Breaking News: Crooked River Canyon Scenic Bikeway designation

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (ORPD) and Travel Oregon announced today that the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission approved the designation of the Crooked River Canyon Scenic Bikeway. The bikeway is rated at moderate difficulty and stretches 18 scenic miles between Prineville and Big Bend Campground. 

Riders begin the 37 mile out-and-back journey in the historic community of Prineville. The bikeway follows the Crooked River south out of town, giving riders picturesque views of the surrounding llama farms and cattle ranches.

The route leaves the pastures behind as it enters the Crooked River Canyon. The road slips through the canyon’s towering basalt cliffs, gently curving and climbing to a scenic view near Palisades Campground before descending back toward the river. Riders will pedal by Chimney Rock Recreation Site, a popular picnicking spot and fun place to watch local anglers fly fish in the Crooked River.

The final stretch of the Crooked River Scenic Bikeway continues through the canyon and passes by several other day-use sites and campgrounds. Observant riders might spot resident wildlife like deer, great blue herons and golden eagles. The bikeway ends at Big Bend Campground, which has parking, restrooms, water and power.

The ride is best enjoyed during the spring and fall when seasonal colors are vibrant. Most of the day-use sites along the route have restrooms; two have water to refill any empty bottles. The bikeway can also be ridden on clear winter days, rewarding intrepid cyclists with brisk blue-sky rides through the quiet landscape.

The Oregon Scenic Bikeways program features a curated collection of cycling routes that inspire people to experience Oregon’s natural beauty and cultural heritage by bicycle. Launched in 2009, the program is a partnership between Cycle Oregon, Travel Oregon, Oregon Department of Transportation and OPRD. It is the first and only program of its kind in the United States.

Scenic Bikeway routes are nominated by local community groups and are designated by ORPD based on scenic quality, road conditions and general riding enjoyment. Newly designated routes are developed by a partnership between OPRD, community groups and local government.

OPRD and Travel Oregon host information online for riders to plan their trip at RideOregonRide.com/CrookedRiver. Resources include printable ride maps, elevation profiles, GPS data, services and points of interest.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department provides and protects outstanding natural, scenic, cultural, historic and recreational sites for enjoyment and education. It served more than 40 million people last year in a system of state parks, historic and natural areas, trails, and other special programs.

2017 Shop Kits Available for Pre-Order!

Our custom Castelli shop kits, newly designed for 2017, are now available for pre-order! Men's and Women's-Specific fits are available. Order fulfillment will be in June. Stop in to try on a current kit for size, or size charts are also available at www.castelli-cycling.com.

Check Out This Pre-Order Incentive!

Place your order before April 15th and receive 10% off!

Also, order a complete kit (jersey, bibs, arm warmers, leg warmers, and vest) and in addition, receive a free pair of socks, Good Bike Co. water bottle, and a gift coupon!

Payment is required at the time of order, so stop in or call to place yours!

Men's Team Training Jersey- $95
Women Team Training Jersey - $95
Men's Team Bibshort- $120
Women's Team Bibshort- $120

Unisex Wind Vest - $120
Arm Warmers - $40
Leg Warmers - $50
Socks (Sock Guy) - $12

Bicycle Mechanic Wanted

Good Bike Co. LLC located in Central Oregon is looking for a full time Head Mechanic and Sales Manager.

We are located at the intersection of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail and the Oregon Outback in Prineville, OR. We are also home to the "toughest gravel race in Oregon," the Ochoco Gravel Roubaix. 

This is a lifestyle shop and the position will include a lot of opportunity to expand your current skill set and knowledge. We are looking for someone that does well with a lot of responsibility and wants the full experience of running and managing a bicycle shop. You will work alongside the owner with the following responsibilities:

- Bike repairs including suspension O.H., brake bleeds, and hub and BB O.H.

