Bob Woodward

woody@bendcable.com
Posted inNews

College Football: Nicknames and mascots

What a college teams’ names say about their squad.
Bob Woodward

The college pigskin season started this past week and with it time to once again examine team nicknames and the current trend to wild uniforms. There are nicknames and uniforms that are truly fearsome and some that are, well, not destined to strike fear into the hearts of anyone, much less the opposition.
First to team nicknames. From the Bulldogs (Yale, Georgia) to the Bears (Cal golden, Maine black), Wildcats (Arizona, Kentucky, Northwestern) and the Golden Gophers (Minnesota), animal nicknames are the most popular. But there are way too many teams sporting the “Tiger” nickname. LSU (sorry Oregon fans) Missouri, Princeton, Auburn, Memphis, among others. Too many tigers have diminished the name’s overall ferocity.
As for Ducks and Beavers, neither is as scary as Cougars (Washington State and BYU), Wolverines (Michigan), or Badgers (Wisconsin). The latter are truly fierce creatures, the former not so scary but very Oregon-centric, of course.

Posted inOutside

Big Wheels: While not for everyone, 29ers are earning their place on local trails

Bob Woodward

It wasn't that many years ago when mountain bike makers started rolling out models with big (29-inch versus the standard 26-inch) wheels. This, we were told at the time, was the dawning of a new era in mountain biking with bikes that were the answer to every rider's need. And while the new bikes promised much, they generally fell short of expectations. The problem lay in the fact that practically all the 29er makers had simply put the larger wheels on frames made specifically to handle 26-inch wheels.
Yes, the first generation of 29ers could roll fast down old logging roads but were not much fun in technical terrain. The problem lay in floppy front wheels and the need to get any 29er bike up to pretty high speed to roll over, let alone trying to steer around, any and all obstacles.
Times have changed. The most recent crop of crop of 29er mountain bikes are designed around frames geometrically configured to match their big wheels. This has led to some pleasant surprises.
Surprises, like the fact that 29ers are superior on technical singletrack climbs. Big front wheels track better because there's little or no wheel flop.
O.k., how about technical downhills? Because of a 29-inch wheel's ability to roll faster, you have to adjust your thinking and anticipate your moves going into tight corners. But unlike a typical 26-inch wheeled bike, a 29er is easy to lay over, so it carves making nicely arced turns.
Next thing to consider are those diving board, vertical drops over big rock outcrops or group of rocks. Having three-plus inches of wheel and tire beneath you makes the drop shallower. Those scary I-could-do-a-huge-ender drops become almost too easy.

Posted inNews

Recap of the High and Dry Bluegrass Festival

Photos and a recap of the High and Dry Bluegrass Festival.
Bob Woodward

When it comes to outdoor music festivals, the annual High and Dry Bluegrass Festival at John and Nancy Hancock’s Runway Ranch east of Bend is a throwback. A throwback to simpler times when acoustic bluegrass and folk music was a festival norm and the gatherings to listen to it were often at people’s homes or rural properties, settings that had a relaxed, informal feel to them.
High and Dry succeeds not only because of its relaxed informal atmosphere but also because it provides a place for top line bluegrass and folk ensembles to strut their stuff and a chance for new acts eager for a chance to perform and get noticed.
This year’s format had main stage acts playing 45-minute sets with new groups and up-and-coming groups playing fifteen-minute sets in between on a smaller side stage.
Sitting on the ranch lawn sheltered by canopies provided by Pickathon, festival goers brought in their lawn chairs, snacks and drinks. Food truck vendors were on hand to provide full meals.

Posted inNews

You Got Mail: Sorting through the email trash

Please stop sending Woody stupid emails.
Bob Woodward

I’m positive that you, like me, have at least one relative who can’t resist sending you a lot of cute e-mails. You know the ones with pictures of a mama moose that’s adopted a squirrel, a cat and dog that pal around like that’s the way it should be, a cobra that sleeps cuddled up with a mongoose, and dozens of adorable puppies doing cute puppy things.
My daily barrage of cute animal emails (mixed in with overly sentimental poems complete with sunset pictures) comes from a cousin in Arizona. And the reason why I don’t tell her to stop sending them is that I don’t want to offend her. Instead, I just hit delete.
Another barrage of daily emails comes from a well-meaning uncle who passes on every joke he hears or receives from his numerous cronies along with lots of folksy wisdom about aging gracefully and not aging so gracefully.

Posted inOutside

Fat Tires To Easy Waters: Carl Decker takes tops at Worlds, Skyline mtb, and more!

Bob Woodward

Coming off Super D mountain bike race wins in Wisconsin and in Bend early in the summer, local mountain bike racing pro Carl Decker headed down to Downieville, California July 9 and 10 to try for his second straight All Mountain World Championship – the true test of who's the best all-around mountain bike rider.
The All Mountain Championship starts with a cross-country race followed the next day by a downhill race. “Once again, ” Decker says, “Saturday's cross-country turned into a bit of a rout. The ball-breaker of a climb (3000 feet without shade) saw another rider and myself off the front with a sizeable gap. By the finish line I had just over four minutes on second place.”
“Winning Sunday's downhill was a personal goal I set last year. I don't normally set goals, but I had an axe to grind, as some people looked askance at a 29er cross-country bike winning in the realm of 6-inch travel trail bikes last year. Winning the downhill on the same bike as last year made me want it badly.

