The Steens Mazama 1000 (2017)

The Steens Mazama 1000 is a fully self supported mixed terrain race around Oregon.  Racers are expected to carry all of their own equipment and navigate the route completely under their own power.  The rules are near identical to the Trans Am or Tour Divide.  It’s a modern, back of the envelope, bikepacking ultra-marathon.

The race starts in the densely populated Portland, Oregon and fair amount of traffic can be expected in the first 25 miles.  After that it’s smooth sailing until you hit Detroit Lake then it’s high traffic until just past Bend.   After that though racers are in high desert range lands, dense Cascade mountains, or lush Willamette hill country until rolling back into Portland..  Wide open spaces, extremely low traffic roads, and views for miles and miles are a guarantee.

Racers are expected to take around five to ten days.  A lot of the areas out in the desert are terrible for bush camping but there are a fair amount of good bivy spots to be found if the rider is covering plenty of mileage.  The ride is not intended to be ridden as a tour of less than 100 miles a day.  If you’d like to ride the route on your own time that’s fine but it was never designed to support a sight seeing tour.  The sights of this route are meant to be seen from the seat of a bicycle, briskly.