- Bike sales

- Customer Service

- Placing orders

- Merchandising

- Serving Beer (we have a two tap bar in the shop)

- Good Bike Co. Ambassador

Applicants should have the following qualifications:
- 2-5 years bicycle shop mechanic experience

- Some management experience

- Extensive current knowledge of a wide variety of full-suspension mountain bikes and road bikes
- Experience bleeding hydraulic brake systems
- Ability to overhaul Fox and Rock Shox forks and shocks.
- Wheel builder

- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Strong attention to detail
- Excellent organizational abilities
- Self driven

Please send resume or CV to James

info@goodbikeco.com 

541-903-0509

www.goodbikeco.com

https://www.facebook.com/Good-Bike-Co-817190188300222/

Bicycling Boosts Crook County Economy

Mountain biking, related activities add tourism jobs

By Stephen Hamway / The Bulletin / @Shamway1

Published Nov 11, 2015 at 12:01AM

Long known as a regional center for logging and agriculture, Crook County is trying to attract a different outdoor industry.

The county has a number of projects designed to make Prineville a regional hub for bicycle-related tourism, including the first Ochoco Gravel Roubaix, a bike race that drew 150 riders, and a 1.5-acre bike park in Prineville slated to open next spring.

Perhaps most importantly, several public and private parties are adding to the region’s mountain biking trails, leveraging the city’s proximity to the Ochoco Mountains and 66 acres of state land in southwest Prineville, known locally as the Lower 66. Central Oregon Trail Alliance is adding to the approximately 3 miles of nonmotorized trails in the Lower 66, according to Darlene Henderson, COTA’s Crook County chapter representative.

Casey Kaiser, executive director of the Prineville-Crook County Chamber of Commerce, said the addition, which is designed to extend trails to the top of the rim overlooking downtown Prineville, would add up to 15 miles of trails to the system within three to five years.

Additionally, Kaiser said Crook County wants to double the amount of single-track trails in the Ochocos, to around 150 miles. These trails, which could be complete within five to 10 years with help from volunteers and various state and federal agencies, represent an opportunity to diversify the Crook County economy, Kaiser said.

“Prineville historically has been pretty dependent on industries that have had a lot of ebbs and flows,” he said.

Crook County’s economic recovery has lagged behind the rest of Central Oregon. In September, Crook County had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate that was more than 3 percentage points higher than the rate in adjacent Deschutes County, according to the Oregon Employment Department. Woodgrain Millwork, once Crook County’s third-largest employer, will be shuttering its remaining operations in Prineville at the beginning of 2016.

However, the leisure and hospitality sector has bounced back somewhat in recent years. In the second quarter of 2015, 633 jobs in Crook County were in leisure and hospitality, up from 589 during the same period in 2014. County Commissioner Seth Crawford said bike-related tourism is leading the charge.

“I’ve seen a lot more people coming into town and eating in town and staying in hotels here,” Crawford said. “Outdoor tourism is really our bread-and-butter.”

Outdoor tourism in Prineville received a boost in October 2014, when Good Bike Co., the first retail bike shop in town, opened on NE Third Street.

“You need about three, four things for that (bicycle) industry to flourish, and I filled one of those gaps,” said owner James Good. “It gives you more validity … as an industry within the community.”

Good said one advantage that Crook County has over other mountain biking destinations is its remote location. Unlike Bend or Hood River, it’s easy to find relatively deserted biking trails near Prineville.

Kaiser added that the trails in the Ochocos tend to be more rugged and technically challenging, which attracts a different demographic. The only thing missing, Good said, is more trails.

“You talk to anyone in Bend, if they know the Ochocos, they’ll say it’s probably some of the best single-track riding in Central Oregon,” he said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com

Prineville Bike Park on fast track to reality!

Group has raised enough funds to start construction

Katie Higgins

http://www.ktvz.com/news/prineville-bike-park-on-the-fast-track/34541238

PRINEVILLE, OR

The Bend bike scene just got a little bit of friendly competition from another High Desert city. That's because the Crook County chapter of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance finally has enough funds gathered to build a bike park near downtown Prineville.

The city is already a stop for many cyclists traveling one of two major trails that  run right through Prineville, the Trans-American and Oregon Outback.

"It just dissects Prineville," James Good, owner of the Good Bike Co., said Tuesday.

Good says he meets people from all over the world at his shop.

