Pam Stevenson

PICKS

It's here, the PPP!
Storming the beach, PPP style. Even though the weather has
been prettycrappy for training, the forecast is looking good for race
day, enthusiasm seems to be running high and there will be some serious
competition for the mugs this year. I'm sure lots of wagers are being
placed, so for what it's worth, here are my picks.
In the elite
men's category, 3-time winner Marshall Greene has to be the odds on
favorite. He will be chased by the usual pack of X-C Oregon athletes,
plus Torin Koos and Lars Flora, a couple of U.S. Ski Team ringers in
town for a training camp, but Marshall is the safe bet.

Getting wild at the Wild Horse GamesThis past weekend, two passionate race directors brought innovative new
events to Central Oregon at a time when entry fees are considered a
luxury and sponsors are sparse. The auspicious debuts, however, of the
King and Queen of the Cone and the Wild Horse Games were as sweet as
Snow Cones and Mud Pie, demonstrating that Central Oregonians have not
lost our sense of adventure in tough times.

SNOW CONES
The
inaugural King and Queen of the Cone was a huge success, with 72
competitors taking on the uphill/downhill ski race at Mt. Bachelor. The
race required new thinking for some Central Oregon backcountry skiers
to embrace a competitive challenge on their "get-away from the crowds"
gear. Locals were schooled a bit by experienced out-of-towners from
Montana, Washington and Canada who sported ultracool, ultralight AT
gear. Knowing Bendites, we'll be back to win next year.
Crowns
off to Race Director Kevin Grove for his vision for a new event that is
a perfect fit for Bend and Tiaras off to his wife Molly for becoming
the first Queen.

Surfing Santa CruzThe Mamas and the Papas pop into my head about this time every year:
"All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day.
I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day."
When Winter is clinging onto Central Oregon like gummy klister, I like to kick start spring with a sojourn south. So, last week, I piled my road bike, mountain bike, surfboard and dog into my van and roadtripped down to Santa Cruz for some surfing and then continued on to Palo Alto for some riding. Nothing was going to stop me from getting much-needed saltwater therapy and a Vitamin D infusion - not even the tire schrapnel on I-5 that ripped off my bumper grill and took out the air conditioning on the 92-degree day that began our journey.
SURFIN' SANTA CRUZ
Santa Cruz is a 10-hour drive from Bend and a surfing epicenter. Birthplace of O'Neil Wetsuits, board shops line the city streets and the Surfing Museum sits atop a pink and yellow iceplant-blanketed bluff overlooking reknowned Steamer Lane, a world-class point break. (Sadly, the city has shut down the the museum for economic reasons, and a local group is trying to raise $30,000 to keep it alive.) Once you're a surfer, places like this feel like home. For me, even more so, because the ashes of my dear, dear friend Dave Stevenson ride the waves at Steamer's.

April Shower bring May Flowers-as well as mountain bike races and Pole Pedal Paddle.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
Mountain
Biking season has arrived! The WebCyclery Cascade ChainBreaker Mountain
Bike Race, the traditional opener in Central Oregon, is coming May 10.
Yes, that's Mother's Day- last year, Barry Wicks brought his mom to the
race.
Beating the Sandtrap: Mountain Biking Millican OHV Trails in SpringThe race will use the same course as last year-the
Cascade Timberlands property just west of Shevlin Park, which is a
great mix of singletrack, doubletrack, short climbs, dry creekbed
crossings, a gravel road or two and a few man-made obstacles.
Categories will include:
Pro = FAST!
Cat 1 = Experienced riders with lots of mojo
Cat 2 = Riders looking for adventure and working on speed to move up to Cat 1
Cat 3 = New to the sport and out for a good time
Singlespeed = One gear, simplicity and some pain
Tandem = Two riders, one really big bike
Don't
miss this big event-over 200 cyclists compete and over $1,000 in cash
and prizes will be awarded. For more information, visit
www.webcyclery.com.

Whew, taxes are filed-time to play! Forget about 1040s and Schedule Es
and feel the love for Central Oregon and all it has to offer.

