On January 2, 2019, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the Big Sky Bike Park moving forward. A huge thanks to everyone who attended public meetings and spoke out in favor of the bike park, and/or wrote letters of support. Showing up makes a difference!

COTA has been an advocate of the bike park from the very beginning, working with BRPD staff at every step of this process. We are excited to see additional biking experiences become available to central Oregonians and visitors alike. This includes adding a slopestyle riding course (a type of riding not allowed on USFS lands), skills courses, and an overall great place for kids and families to ride mountain bikes and provide additional winter riding options for those riders who don't fat bike or ski.

To read the Deschutes County Notice of Decision letter, mailed January 3, 2019, click on the following PDF:

A section of the Deschutes River Trail will remain closed between Dillon Falls Boat Ramp and Slough Camp for the winter. A temporary re-route of that section of the trail is in place.

Deschutes National Forest
63095 Deschutes Market Road
Bend, OR 97701  
www.fs.usda.gov/deschutes           
News Release

Contact: Jean Nelson-Dean, Public Affairs Officer, Deschutes National Forest 541-383-5561
Date: December 21, 2018                               
River Trail Remains Closed Near Ryan Ranch

Bend, Ore. – A section of the Deschutes River Trail on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District will remain closed between Dillon Falls Boat Ramp and Slough Camp for the winter.
 
Earlier this month the Deschutes River Trail was rerouted to allow for the removal of an historic berm separating the river from its natural floodplain. In addition to the berm removal, restoration of the flood plain required the construction and installation of two footbridges on the Deschutes River Trail and the hardening of the trail’s surface with gravel.
 
Much of the work has been completed; however, the closure of the section of trail between Dillon Falls Boat Ramp and Slough Camp has been extended to allow surfacing work on the trail through the winter to make sure the trail is sustainable and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
 
During the closure, trail users are directed to follow a re-route between the Dillon Falls Boat ramp and Slough Camp using Forest Roads 41_600 and 41_100.
 
Though the trail section is closed and rerouted, the 41_600 road to the Dillon Falls Day Use Area and Boat Ramp has been re-opened to vehicle traffic and access to Dillon Falls is open.
 
A second phase of the project will occur in 2019 which includes the construction of an accessible trail and wetland overlook that meets the standards of the ADA. Additionally, a new toilet will be installed and designated ADA parking will be constructed.
 
Background
Ryan Ranch is a historic slough floodplain of the Deschutes River that has been drained and isolated from the river for over 90 years. The area was used historically by Native Americans and more recently as pasture after being homesteaded in the late 1900’s. The Forest Service acquired Ryan Ranch in 1946 and continued grazing on site as part of a federal grazing allotment until 1989. The full ecological potential of the slough, including historic habitat for the Oregon spotted frog, has been limited by a berm that prevents the river from inundating the floodplain on a regular basis. Reconnecting the river with Ryan Ranch will benefit a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species, including migratory and nesting waterfowl, amphibians and ungulates.

###
 
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

Another successful fundraising winter raffle is complete. Thanks to everyone who purchased raffle tickets, and to all the prize donators, most notably Fatback Bikes for donating the Rhino FLT fat tire bike for the Grand Prize.
​
Congratulations to Brett Farrell for holding the golden ticket. Enjoy your new Rhino ride, Brett. And congrats to all the other winners!

Sincere thanks to...

Fatback Bikes for the Grand Prize donation
WebCyclery for prizes AND hosting this fine event again
Cog Wild
The Hub Cyclery
Project Bike
The Gear Fix
Blazin Saddles Bike Shop
Crow's Feet Commons
Pine Mountain Sports
BendTrails.org

Grooming winter fatbike trails is expensive, not only because it requires snowmobiles and unique grooming equipment, fuel and machine maintenance, but countless hours from volunteer trail groomers. Trail support really comes from you, the awesome fatbike trail user. 

