Outside Features

For the last few years Super D races have been the darlings of the mountain bike world. Super Ds, which feature both cross-country and downhill segments, are relatively short and staged on mellow enough terrain that they attract a broad spectrum of riders—cross-country and downhill racers dig them, as do the casual all-mountain riders. The popular races often attract riders who’ve previously never considered entering a bike race.
So how is it that European-inspired enduro racing is threatening to dethrone the beloved Super D?
Lots of reasons, as it turns out.

Come early August dedicated steelheaders know that what happens on the lower Deschutes stays on the lower Deschutes. And I won’t break that confidence.
However, it’s no secret that the annual steelhead pilgrimage has begun on the Columbia River, which has fish junkies like myself trekking north in hopes of intercepting some of the early arrivals, including the strong push of wild fish that make up a good chunk of the early “run” on the Columbia and tributaries including the lower Deschutes.

Stand-up paddleboarding on flat water is the equivalent of going for a lunch-hour jog—it’s good for you, it probably makes you feel better, but it doesn’t exactly get you into the red zone. As a result, it can be hard to get motivated. You could say the activity is short on ‘psyche.’
Wait, before anyone gets their board shorts in a wad, let me say this: getting exercise, no matter the format, is always preferable to getting none at all. Also, there’s nothing wrong with flat-water stand-up paddle board (SUP) sessions, or flat water anything else for that matter. But given that stand-up paddling traces its origins to the Pacific Ocean, it’s worth noting that there’s much more to the sport than what we see from the banks of the Deschutes River.

Anchored by the strong legs and local knowledge of Ian Boswell, the young Bontrager LIVESTRONG team once again showed their depth as they wrapped up the team classification title on Sunday at the conclusion of the Cascade Cycling Classic. Boswell finished thirteenth overall, 1 minute 27 seconds behind overall winner Francisco Mancebo, and was just one of six (!) Bontrager LIVESTRONG riders to finish inside the top 20 in the general classification.
Boswell rode to an impressive second place during the 76-mile McKenzie Pass Road Race, narrowly losing a sprint to Mancebo. Two days later the young riders on Bontrager LIVESTRONG dominated the 92-mile Cascade Lakes Road Race and captured the top three finishing spots. The team, founded by Lance Armstrong and directed by Axel Merckx, truly is a squad “for the next generation of professional cyclists,” as their Facebook page states.

The day when the Tour des Chutes occurs is always Gary Bonacker’s favorite day of the year. This year, however, the popular cancer-benefit bike ride was without its biggest proponent.
Bonacker, the founder of the event and co-owner of Sunnyside Sports, remains in the Intensive Care Unit, suffering from seizures caused by a brain tumor that Bonakcer has lived with for the last nine years. Though Bonacker remains in critical condition after being admitted to the hospital on July 12, the July 14th benefit event went on and, according to event director Leslie Cogswell, it was a smashing success with approximately 1,400 riders participating—400 more than last year.

On May 19, Bend rock climber Ryan Palo had a breakthrough.
After competing in the bike leg of the Pole Peddle Paddle, Palo trekked over Misery Ridge to the backside of Smith Rock State Park to once again attempt a long, incredibly hard line on the Monkey Face—one which had haunted him for over a year. With his completion of Just Do It, a route rated at 5.14c, Palo became just the twelfth person to send the nearly 150-foot-long line, considered by most climbers to be the hardest route in the park and one of the toughest sport climbs in the U.S.

Bend’s elite cyclists are poised to capture some of the most prized titles in cycling over the course of the next week—or coming weeks if we’re talking about Chris Horner. From multi-day endurance slogs, to short and sweet gravity events, to the Tour de France, we have mountain bikers and road racers fighting for glory at the biggest bike races of the year. Here’s a look at who’s doing what, and where they’re doing it. Keep in mind that these guys aren’t just pack fodder; they all have a legitimate shot at the podium or first place in their respective races.

It’s easy to miss the Fisher King’s fly shop in the postage stamp-sized town of Paisley just beyond Summer Lake.
The small shop is tucked into the corner of a self-storage business on the side of Highway 31 in the heart of the Oregon Outback. In fact, I blew right past it on my way to Lakeview, turning around only after I thought better of trying to navigate the back roads of the Winema-Freemont forest without the benefit of local knowledge. So I whipped a U-turn just outside of Paisley and backtracked.
I’m glad I did.

Ten years ago during an interview at an outdoor industry trade show, a kayak manufacturing company president somewhat sheepishly admitted that, while a high percentage of his company’s ad budget went to promoting whitewater kayaking, for every one whitewater boat the company sold his company moved another 40 recreational kayaks. Today, that ratio is probably more like 200 to 1. Recreational “rec” kayaks and their longer and faster brethren (day touring and ocean/touring kayaks) seem to be everywhere from lakes, to lazy rivers, to bays, marshes and estuaries.

Innovations are often born out of frustration. You think Henry Ford was psyched about riding around in a horse and buggy? Hell no.
And so it was with Erik Eastland and his now famous beer-drenched bike party, Blitz to the Barrel, an invite only point-to-point bike race that this year carried a $20,000 prize purse.
Eastland, frustrated by the boringness of traditional bike races, sought to bring the party to Bend’s favorite past time.