PRAIRIE CITY – The Prairie City Bicycle Invitational will hit the road this weekend.

The invitational is being held from June 28 to July 6 and includes a number of different rides. Participants are asked to meet on West Front Street, Highway 26, between Southwest Johnson Avenue and Southwest Bridge Street. The rides are scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. to avoid the heat of the day.

There is no registration or fees involved in the invitational, which is not intended as a structured group ride. It does not include a sag service to help riders with gear or repairs, but the invitational’s organizer Storie Mooser said he hopes local organizations will be on hand.

“The idea is to make this a very grassroots type of invitational,” Mooser said. “People are going to come of their own accord. I just put together the routes and times to get people together. Hopefully local organizations like school or church groups will be involved and provide sag services as a fund-raiser.”

Mooser said he hopes the invitational brings money into the community and gets more people involved in cycling.

“It’s all an effort to raise the public awareness of cycling and help the local economy,” Mooser said. “Hopefully the invitational gets more people to come to the area and brings tourism dollars into the economy. It’s something that can create jobs that can fill the gap left by the timber industry.”

There are currently nine trips scheduled. Route information including elevation, descriptions and maps are available at (www.prairiecityoregon.com).