Summer is ending. And, as much as that means the start of football season, the coming of the World Series and time to ramp up for ski season, it also means that, soon, the Cascade Lakes Highway will be snowed in. Like a summertime daydream, much of the Cascade Lakes Highway only exists during the […]
Outside
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I’m on a Boat!
Drag boat racing comes to Central Oregon
Growing up in Coastal Virginia, I’d often end up at cigarette boat races with my dad. I remember the noise, the elongated boats and the smell of gasoline as it mixed with an offshore breeze. I also remember the bikinis, beers and big, roaring engines—which is probably what kept my dad coming back. For me, […]
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Flicker Monkey Business
The comedic birds of Central Oregon
If there's one bird in the Sisters Country that can bring smiles one moment and frowns the next, it is our big and bold Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). The photo above shows a male enjoying a repast of suet cake they enjoy in winter—and if you continue to provide this favorite flicker food—in summer as […]
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Master Blasters
With master road cycling national champs looming, we take a look at two fast dudes
Aged 35 and older, masters racers—men and women—are often among the strongest riders in any peloton. Why? They’re old enough to have decades’ worth of miles in their legs (as well as years of racing experience), but still fit enough to hang with the young bucks. Next week, for the third year running, the graying […]
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Ticket to Ride
Opening soon: Mt. Bachelor’s new downhill mountain bike park
It was hard to miss the nervous, excited, anticipatory energy buzzing through the crowd of mountain bikers. Grown men dressed in neon greens and electric blues and sporting Star Wars-eque helmets were saying silly things, like, “Pedal bikes! Yay!” before high-fiving one of their goofily-dressed comrades. I know, because I was one such doofus (though […]
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Young Gun
Lessons from tomorrow’s über athlete
Six grueling races later and Jack Perry, a young, high-energy Bend athlete, still shows no sign of fatigue. Perry likes to stay active and enjoys competition but is far from cutthroat. For Perry, races are just a good excuse to get outside and go hard. Perry, I learned, is also a creature of habit. When […]
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Cats, toxoplasmosis, and more cats
Where are you when we need you, Bob Barker?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently issued a report that kitchen gardens and community gardens may be open to a cat-borne disease that can be devastating, especially to children. To wit: “Toxoplasmosis, caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is one of the most common parasitic infections of man and other warm-blooded animals. It has […]
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Tasty Waves
Bend ski and surf guide reveals the best beaches within driving distance
Aaron Karitis is a can-do sort of guy. After shoveling snow and fueling planes the skier and surfer logged eight productive years as a guide with H2O Guides in Valdez, Alaska. His job was a dream: to take clients heli-skiing in the Alaskan backcountry. The Mountain View alumnus and University of Utah graduate was responsible […]
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Burrowing Owls
Out of the tree and in the ground
All our small owls—screech, saw-whet, pygmy, flammulated, and boreal—nest in tree cavities, created by woodpeckers, broken limbs or just plain old age. Then there’s the little burrowing owl, also a "cavity nester," but the cavity is a hole in the ground. The burrowing owl is inextricably (oh, how I love that word!) linked to the […]
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Chris Horner is Back!
At 41, the Tour vet is once again set to take on the world’s best
Chris Horner doesn’t sound like an athlete who has been sidelined by injury for four months. When we talked last week, I could barely follow the chipper, fast-talking pro cyclist—he was that excited. In there somewhere were comments about doughnuts and early season races, knee pain and watching the Tour from home, his contract, the […]