Spring Fling Thing: COTA trail build ing, adopt-a-road (ride) and more

COTA volunteer Dave Caplan repairs the Farewell Bend trail at last year's COTA Spring Fling.COTA Spring Fling

 
Thanks to last week's rains, the mountain bike trails are in prime shape. With mountain biking on the mind, it's a good time to support the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA) Annual Spring Fling and BBQ that takes place Saturday, June 7. CogWild, Green Energy Tours, and WebCyclery will provide shuttles to the work site, leaving at 8am from WebCyclery. Trail crews will build and repair trails until 1:00 pm, then volunteers will be shuttled back to town for the after-party BBQ. Volunteers should bring plenty of water and wear sturdy footwear and clothing, including gloves and glasses. The after-party begins at 2:00 pm at WebCyclery on SW Industrial Way. Food and beverages will be provided by COTA and Seventh Mountain Resort, while Blackstrap will play live bluegrass, and COTA will announce awards including the Volunteer of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award. Trail crew volunteers will receive free food and beverages at the BBQ. The public is also invited to join the after-party and to become a member of COTA. All new and renewing members will be entered into a drawing for a Niner EMD 9 Twenty9er bicycle frame. For event details and membership information, go to www.cotamtb.com.

 
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is working to bring awareness of opportunities for community members to work with the Deschutes County Adopt-A-Road program. Groups or individuals participating in the program commit to holding clean-ups twice a year to their assigned stretch of highway for three years." According to Eric Chu, a BTA volunteer, "This is a great way to keep our roadsides clean, build bridges between cyclists and motorists, and obtain free advertising. Recent new recruits include Beverly Lucas from Bend Bike 'N Sport, who adopted three different stretches of road and James Gritters from Sagebrush Cycles who adopted a stretch of Johnson Market Rd. There is still a really nice section of road available for adoption on Cascade Lakes Highway (between Todd Lake Road and Goose Creek Crossing). Anyone interested in adopting this nice stretch of road or finding out what other roads are available can contact Ana Cambra at the Deschutes County Roads department at 322-7142.

Duel in the Desert

The fourth annual Duel in the Desert Duathlon attracted over 100 competitors last weekend. According to race director Chuck Brockman, "The weather was good, the course was challenging, and a lot of new people turned out for the event. We also had more volunteers than ever." Brockman also noted that the proceeds, totaling over $5000, will go to Grandma's House of Central Oregon, a not-for-profit organization, which according to its website, "Provides safe, nurturing, and stable shelter to homeless and/or abused pregnant, and parenting teen mothers between the ages of 12 and 19 years old and their babies." Brockman added, "This was also a special memorial event for John Montgomery who died of a heart attack last year." Montgomery was the project coordinator for the Grandma's House project through the Mt. Bachelor Rotary Club. Brockman said, "John volunteered hundreds of hours to the Grandma's House project and many other projects over the years." More than 15 of Montgomery's family members participated in the event over the weekend.

Heaven Can Wait

Last Sunday's Heavan Can Wait runshowed our community's support of cancer patients. The event, benefiting the Sara Fisher Breast Cancer Project of St. Charles Foundation, drew over 3300 participants. Friends Karen Plestina, Laurie Braich, and Leslie Oster met on Sunday morning to participate in the Heaven Can Wait women's run/walk. "It was a very special event," Plestina said of the 5 km run/walk for breast cancer. Plestina added that the organizer for the event reached her goal of attracting more participants than the PPP for the first time ever.

Ask the Experts

Do you have a nagging injury that hampers your outdoor adventures. Stop in to the Footzone any Tuesday from 6-7 pm for an informal Q and A with a line-up of health professionals. The first Tuesday of the month, Mark DeJohn, a Licensed Massage Therapist and certified Active Release Techniques provider from Active Therapeutics answers questions. Steve Leary, a Physical Therapist and owner of Hands On Physical Therapy, is available the second Tuesday of the month. PT Chris Vergona of Rebound shares her expertise on the third Tuesday. On the last Tuesday of the month, Michael Dennis, a Physicians Assistant at Desert Orthopedics, is available. Drop in and learn from these community health care professionals for free.