Check out this fantastic recap of a highly productive trail building day, created by Bindy Beck-Meyer.

In addition to frequent smaller work events, a few times a year we gather as a large group to work in the morning, then come back to enjoy lunch and a cold brew together. 

Our thanks to everyone who came out on October 26th to help us make serious progress on the black diamond, hand-built sections of COD and Lone Wolf trails. Volunteers make ALL the difference!

Join us for our final Bend Chapter Meeting of the year, on Tuesday, November 12th at 6:30pm.

Our special guest speaker will be Bronwen Mastro, the Landscape Architect at our Bend Park & Rec Dept. in charge of the Big Sky Bike Park project. Bronwen will give us an update and progress report on this highly anticipated and well supported addition to recreational biking options here in Bend. Bring your questions and comments.

We'll also talk about the Winter Fat Bike Trails Raffle, where yet again Fatback Bikes has graciously donated our TWO grand prize giveaways of two Fatback Big SU wheelsets with DT Swiss hubs, valued at $899 per wheelsext!

Everyone welcome to attend, meet fellow bike and outdoor enthusiasts, and get updates on trails. Hot pizza and cold drinks provided.

Hutch's Rack N Roll is hosting us again this meeting. Thank you! 

Please RSVP on Meetup here so we bring enough eats. Hope to see you there.

​Come dig with us! We need your help at our Trail Love Fall Edition work party on Saturday, October 26th.

While we have many work events throughout the year, we like to gather a big crowd a couple times to get a bunch of important work done and meet some of our fellow riders while doing it.

When/Where:
We'll meet at Loge Camp's grassy area on Saturday, Oct. 26th at 9am for coffee, light snacks and get the pregame notes, then break out into work teams and head out for a few hours of trail work. Everyone meets back at Loge for lunch & brews on us. 

Projects:
​We’ll be building out more of the COD Black Diamond section (all hand built - we're looking at you rock-smiths), and doing some much needed trail maintenance after the rigors of summer usage. Maintenance includes clearing run-off drains, pruning sight lines, raking & repairing tread, etc.

No experience needed, just a desire to give back to the trails you love.

Info/RSVP on Meetup here.

11/14/2019 COTA Update regarding e-bikes on BLM lands:

At this time e-bikes are still not allowed on BLM singletrack trails designated for non-motorized use, which includes Maston, Cline Buttes/Cascade View trails, Horse Ridge, etc. The local BLM offices are required to perform a public comment phase, as well as work out procedural and implementation issues. We don't know how long the process will take, but we are trying to keep up with their progress and will share updated information as soon as we receive it.

As a reminder, there are no rule changes regarding US Forest Service lands (managed by the US Dept of Agriculture). E-bikes continue to be considered motorized vehicles and therefore not permitted in national forests.

Posted 8/31/2019:

On 29 August, the Dept of the Interior issued a rule change regarding e-bike access on lands managed by the agency (official DOI letter in PDF form below). 

Agencies involved include National Parks (such as Crater Lake, John Day Fossil Beds) and BLM/Bureau of Land Management.  

The order does not include the US Forest Service, as they are part of the USDA/Dept of Agriculture. There has been no rule change with the USFS at this time.

The agencies involved have 14 days to make the changes needed to comply with the order. 

We want to remind everyone that COTA operates under volunteer agreements with the land management agencies and can neither make, or enforce any rules or regulations concerning e-bikes or any other access to non-motorized trails we maintain under these agreements. 

What we can do is advise the community on how the rules are applied to the trails we have maintenance responsibility for. We have not heard from the BLM yet on their plans to implement the new rule.  We will monitor this as closely as possible for further developments.

In the meantime, the rules for trails in national forests, like Deschutes National Forest, still apply. E-bikes are still not allowed on non-motorized trails on national forest land. Per the USFS website: E-bikes are not allowed on trails designated for non-motorized use.  Non-motorized trails include trails like hiker, horse, or mountain bike trails. E-bikes, like other motorized transportation, also are not allowed to travel cross-country off trail. There are no exceptions. 

More information on E-bikes and the USFS’s Travel Management rules (along with roads and trails that allow E-bikes) can be found here.

We will update the public as we learn more.

If you use it, we may lose it. Middle Flagline Trail is CLOSED until August 15th (as it is every summer) to protect elk calving. Do not breach the barriers or ignore the signage. Game cameras have been set up again this year to monitor trespassers.

​Thanks for protecting our playground by observing the rules.

