The idea for a Reverse PPP brings to mind the difference I have noticed between the two places I split my time: Bend and Portland.

Where else but Bend would something as physically taxing as the PPP cry out for making it harder. In Portland amongst my friends I am considered pretty ‘jocky’, being a long time alpine climb leader, an immediate past President of the Mazamas, a road and mountain bike rider, daily aerobic workout maven, softball player on four teams, skier and hiker and anything else I can find to do. Yet in Bend amongst my friends I am considered ‘woosie boy’. Here, everything I do is amongst loads of people who do it far better.

Bend may be in an economic depression but those who play are still playing hard and making me appreciate what a remarkable collection of athletes have gravitated here. – Gerald Itkin

This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.

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We Do It Harder In Bend

by Eric Flowers, The Source - Bend, Oregon
September 9, 2009

<h1>We Do It Harder In Bend</h1> <p class="byline">by Eric Flowers, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />September 9, 2009</p> <p>The idea for a Reverse PPP brings to mind the difference I have noticed between the two places I split my time: Bend and Portland.</p> <p>Where else but Bend would something as physically taxing as the PPP cry out for making it harder. In Portland amongst my friends I am considered pretty &apos;jocky&apos;, being a long time alpine climb leader, an immediate past President of the Mazamas, a road and mountain bike rider, daily aerobic workout maven, softball player on four teams, skier and hiker and anything else I can find to do. Yet in Bend amongst my friends I am considered &apos;woosie boy&apos;. Here, everything I do is amongst loads of people who do it far better.</p> <p>Bend may be in an economic depression but those who play are still playing hard and making me appreciate what a remarkable collection of athletes have gravitated here. - Gerald Itkin</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/we-do-it-harder-in-bend-2134154/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=11959&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/we-do-it-harder-in-bend-2134154/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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