"Last week, we had a guy from Switzerland and a group from Australia," Good said.

His shop caters to passers-by and locals. He says the bike scene in Prineville has always been there, but now it's emerging even more. It's not a hidden secret any more. The bike park will help that even more.

"The bike park and these local trails, it's enough to get people out and about," Good said.

Crook County donated a one-acre parcel to the Crook County Central Oregon Trail Alliance chapter. The bike park will have rock and wood features, jumps, pump tracks and more. It'll be \open to mountain bikes, strider bikes and BMX bikes.

"I'm up in the mountains, and if I get up in the mountains to a really rocky, technical section. I can come back in town and practice it and hopefully ride it next time," Good said.

Anyone can practice, but it's locals who got the wheels turning.

"A lot of local businesses are supporting tools and materials," Good said.

That's everyone from kids donating a dollar to large businesses donating thousands. Others are donating in kind, giving materials and time. Construction is planned to start next year.

To find out more about the project, visit: http://cotamtb.com/2015/prineville-bike-park/

Central Oregon Farm and Ranch Tours

Pigs and goats and cows and … bikes! Central Oregon puts its own spin on agritourism this summer and fall with the inaugural Crooked River Open Pastures (CROP) series in and around the town of Prineville, just 35 miles north of Bend.

Organized by the High Desert Food & Farm Alliance, the Saturday tours include rotating farmers markets at local farms and ranches, the chance to meet the farmer and various family-friendly activities. “For visitors it’s a great opportunity to learn about where their food comes from,” says Seth Crawford, Crook County Commissioner. “That’s why I take my daughters. I want them to know.”

CROP events run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and are free of charge. The fun began in May and will run through October 10, culminating with a day at Windy Acres Dairy Farm (with special guest Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, chronicled in Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” There is a small fee for this event).

Prineville’s bike shop, Good Bike Company, will host two-wheeled tours along the CROP stops. Visitors can also book guided bike tours of the area on other days. Good Bike owner James Good says road bikers will find authentic, down-to-earth people in a beautiful area. “There is exceptional road riding and exceptional farms and ranches producing some the of the best cheeses and meats and vegetables that you can find,” says Good Bike owner James Good, “So to combine the two is the perfect marriage.”

The CROP tour on July 11 visits Bluestone Gardens, which offers herbs, plants, goats milk and landscape design services. On July 18, Dancing Cow Farms hosts, giving people the chance to view heritage and pasture-raised cows, sheep and poultry. Flying Pig Hops farm is the venue on August 8. Crawford says the location, tucked in at the western edge of Crook County, offers gorgeous views of Smith Rock. On August 15, visitors can meet a professional forester and have a “timber-to-table” experience at Wine Down Ranch. September 12 will see a harvest gala at Smudgie Goose Farm, and Sept. 19 takes people on a tour of award-winning Brasada Ranch.

CROP tour enthusiasts can pick up a passport and collect stamps along the way for a yet to be determined prize. For more information, go to the High Desert Food & Farm Alliance’s website.

Oregon Outback 2015

Gravel ride across Oregon likely to roll into Prineville today

Crook County proving popular for bikepacking and gravel riding

By Beau Eastes / The Bulletin / @beastes

James Good expects the first Oregon Outback riders to reach his Prineville bike shop, Good Bike Co., some time today.

The Outback, the 364-mile unsanctioned and unsupported off-the-grid gravel ride/race that starts in Klamath Falls and concludes in the Columbia River Gorge, kicked off Friday in Southern Oregon. While most of the 200 to 300 bicyclists participating in this year’s event will take five to seven days to complete the ride, a handful of hard-core “bikepackers” — camping via bike — will be shooting to finish the whole trip in around 24 hours.

With his shop located in the only full-service town on the route — the Outback riders also roll through the booming metro areas of Silver Lake, Fort Rock and Shaniko, to name a few — Good is planning on helping cyclists 225 miles into the Outback any way he can.

“We’ve got a map room, coffee, beer, a lot of different resources,” said Good, who last summer opened his bike business in a former service station on U.S. Highway 26 right in the heart of Prineville’s downtown. “We’re in an old gas station, so we try to help people refuel, whatever way that means to them.”

