open, Closed, Etc.) are posted at the event notices page (notices.looptour.org), and in various other places, including some but not necessarily all of: notices.mvbc.com, spokesman.mvbc.com, and mvbc-announce@googlegroups.com.
3. Address questions about Loop Tour registration by email to loop@mvbc.com.
4. Each adult and senior must complete a separate registration and pay for that registration.
5. Minors must be on the same registration form as an adult or senior who is responsible for them during the Loop Tour event.  If this person is not the parent or legal guardian, a hard copy of the waiver form must be completed, signed, and returned via mail or delivered to Dan Arbogast.  Contact loop@mvbc.com for specific information on this process.  Payment for a registration that includes a minor (or multiple minors) will cover all riders on the registration form.
   

Specifics on Determining the Tour List

The initial registration process follows a Priority System so that those who support the club by volunteering have the best chance of being able to participate in a Tour. There are three phases of registration: Priority, Open, and Wait List.  

Priority Registration opens on April 1 and closes on April 30. During Priority Registration, regardless of the date that a participant submits registration, the Priority System (listed below) guides the LTC in determining riders selected for the tour if more than the capacity register at this time. When there are more eligible registrants than available spaces, the LTC does a blind draw, following the levels, to determine the unlucky registrants that do not get onto the tour. If this unlucky registrant is part of a family group (part of the registration process), others in the family group are not affected; however, if an adult with a minor on his/her registration is the unlucky person, the minor, also, does not make it on the tour.  (See below for options for the unlucky registrants.) Everyone considering going on the tour, regardless of level, should register during Priority Registration. Ex: A regularly contributing member decides to wait. Vladimir Putin sees our tour on the Website, joins the club, and registers. As long as there are fewer people interested in that tour than capacity, he would get on the tour as Priority Level 5. The loyal member might not get on the tour if it fills quickly. See ‘Fees’ below for additional rationale.

The LTC will notify all registrants of their registration status within a week after Priority Registration closes. Registrants who do not get into the tour will have the option of: 1) switching to the other tour if it is open; 2) being on the Waitlist (registration fee held until further notice); or 3) withdrawing the registration and receiving a full refund at that time.  

Priority System Levels: The Priority System includes volunteer activities from March 1, 2024, through February 28, 2025. Indicating that you will volunteer for an event after that date does not give you priority for the 2025 tour unless you are a major planner and have started working.

Level 1:  MVBC official tour planning committee members, tour sag drivers, MVBC board members, major planners for Covered Bridge, and one *direct family member riding on the same tour

Level 2:  All other MVBC volunteers from March 1, 2024 through February 28, 2025 and one *direct family member

Level 3:  Club members with current memberships as of January 1, 2025.

Level 4: Up to two additional *direct or **indirect family members of people in higher priority levels, riding the same tour.

Level 5:  Club members who joined after January 1, 2025.

*Direct Family Members:  children, spouses/domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings;

**Indirect Family Members:  cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, spouses/domestic partners of indirect family members.  

Should there be space on a tour after Priority Registration, Open Registration begins, and spaces are filled based on the timestamp of your registration. Your priority level determined from volunteering only affects registration during Priority Registration. Open Registration begins after priority registration closes with the exact time and date to be announced. Open Registration closes when a tour reaches capacity.

If a tour fills, Wait List Registration begins and remains open until the start of the respective tour.  The order of riders on the Waitlist follows this system:  

• First: riders that registered during Priority Registration but did not get in; order based on Priority System first, then lottery;
• Second: riders that attempted to register during Open Registration but did not get in; the order is based first on the date and time stamp of registration, then lottery.  

The Loop Tour Committee adopted this registration system to encourage members to support club events by volunteering. It provides a method for a fair and transparent way of selecting participants when there are more registrations than open spaces. Having said this, the Loop Tour Committee will review and may approve special situations not specifically addressed in the above policies. To learn more about volunteering with MVBC, please go to https://members.mvbc.com/volunteer.

This information is an abbreviated version of sag policies. For the detailed sag policies, please go to guide.looptour.org and read the section on Route & SAG.

Even though the registration fee covers having your gear transported, riders may opt to carry their own gear. While the sag drivers will make every effort to get gear to camp in a timely manner, you should take any essential daily gear with you on the bike.  You should consider carrying your tent and possibly clothes and shower supplies  in case the sag driver is delayed.

Space is limited in support vehicles, so, if you are having your gear sagged, minimize what you take. Remember to pack light in small, waterproof, soft-sided duffel bags or panniers, not suitcases. Only carry the amount of gear that you would be able to carry on a bike.  No sagged bag may exceed 20 pounds. The SAG cannot accommodate fragile items.  Sag drivers are volunteers, but they are in charge of organizing the truck.   You are to deliver bags to the sag vehicles promptly, load your gear as per instructions by the driver, and assist in unloading gear as per instructions from the driver.

Fees vary by participant age: Adults (18 years and older) OR Students (18 years or more and currently enrolled in a college degree program, and Minors (17 years and younger).  The Registration Fee covers camping costs, group meals and sag support. There is not a “no SAG support” option.

Here are the 2025 fees:

As a club-sponsored event, there is no desire to penalize anyone who needs to change his or her plans in an emergency, and there is no intent to raise money for MVBC through the tour.  On the other hand, Loop Tour is run on a tight budget and many of the expenditures are committed long before the tour begins. Changing the number of participants even months before a tour can play havoc with the budget.  To keep this complex issue from becoming a matter of opinion, the Committee uses the following policy:  

• Full Refunds: A full refund is available at any time if a replacement rider is identified who then registers and pays the appropriate fees.  People on the “Waitlist” have first priority as replacements based on the Waitlist order. Anyone who submits a Registration Request but does not get on the tour because of the Priority and Lottery Systems may choose to receive a full refund or be on the Waitlist.

• 50% Refunds: If no replacement is available, a 50% refund is available if the cancellation occurs prior to one month before the start of a tour. For 2025, the chair of the LTC must receive email notice by midnight June 12 for Loop 1 and midnight June 26 for Loop 2.
• No Refund: If no replacement is available, cancellations within a month before the start of a tour result in NO REFUND.  
• If the Loop Tour Committee cancels the entire tour, (such as might occur if there are forest fires in the area or COVID-19 conditions worsen) registrants will receive a refund based on fees that were not spent or can be recouped.  Although the Loop Tour Committee cannot guarantee a full refund, every effort will be made by the Committee to do so.  
• If a refund is appropriate, only registration and SAG fees are considered.  Registrants do not receive a refund of the club membership fee.
• No refunds are given for changes to the route or tour duration whether before or after the start of the tour.
• The Loop Tour committee may make exceptions to the refund policies in case of a genuine emergency.

Route Summary

Available Services

LOOP TOUR LINKS

• Website = www.looptour.org
• Annual Information Notice (this doc) = notices.looptour.org
• Participant Guide = guide.looptour.org
• Packing Guide = packing.looptour.org
• Event History = history.looptour.org
• References = references.looptour.org
• Loop Tour Planning Team = loop@mvbc.com

MID-VALLEY BICYCLE CLUB

• Website = www.mvbc.com
• Tours = Tours - MVBC
• References = references.mvbc.com