Posted inCulture

Kickball Fever: Putting a foot into a big red ball is no longer just a game for kids

Kickball might be an age old game but it’s the coolest new game around town.
Bob Woodward

“For it's one, two foul balls and you're out at the old ball game.” Or so the traditional seventh-inning stretch baseball song might be adapted to fit the rules of kickball, a sport with schoolyard origins that for the past three years has been played in a Bend Parks and Recreation adult summer league.
Take the June 30 league game between the Bras and Bros and Tiger Blood (sporting an image of Charlie Sheen on their team tees) 11-person squad (that's right, 11 players is the rule and four of them have to be women) at Big Sky Park. It was a game of contrasts.
The Bras and Bros proved a loosely knit group of newcomers and locals ranging in age from 20-somethings to AARP cardholders. No matter their age, all were recruited to join the team by the husband and wife team of Connie Austin and Roger Rudolf. It was unknown as to how the Tiger Blood team was put together, but it consisted of 30-somethings, was well organized, which made sense, they were, after all, the reigning 2010 league champs.

Posted inNews

Tour des Chutes: And a word with Chris Horner during the local charity ride

Woody rides the Tour des Chutes and gets a quick interview with Chris Horner
Bob Woodward

What makes the annual Tour des Chutes unique among local organized road bike rides is that it’s a ride with several purposes. One is to raise money for cancer research. The second is to honor those who have passed on because of the disease and, three, to honor those who have survived it. Then, there’s the added plus of it serving as a venue where you see and ride with old friends, some of whom you may not have seen for years.
Such was the case of my running into one of Bend’s original mountain bikers (there were a dozen of us back in the day) who had left town for employment and now 25 years later has returned. He was riding for a friend going through cancer treatments.
And that is really the heart and soul of the Tour de Chutes: honoring those friends and loved ones. There are numerous mileage options for Tour riders yet I’ve spent the past six Tours riding the 7.5 miler with kids, parents, grandparents and people who simply want a quick spin around Bend’s Westside.
There’s something special about this part of the Tour which and this year it featured riders ranging in age from 2 to 82. When asked a three and a half year old girl let it be known that when she grows up, she wants to be a fireman. Cool.

Posted inNews

Woody’s Road Trip: Part 3

Woody visits Mesa Verde, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and Utah before returning to Bend.
Bob Woodward

This is Bob Woodward’s third and final installment about his great American road trip. Read the first and second parts if you need to catch up.
Back in the dark ages, when I was a kid living in Colorado, my parents owned a Viewmaster. Insert a circular card with tiny images on it into the Viewmaster and voila, sights from all over the world appeared before your very eyes.
My favorite Viewmaster card was the one of Mesa Verde. It looked so cool, so mysterious. Now, decades later I finally am at Mesa Verde along what seems like all of the Midwest. Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois, states whose license plates dominate the car landscape. I seek out Iowans whose license plate holders say they’re from Fort Dodge to see if they remember my old man or his father. They don’t.
We opt for two Mesa Verde tours, which at $3 per tour are a steal. The first one takes us to that iconic of Anasazi site-Cliff House. Our tour guide is Bill Slotter. Bill, like me, fell in love with Mesa Verde when he was in grade school.
“I was looking at this magazine,” he says, “and there was this picture of Mesa Verde and it had a tremendous impact on me.”

Posted inNews

Pets on Parade

Woody’s photos from the Fourth of July pet parade.
Bob Woodward

There will probably be an “official” participation count, but suffice to say unofficially that the 2011 edition of the Pet Parade was the largest ever. Large and full of highly creative costumes, every imaginable self-propelled conveyance, pets from domestic livestock to man’s best friend, and a few amazing sights.

Posted inNews

Woody’s Road Trip Part 2: The 3,000 mile summer

Woody’s roadtrip continues through Las Vegas and Zion National Park.
Bob Woodward

This is part 2 of Bob “Woody” Woodward’s great American road trip story. It’s like On the Road, but with granddaughters in tow.
Following a family caucus, a unanimous decision is made to stay in Las Vegas for one more day. Weighing heavily in the decision is the fact that the hotel swimming pool is too great not to enjoy some more and also the girls are hoping to ride the famous New York-New York roller coaster. That, and see the real honest to goodness, albeit caged, lions at the MGM Grand.
We join what seems like the entire population of America traipsing from tourist attraction to tourist attraction. First stop for us is the Hard Rock Casino with its exhibitions of rocker performance outfits and other memorabilia.
Britney Spears' nearly see-through G-string and bra outfit rates an “ugh” from the girls. Katy Perry's high red boots and black mini skirt, however, receives an enthusiastic “way cool.”

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