Cycling is becoming more prevalent in Crook County, which in the past has been known more as a ranch and ag area than a place supportive of spandex and singletrack.

In less than two weeks, on June 4, Good’s shop will celebrate its grand opening in conjunction with the official introduction of the Lower 66 mountain bike trail network on the west side of Prineville. Later this summer, Prineville hopes to break ground on a BMX bike park, and the Central Oregon Trail Association recently adopted several mountain bike trails to maintain within the Ochoco National Forest.

City and county officials are working on earning a scenic bikeway designation from the state for a ride south of town in the Crooked River Canyon. And Prineville has long been a stop on the TransAmerica Bike Trail, the road cycling route that starts at the Pacific Ocean and ends at the Atlantic.

But the regional surge in bikepacking and gravel riding may be where Crook County truly makes its mark in the cycling world. The county is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of gravel and dirt roads.

“The Ochoco (mountains) and gravel roads are five to 10 miles from town,” said Good, who in August is putting on the inaugural Ochoco Gravel Roubaix, which will offer 10-, 45- and 120-mile gravel races. “There’s a lot of designated and primitive camping in the Ochocos that you can turn a beautiful ride into a fun, short weekend experience.”

The incredible growth of the Oregon Outback highlights the soaring interest in long-distance bikepacking trips. After organizing a handful of gravel rides around the state, off-road enthusiast Donnie Kolb put together the unpaved beast that would become Oregon Outback in 2014. He figured he would have a hard time attracting more than 50 people on a ride that climbs more than 14,000 feet over 360 miles. To his astonishment, he had to shut down registration after 400 bikers signed up. Slightly more than 100 cyclists actually completed the first running of the Outback. This year that number was expected to be closer to 300.

“The riding in Central Oregon is spectacular,” said Abraham Sutfin, who owns the bike shop Abraham Fixes Bikes in north Portland. “It’s some of the best in the state.”

Sutfin, who has done long-distance bike tours all over the Pacific Northwest and even New Zealand, says the allure of gravel riding is the chance to get off the grid and provide for yourself.

“It puts cyclists in a place where they don’t have to rely on state parks and bike hostels,” said Sutfin, whose latest project is to find a rideable route along the Deschutes River from its conflux with the Columbia all the way to Bend. “In Oregon, you can pull off on the side of any dirt road and camp and not bother anyone. … Getting off paved roads, it brings people to places where they don’t have to rely on civilization.”

Even Travel Oregon, the marketing arm of the state, is getting in on the gravel craze, publicizing popular gravel rides around Oregon.

“This isn’t just a fad,” Good said about newfound popularity of bikepacking and gravel riding. “Yeah, they’ll be some ebbs and flows … but I just see it growing.

“There’s something to be said about Prineville,” he added. “It’s still very Western and real life. It’s refreshing for folks. The area’s not this big, hyped up place, but instead it’s real and fun and you can have a unique experience out here that’s hard to find.”

Ochoco Gravel Roubaix - Prineville's first gravel race!

Thanks to hundreds of miles of paved and gravel roadways, Ponderosa Pines, and breathtaking valley views, bicycling in the Ochoco National Forest is gaining momentum by the day. And now we are excited to announce a new race happening in the Forest this summer -  The Ochoco Gravel Roubaix! The Roubaix will feature 2 gravel  loops - 120 and 45 miles. The 120 mile loop is over 40% gravel and takes you from the center or Prineville up the McKay Saddle, over the Ochoco Divide then past Big Summit Prairie before looping back up the Post-Paulina highway to Crooked River Park. The 45 mile loop, also known as The North Star on Ride With GPS, starts in town, heading north up McKay to Harvey's Gap, then Milcreek, before the return west on Highway 126 to Crooked River Park. There will also be an in-town 10 mile loop ending at Crooked River Park where the finish line party will happening all day.

Registration for the race is now open - www.ochocogravelroubaix.com. The race will be Saturday, August 29. We look forward to sharing the Ochoco's with you this summer!