Outside

Local olympian Barb Buchan with legendary cycling coach Eddie B. IS IT SAFE TO RIDE
YOUR BIKE IN BEND?
Last week, I told my story of
being hit by a car while riding my bike. I don't have the data to
statistically prove an epidemic, but it sure seems like one. Naturally,
I've now heard all sorts of other stories and just this past week there
were two new serious incidents in which cyclists were struck by cars. A
lot of the feedback to my article, and others, rants about the Bend
Police Department letting the automobile drivers off the hook.
Ironically, an off-duty police officer was one of the victims this
week, so we'll see if striking close to home has any impact.
Sadly,
Bend is becoming a scary place to ride and I'd love to see our city
make a real effort to become more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly. I'm
jealous when I visit other cities that seem to care so much more about
this. In Ketchum this summer, I was impressed by their bike paths. When
I lived in Boulder and Palo Alto, I rode the dedicated bike paths all
the time. Even little things can make a difference. Can someone tell me
why the bike path up to Summit High, one of our rare segments of bike
path, does not have a curb cut to allow access? What excuse is there
for the lack of a pedestrian crosswalk across Galveston at the south
end of Drake Park? That crossing is officially considered part of the
River Trail. I'm hoping that we've reached the critical mass of
tragedies that makes this issue a priority.

I'm grateful to be alive.
On Labor Day, I decided to go for a quick
little late-afternoon out-and-back ride on Skyliner. I was just about
home, cruising down Galveston toward the Flaming Chicken, when a beige
Toyota Prius in the oncoming lane suddenly turned left directly into my
path. The scene has been replaying itself over and over in my mind in
slow motion. I braked hard, but there was absolutely nothing I could
do. My bike and my body slammed into the front quarter panel and
passenger side door, ripping off the side view mirror. I somersaulted
across the windshield and crash landed on the other side. Intense pain
set in about 10 seconds later.
People were instantly there as I
lay on the asphalt, clutching my left shoulder and moaning in pain. I
remember yelling "Call an ambulance!" and then repeating two phrases:
"Can someone give me pain medication?" and "It's not fair." A person in
the small crowd came up to me, I think his name was Bill, and said,
"I'm a first responder." He started the process of assessing me for
head trauma and spinal cord injury and stabilizing my spine.

How lucky am I? The Deschutes River flows through my backyard.
Everyday, I watch the geese and the ducks, sometimes the swans, float
by as I work in my home office. It's magical when the sinking sun
bounces off the rippling river under the willow tree and sets my living
room asparkle. My dog is endlessly entertained by the beavers, otters
and minks and I never have to worry about filling her outdoor water
bowl. Occasionally, neighborhood boys set crawdad traps from my dock. I
frequently paddle from my backyard up to McKay Park, down to the
Newport Bridge and back again. I can say with 100% confidence that I
have logged more river miles on the Mirror Pond run in the past eight
years than anyone in the world. I am intimately familiar with the
channel of best flow, the submerged rocks above the Columbia Park
footbridge, the underwater pylons below the Drake Park footbridge, the
swan nests, the water level and the silt buildup in Mirror Pond.

Over
the years, I have also collected the following out of our river: a love
note in a beer bottle, a leather statue of an ibex, a plastic frog, an
Aerobie Flying Ring, a license plate, a horseshoe, a lawn chair, a
couple flip flops per summer, several pumpkins, a few unmanned
floaties, 20 softballs, 39 tennis balls and approximately $5.75 in
recycling. A couple of weeks ago we reported to the Bend Police a
picnic table going down the river. It is still hung up on the buoy line
in front of the Newport spillway. Why someone felt compelled to launch
the table, presumably from McKay Park, and why no one has removed it, I
don't know. I love the Deschutes River and I think we should all
appreciate this treasure that flows through the heart of Bend.

And we all glide on. Soaring, etc.

OK, so we are all glad that the tourists have gone home. But maybe, secretly, we have an inner tourist that actually enjoyed riding the Space Mountain Roller Coaster at Disney World, bungy jumping in Queenstown and partaking in the wine and cheese safari in Napa Valley. Rather than wait 'til the relatives come to visit, now is the perfect time to come out of the closet and be a tourist in your own backyard.

GET ABOVE IT ALL

Last week, the friendly folks at Sunriver Soaring invited me to go on one of their glider flights. I'd never been in a glider before and, to be honest, I don't do particularly well on roller coasters and such, so I did sneak a Dramamine before my flight. I met the crew, including pilot Dale Masters, at the Sunriver Airport. It instilled confidence to meet Dale. He just looks like the seasoned pilot that he is and, with 30 years of successful soaring under his belt, he is the author of Soaring: Beyond the Basics. Brian Lansburgh, who has owned Sunriver Soaring for about a year and a half, supported his family for years as a comic pilot. That sounded like an oxymoron to me, but Dale explained, "He would fly like he didn't know what he was doing (which actually requires tremendous skill) and cap off the performance by landing and hopping out of the cockpit in a clown costume."

Future olympians?THE TORCH MOVES ON

If you are like most people, you were unusually glued to your TV the past two weeks watching the Olympic coverage from Beijing. You were blown away by the incredible, record-setting gold medal perfection of Michael Phelps in the pool. You were mesmerized by the gymnastic performances of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson. You were shocked and dismayed when we dropped the baton…twice. And you have probably learned more about beach volleyball than you ever wanted to know. Maybe you even rooted for Bend's own Adam Craig in the mountain bike race. Now that the torch moves on to Vancouver for 2010, I'd like to submit my candidates for new Olympic sports:

Extreme Ironing: Founded in 1997 by two Brits named Phil and Paul, but better known as "Steam" and "Spray," EI is a sport that "combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt," according to the Extreme Ironing Bureau. "It involves taking an iron and board (if possible) to remote locations and ironing a few items of laundry. This can involve ironing on a mountainside, preferably on a difficult climb, or taking an iron skiing, snowboarding or canoeing." In 2002, the German Extreme Ironing Section organized the highly successful World Championships in the village of Valley near Munich with German ironist Hot Pants winning the individual event and a British team taking the top spot in the team event. The international popularity of this sport makes it an obvious selection for the Olympics.