Our Grand Prize has been generously donated by Fatback Bikes. Fatback Bikes is an Alaskan fat bike brand that manufactures fat tire mountain bikes meant to be ridden in some of the harshest places in the world. 

GRAND PRIZE: Fatback RHINO FLT
The RHINO FLT retails for $1999. Any size.

Additional prizes donated by local companies: Blazing Saddles, Project Bike, Webcyclery, Pine Mountain Sports, The Gear Fix, CogWild, Crows Feet Commons, The Hub Cyclery, and Bendtrails.org.

Only 300 tickets will be sold! We sell out every year, so get yours ASAP. 
$20 per ticket or 3 fo $50. 

STEP RIGHT UP & ENTER HERE. 

Drawing at Web Cyclery: The winning ticket will be drawn on December 6th, 2018.  Fatbike winner does not need to be present to win, all other prizes you MUST be present to win. Doors open at 6:00pm, raffle drawing starts at 6:30pm. Web Cyclery is now located in the Old Stone Church at 157 NW Franklin Ave in Bend.

​Your donation helps pay for the grooming of the fatbike trails. All proceeds go to COTA Wanoga Fatbike Trail Grooming. 

​Thank you for your incredible support!

10/31/2018 UPDATE: Emails and Letters of Support accepted by the County Commissioners through November 5th!

There was a terrific show of support Monday night - thanks to all who came out. However, if you did not get a chance to attend or speak at Monday night's County Commissioners special hearing, the comment period for written comments and testimony is open until Nov 5th at 4PM.

To provide comments via email, send to: Cynthia.Smidt@deschutes.org Please include your name, mailing address and case file number Big Sky Hearing: 247-18-000745-A

To send in a letter of support, write to: Ms. Cynthia Smidt, County Planner, 1300 NW Wall St., Bend, OR 97701. Please include your name, mailing address and case file number Big Sky Hearing: 247-18-000745-A

In your communication, note you are in favor of the Bike Park and support special events, and request the County Commissioners overturn the hearing officer's stipulations 8+9 (dealing with excluding special events).

Encourage your children to write letters explaining why they would like the bike park and special events such as bike clinics, birthday parties, races etc. that are important to them.

Additional talking points addressing special events and competitions:

• Physical health aspects for people of all ages.
• Challenging courses for various interests and ages (think teens/young adults learning cyclocross or free ride skills and/or learning bike handling skills on the pump track, little ones on Strider bikes on the tots course).
• Competitions (formal/organized):
  • Brings competitive biking opportunities to Central Oregon, which otherwise take place in locations hours from here. This impacts competitors of all ages!
  • Visitors contribute to local economy via restaurants, hotels, retailers.
• Allows a site for youth bike competitions for those who don't already participate in traditional competitions like soccer, baseball, la crosse.
• Group practice & informal competition opportunities (think Boy Scouts Bike Rodeos, Bend Endurance Academy, etc).
• Bike riding and event opportunities to serve everyone living on Bend's Eastside.
• High Desert BMX Club has hosted successful events and competitions at Big Sky for years, without issue or complaints from neighbors.

​Please take 10 minutes out of your day to write a letter/email and speak out in favor of full development of the Big Sky Bike Park including special events. 
..............................................
10/22/2018 - As many of you know, the Bend Park & Rec Dept is working to build an impressive Valmont-style bike park at Big Sky Park/Luke Damon Sports Complex on the east side of Bend at Hamby and Neff. We at COTA fully support this project because of the varied biking opportunities it brings to our community. BPRD details here.

This project is at risk, however, because there's some resistance to the proposed bike park being used for races such as cyclocross or free ride competitions. Since it would be part of the Luke Damon Sports Complex, where soccer & BMX bike competitions are already held, it makes sense that the bike park should be utilized for bike races as well. The BPRD may rescind this proposed bike park if competitions aren't allowed to be held.

