Loop Tour Event Notices

Loop Planners,  3/25/2026

       Mid-Valley Bicycle Club Loop Tour 2026

 Cascading Rivers

Dedicated to the memories of George and Linda Shaw,

long time MVBC members and volunteers

Route Map

 Elevation Profile

The tour dates are June 20-28 (Tour 1) and July 18-26 (Tour 2).   

The Priority Registration period will be April 1-30, 2026.

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 2026 Loop Tour will be staying closer to home, starting and ending in Albany. We'll head east on familiar roads past Sweet Home and Foster Reservoir and then begin the climb into the Cascades up Quartzville road, past Green Peter reservoir and Yellow Bottom, and on quiet forest roads to the Santiam highway. There we turn north and head to Detroit Lake, before setting off on the Cascading Rivers Scenic Bikeway, up the Breitenbush River and down the Clackamas River to Estacada, where we'll have our layover day at Milo McIver State Park. Then it's on to Champoeg State Park, and Silver Falls State Park on our return to Albany.

We will ride the entire length of the Quartzville Back Country Byway and the Cascading Rivers Scenic Bikeway, shaded blue and purple respectively in the Elevation Profile above.

Compared to previous years, the 2026 Loop Tour features shorter days and fewer long climbs. This and the close proximity to home make this an excellent first tour for people wanting to get started bicycle touring.

The distance varies from 24-50 miles per day with an average mileage of 32 miles per day. The total mileage is 297. The daily elevation gain varies from 980 feet to 4250 feet with an average of 2,050 feet. The total elevation gain is 16,430 ft.

We will be camping at two Linn County parks , two US Forest Service campgrounds and three Oregon State Parks. At least one group meal is provided, otherwise food is the responsibility of the participant.

Two SAG vehicles will support riders and transport personal gear.

Watch this document (notices.looptour.org) and the event home page (www.looptour.org) for updates on the 2026 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. A new Loop Tour Archive - archive.looptour.org- documents 48 years of looptours. Photos, routes and more!

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 2026 tours.  A Wait List begins when registration exceeds the capacity.

Online Registration and Payment

• Registration, Waiver/Release and Payment takes place ONLINE (see www.looptour.org)
• 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, Mid-Valley Spin, and mvbc-announce@googlegroups.com.
• Address questions about Loop Tour registration by email to loop@mvbc.com.
• Each adult and senior must complete a separate registration and pay for that registration.
• 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.  

Trial Change to Priority Registration

Rationale

Last year’s Loop Tour (2025) had significantly more registrants during the Priority Registration period than spaces on tour. Managing this high level of interest identified flaws in the current system. This trial change is intended to incentivize volunteering, simplify the assignment of tour spaces, and inform members as to how MVBC volunteering influences registration priority.

Priority System

A point based priority system has been implemented.  Level 1 gets the highest registration priority followed by Level 2, etc.  Within Level 1, people with more volunteer points have a higher priority than people with fewer volunteer points.  If needed, ties at a particular priority level are resolved through a lottery.

Level 1 registrants with at least 3 points have the option to bring one direct family member on tour. A direct family member is a spouse/domestic partner, child, parent, grandparent or sibling. The direct family member is assigned the same level as the registrant.

Level 1 registrants also have the option to bring one or two additional direct or indirect family members. Indirect family members are cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and their spouses/domestic partners.  These additional family members are assigned to Level 3.

MVBC Volunteer Points Table

Points are earned as follows. Please total your points based on the volunteer activities below.

Points are accumulated in the period between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. Exceptions are made for major planners who have started working. Registrants report their volunteer points as part of their Loop Tour Priority Registration. Registrants are requested to tally their volunteer points in advance of registration.

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 Mid-Valley Bicycle Club - 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” fee option.

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 2026, the chair of the LTC must receive email notice by midnight May 20, 2026 for Loop 1 and midnight June 18 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

*Routes from Corvallis to Whitcomb Creek and from Silver Falls to Corvallis will also be provided.

Available Services

Yellow highlights: TBD

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
• Loop Tour Archive = archive.looptour.org

MID-VALLEY BICYCLE CLUB

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