HOORAY FOR
THE BUBBLEHEADS
Corduroy Carpet to Moon MountainKudos
to the Sisters Sno Go-Fers Snowmobile Club. Last Friday night they
groomed the #6, #7 and #8 roads linking Dutchman Flat to the Three
Creeks Sno-Park. Skier Larry Katz circulated an e-mail around the
nordic community earlier in the week and by Saturday morning I had
scored a ride to Dutchman and a pickup at Three Creeks from a friend.
Another group of skiers we passed coming the other way had orchestrated
a key exchange, somewhere around Moon Mountain, I suppose. By getting
an early start, we were all treated to 18 miles of idyllic white
corduroy winding through spectacular Cascades backcountry. With the
Nordic center closing Sunday and Meissner grooming coming to an end, it
was a wonderful grand finale to skate season. The diehards still have
the PPP course and crust cruising, but I'm happy to finish on a high
note and get out some other toys.
In regards to the snowmobilers,
Katz said, "Several of us have met them on the trail and they are good
people and are happy to share the trail with us." I want to echo that
sentiment. I'm all about human-powered recreation. More than anything
else, I ski at Wanoga with my dog all winter and 99.9% of my encounters
with snowmobilers have been positive. We step off to the side of the
trail and wave and they slow down and signal how many in their group.
I'm grateful for the friendly permission from the Moon Country
Snowmobile Club to share their groomed trails. Yeah bubbleheads!

Dodging gates and taxes.The stock market is in the tank. Your 401K is now a 201K. A friend of
mine bought a Westside Bend house for $99,000 about 5 years ago and
sold it a year later for $175,000. That person resold it at the peak of
the bubble, for $275,000. Last week, I saw a "For Sale" sign in the
front yard–they're asking $99,000.

Given the current state of the
economy, it is no wonder that frugality is the new cool. A recent
Business Week article dubbed this the "New Age of Frugality." After an
era of gluttony, it's good to go back to the basics. But for outdoor
addicts like me, gear is an actual necessity that ranks highly on
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, probably right after food.
And, hey,
my bike can provide transportation and self-actualization all at the
same time, without polluting the environment. But why pony up $5,500
for that new carbon-fiber Orbea when you can find a screaming deal on a
slightly used titanium Litespeed listed by an ex-developer, realtor,
mortgage broker or restaurant owner on Craig's List. There's E-Bay,
too, and the used gear shops. Personally, I miss Second Season Sports
which provided me with a steady monthly income for years, which, of
course, I spent on more gear, so it was probably a breakeven
relationship at best. Repeat Performance and Gear Peddler have never
quite filled the gap for me, though I'm sure they do bang-up business
on extra large downhill boots for PPP at this time of year.
Interestingly, swap meets are popping up like daffodils this spring.
But be forewarned. Our cash-strapped government actually wants to tax
your gear!

Omigod, PPP is only seven weeks away! It sure has a way of sneaking up
on you – this column was supposed to be an eight-week training plan. Oh
well, no more procrastinating-let's put down those French truffles from
Costco and get off the couch!

JUSTIN'S TIPS
Go speed racer! Marshall Greene sets the pace. I caught up
recently with Justin Wadworth, eight-time winner of the PPP individual
title and now U.S. Ski Team World Cup Coach. He was back in Bend,
having just concluded a successful ski season.
"The main advice
I'd give someone doing the PPP solo for the first time is to back off
the training in the areas of your strengths, and try to focus on the
parts of the race that you have the least experience in. Train your
weakest areas, specifically the weakest areas of the race that may cost
you the most time. With that said, good technique can overshadow
fitness here, so take a lesson or two to gain the edge over your
competitors."

The hounds take after the hare…and beer.Sometimes, I'm a little off-kilter, so to speak. Case in point: On St,
Patrick's Day, I ended up at a Mexican restaurant with a few friends. I
know McMenamins would have been the happening place to be, but the
seafood rellenos and the service (since we were the only ones there) at
Baltazar's was wonderful. But, hey, this is no restaurant review-I'll
leave that to the dining critic. The evening after St.Paddy's Day, I
partook in another off-kilter event known as a "Hash." Now that's
something you need to know about. By the way, some of what follows is
stolen from wikipedia, some from www.gthhh.com, the World Hash House
Harrier's website, and the rest I made up.

Team "Learning to Fly" flew through the Hoodoo SnowathalonGiven its nickname, the High Desert is not exactly known for its
water-based recreational opportunities, but it's one of our little
secrets. What's cool about springtime here is that you can usually take
your pick between solid or liquid, even in the same weekend. Last
Friday, the mercury rose to 63 degrees in town. As I strolled along the
River Trail in the warm sunshine, I spotted Jayson Bowerman trolling
the river on his standup board, grinning, barefoot and shirtless. I
spent the next day in a blizzard at Hoodoo.

Take a number.Pole Pedal Paddle is only 10 weeks away. It's time to start thinking
about your training program. But the most important training technique
of all, in my opinion, has nothing to do with heart rate training
zones, lactic acid removal, 40-30-30 diets, intervals, overdistance or
visualization. It's specificity. In other words, the best thing to do
to prepare for racing PPP is to race PPP, or at least something like
it. Believe it or not, there are some other towns as obsessed with
outdoor sports as Bend, with equally crazy events. I like to put some
of these "other PPPs" on my race calendar.