If you want this, we NEED you to show up at the special hearing with the County Commissioners on October 29th, 6pm, at the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners Hearing Room at 1300 Wall St.

Per COTA Board member Woody Keen: 

​I can not stress enough how important it is for folks to show up at this public meeting and voice your support for the bike park. I have been involved in this process from the beginning, and we are so close to a world class bike park but we have this one last hurdle. The [Deschutes County\ Hearings Officer put a stipulation on the bike park of "no races and no special events" and the county commissioners are our last chance of getting that overturned (and moving forward with the bike park). BRPD has noted they have no interest in building a million dollar plus bike park that can not host special events etc. such as cyclocross races. Please show up for this.

You SHOWING UP at the Oct 29th hearing is most effective.

At the hearing, any new information or comments can come in, and people can speak and present new or old information. However, there will be a 3 minute time-limit for each person. When requesting to speak at a meeting before the Board of Commissioners, they have sign-in sheets for each person wanting to speak and these will need to be filled out before the hearing starts.  You can also have one person represent a group of people or club.  The sheets are submitted to the Board secretary.
 
Keep in mind, the Board of Commissioners will have access to all the previously submitted comments. If there are repeat comments, that’s okay. However, it might help to focus the comments on the county code that the Board of Commissioners will be reviewing in this case (see below for PDF documentation). Also below is the first decision by the Hearings Officer showing the state and local codes that were previously reviewed. The Park District appealed this first decision based how the decision was approved. They have targeted their appeal to specific issues in the decision. Therefore, it is these issues that will be the main focus.  However, this does not mean they won’t focus on other areas of the County Code or state law.  There a several neighbors in opposition and their issues will be raised and addressed by the Board, if necessary. 

If you can't make the meeting, then send an EMAIL voicing your support for the bike park AND its ability to host occasional bike-related competitions (how it benefits Bendites of all ages, local businesses, etc) to: Cynthia Smidt, Associate Planner of Deschutes County Community Development, email here. *You must provide the following:

• Big Sky Hearing Oct 29: 247-18-000745-A
• Your mailing address AND email address
• Due no later than October 29, 2018. Mailed statements can be sent to 117 NW Lafayette Avenue, Bend, Oregon 97703 with above reference items.

Want to read the nitty-gritty? Ms. Smidt kindly shared the following documentation: Notice of Public Hearing, Hearings Officer Decision, and Appeals statement as posted in PDF format below.

Reposting October 12, 2018 article written by Matthew Weintraub of Northwest Trail Alliance.

The second annual Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition (OMBC) Summit was a huge success! We had 14 mountain bike groups, important land managers and a few political folks in the room – for a grant total of 50 passionate Oregon mountain bikers. The food was good, the conversation was lively, the smiles were abundant and the passion was palpable.

The day was split into four primary topics, summarized below. For all who attended, a huge THANK YOU for making it. For those who could not attend, we still want you on the team and hope to see you at the next event!

LAND MANAGER PANEL
We started the day off with a great panel that included representatives from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Forestry and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The following are the key takeaways:

• OMBC can help land managers communicate the need for more MTB trails on public lands
• Land managers would like the OMBC to help educate them on the desired user experience
• If trail projects are “shovel-ready” and have demonstrated community support, they will rise to the top for funding
• Land managers are looking for new and creative ways to invest federal dollars to get the biggest bang for the buck and a good strategy could be to have OMBC help facilitate maintenance efforts
• Land managers would like the OMBC to help prioritize and elevate priority projects statewide

Quote of the session: The power of a unified voice can’t be understated.
– Cailin O’Brien Feeney, Oregon’s Office of Outdoor Recreation

Another good quote:  I see a tremendous amount of opportunity to be gained by disparate MTB groups being housed under one umbrella. 
-Zach Jarrett, Region 6 Trails Program Manager, US Forest Service

ADVOCACY MATTERS
We gave an overview of what advocacy could look like for OMBC. Our focus for the coming year will be on a lobby day at the capitol to introduce ourselves and what we care about to our legislators. Save the date for February 27, 2019! OMBC will facilitate the day and, so, for those of you who have never talked directly with your legislators, don’t be intimidated. We will walk you through it by providing:

• Arranging meeting times and locations
• Names and contact information for your representatives
• Talking points for you to focus on if and when you speak with him/her
• Coaching on how to talk with him/her
• The support of dozens of other mountain bikers

Key takeaways:

• A great suggestion was made to invite your legislator(s) to go for a bike ride when they aren’t in session.
• Or better yet, invite them out to a local trailwork day and demonstrate the power of your organization, volunteerism and what mountain biking can do for communities. 

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
This was the detailed, wonky part of the day and attendees blew our socks off – asking great questions, challenging assumptions and making solid revision suggestions. The Governance Guide is the central structure for OMBC that will decide who serves on the steering committee, how long they serve, who becomes a member, how decisions are made, and much more. The guide is for all of us and we will incorporate the great feedback that we received to make it even better.

Key takeaways:

• The OMBC steering committee was formed to represent us all and we want your feedback/involvement
• The steering committee is made up of representatives from different mountain bike groups and will change every two years (on alternating years)
• The steering committee will help to fundraise and pursue OMBC’s priority projects/initiatives
• OMBC will be made up of member organizations who are focused on mountain bike trails
• Membership is free, OMBC only asks time and engagement from each member organization
• The steering committee can be run by a Network Coordinator (once funding is secured)
• The steering committee can form subcommittees and/or advisory committees to help with specific projects/initiatives

OMBC NEXT STEPS
We have a lot of great work ahead of us. After last Saturday, I think that we all agree that OMBC is needed and the time is right for this work!

Our immediate next steps include:

• Establishing our online presence and on-going communications (website, newsletter)
• Organizing lobby day for February, 2019
• Establishing a member structure and asking you all to join
• Fundraising to support and expand our work
• Continued liaison work with land managers, Oregon Trails Coalition, and other partners

Depending on capacity and funding, other potential next steps could include:

• Other advocacy efforts
• Bike Tax
• Supporting land conservation bills that preserve mountain bike access
• Solidifying trail access in the face of land designation changes
• Collaborating with other recreation groups to find more funding for trails
• Create a platform for sharing “best practices” across members organizations such as how to track volunteer hours, how to get insurance coverage, etc.
• Develop education pieces for OMBC member groups on:
• Obtaining a Special Use Permit
• Deconstructing the 2016 outfitter/guide policy for the Forest Service (fees can be waived in lieu of trail work)
• Health benefits of having trails near communities
• Economic benefits of trails

IN SUMMARY
We have a lot of great work ahead of us. We are honored to be a part of getting OMBC going and we hope that all of you will continue to support this effort and join us for what we think will be a great ride.

Mountain biking is happening in Madras!

First off, we have become an official COTA Chapter. This recognition helps us to move forward with building more trails in Jefferson County, with the East Hills Trails Project first up.

What’s the East Hills Trails Project?

The Madras East Hills Trails Project is an outdoor recreation project to the east of Madras. This area offers beautiful rolling hills with about 1,000 ft elevation change per 10 miles, and is ideal for trail runners and cross-country style mountain biking. Also because it sits at a lower elevation - about 2,250 feet above sea level - it’s a great area for winter and summer use. The soil is slightly clay-based, allowing for solid trails year round. 

The East Hills is owned by a few primary players including Morrow properties, Bean Foundation, City of Madras, and USFS/Crooked River National Grasslands. All four primary entities have a strong history of supporting recreational use of lands, and the private entities have donated lands to the city and/or county in the past for parks and open spaces. 

Our intent for this project is to build a multi-user trail system in the East Hills that will eventually spread into the Crooked River National Grasslands. To begin, access points need to be created from Juniper Hills Park into the East Hills. From there we have a lot of options for trail design. There are numerous amazing viewpoints, and some awesome natural features to work with.
​
​
​What’s the first step?

The City of Madras owns a piece of property that is slated for the city to develop over the next 25 years. It currently lies mostly unused. Last year COTA proposed building a demonstration trail system on this property. The concept is to build a system of trails for community use, while developing and designing a connected trail network into the Grasslands as the city grows. Further, as the demo trail system property becomes utilized by the City of Madras for city expansion over the course of the next 25 years, a handful of these trails would remain throughout the property for continued public use and Grasslands trails accessibility. The City Council of Madras elected to move forward with this project in 2017.

Want to get involved or keep up to date?
​ 
Join our Facebook public ‘Madras Trails’ group and keep up to date here. 

Interested in getting involved with trail works in Madras? Email the Madras team here.

​A successful community meeting of the Ochoco Trail User group took place on September 20th. Over 60 community members showed up to hear the proposed trail plans and included representatives from Landwatch, Oregon Wild, OHA, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, COTA, OET, BCHO, and ODFW.  Overall the response was very positive and the feedback received will be immensely helpful in moving this project forward.  

See proposal trails on complete map here. Offer your comments and feedback via email.

The 2018 Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition Summit is fast approaching so save your seat!

As you may know, in 2017 a group of like-minded, let’s-make-it-happen mountain bike advocates throughout our great state of Oregon came together and kicked off the 1st annual statewide summit in Bend. They’re at it again this year, determining goals for the OMBC in 2019 and beyond, stewardship collaborations, and advocacy priorities.

The Summit is free, but you must pre-register here> 2018 Oregon Mountain Bike Summit registration form.

Learn more about the OMBC/Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition here.

The OMBC Summit on Saturday follows the Thursday/Friday Oregon Trails Summit, which focuses on ALL trail users: hikers, horses, mountain bikers, OHV riders. More information that can be found here. 

We're excited to get everyone together to collaborate and make our voices heard as Oregon continues on its path as a top-notch mountain biking mecca (for residents and visitors alike).

See you in Bend!
 
OMBC Steering Committee

Jenna Berman - Team Dirt
Adam Craig - Oregon Timber Trail Alliance (OTTA)
Nick Gibson - Trans-Cascadia 
Woody Keen - Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA)
Jeff McNamee - Salem Area Trail Alliance (SATA)
Chris Rotvik - Northwest Trail Alliance (NWTA)
Matthew Weintraub - Northwest Trail Alliance (NWTA)
 
AGENDA for Saturday, October 6th, 2018
 
8-9am – Coffee/breakfast social

9am – Welcome and opening remarks
- Nick Gibson
 
9:10am-10:30am – Panel Discussion: Regional public land managers and mountain biking: A look into the future and how a statewide organization could facilitate additional riding opportunities:
 
 Zach Jarrett – Recreation Program Manager, USFS, Region 6 
 Cailin O’Brien Feeney – Director, Office of Outdoor Recreation, OPRD            
David Moore – Recreation Planner, BLM
Randy Peterson – Recreation Program Manager, ODF
 Jeff McNamee - Moderator
 
10:30am-10:45am – Break
 
10:45am-11:15am - Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition history and accomplishments 
- Gabe Tiller
 
11:15am-12pm – Advocating for access: The importance of lobbying and how we can begin to affect change on a statewide level
- Matthew Weintraub
 
12pm-1pm – Lunch
 
1:00pm-2:30pm – Oregon Mountain Biking Coalition governance format presentation
- Chris Rotvik, Jenna Berman, Woody Keen  
 
2:30-3:30pm – The next steps: Where we go from here as a network
- Adam Craig, Matthew Weintraub
 
3:30-5:30pm – Let’s go ride bikes!  
- Ride options and locations to be announced
 
6:30pm – Drinks at Seventh Mountain Resort Bar