Maps and more information can be found on the USFS website here: www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/deschutes/recreation/bicycling/recarea/?recid=38368&actid=24

COTA’s Board of Directors is a vibrant group of people committed to developing, protecting, and enhancing mountain biking in Central Oregon. The Board is responsible for organization-level direction setting, long-term strategic planning and decision making, and do most of the managerial and administrative work required to advance COTA’s mission.

​Say hello/goodbye to (most of) our incoming, outgoing and current board members, who all volunteer their time and energy to make trails happen! 

Welcome aboard... 
- At-large members (representing COTA as a whole): Travis Holman, Laurel Hunter, Adrian Jones*, Jesse Toomey
- Bend Chapter Rep: Emmy Andrews**
- Crook County Chapter Rep: Aaron Lazelle
- South Deschutes County Rep (SoDeCo): Dan Youmans

Thank you outgoing members...
- Sarah Carver*, Darlene Henderson, Stacey McKinney, Amber Toomey (former CC rep)

And the ongoing members:
- Drew Barber, Kelly Burke, Mark Campbell, Bob Gilbert, Woody Keen*, Casey Meudt*, Brennan Morrow, Bruce Schroeder

*not shown
**formerly COTA board Treasurer for past 3 years

Pictured above, front row L-R: Aaron Lazelle, Darlene Henderson, Amber Toomey, Stacey McKinney, Mark Campbell, Laurel Hunter, Emmy Andrews. Back row L-R: Jesse Toomey, Travis Holman, Brennan Morrow, Bruce Schroeder, Drew Barber, Bob Gilbert, Kelly Burke, Dan Youmans 

All COTA members welcome to join us for a brief meeting about trail news, projects and various efforts in Bend and our active chapters. There's a lot going on so join us to learn more. 

We'll also do a final tally of Board Member election votes and introduce our new team members.

This year we're meeting at Wild Ride Brewing in Redmond. Frosty beverages and snacks provided. Info/rsvp here on Meetup.

Updated 5/23 with details! ​As you may know, Loge Camps Entrada partners with a non-profit outdoor organization in each of their adventure camp locations to help support and nurture like minded groups. Here in Bend, we're the lucky ones.

On Saturday, May 25th, Loge has a fun day and evening party planned - everyone welcome & invited!

Loge is spreading those Good Karma vibes! Join us this Saturday for Trail Karma at LOGE Bend, a full day of fun & bikes benefitting COTA! Bike stuff will be happening all day, with events kicking off in the afternoon! Here's what will be going down:

- GRAND OPENING of The Entrada Cafe & Tap Room and the @evo Gear Rental Center! All cafe proceeds from the day donated to COTA

- FREE 2 hr MTB BIKE DEMOS of Giant and Devinci bikes! (with suggested donation to COTA 8:00am onwards

- MTB SKILLS CLINIC with @cogwild 10:00am-12:00pm (all levels!)  Sign up here for Skills Clinic. (click 'Free Clinic Sat May 25' button under Trip Overview)

- SHUTTLE RIDES leaving from the property with @cogwild Mountain Bike Tours & Shuttle. 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30, 5:30 Sign up here for shuttles.

- MAINTENANCE CLINIC with @evo 2:00pm

- @gorumpl sack races to win a Rumpl, chill out zone, and s'mores station starting at 4:00pm

- RIBBON CUTTING for the Cafe & Tap Room at 5:00pm

- OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES
6-9pm presented by Rainier Beer

Two Bands Performing curated by @artisthome:
*@badpacifistmusic
*One Two Many

- FOOD TRUCK: @curbsidebacon

- SWEET GEAR RAFFLE with the proceeds benefitting COTA between music sets

- PHOTO BOOTH so you can imprint your good times!

It's gonna be a blast! See ya there!! #LiveOutsideGoExplore

Per the USFS: If conditions remain favorable, firefighters are planning to ignite a prescribed burn west of Bend in West Bend COD units 2 & 3 for a total of 350 acres. Those units are within the Phil’s Trailhead system and will include portions of KGB, COD and Marvin’s Garden, which will be closed during ignitions and likely for a few days while firefighters cool hot spots along the trails.

More information found on CentralOregonFire.org

​Are you interested in serving on the COTA Board? Join a fun group of people who work together well and make it happen! This is your chance to develop, protect and enhance mountain biking in Central Oregon. 

There are 3 Member at Large Board positions up for election this year, in addition to Bend Chapter Rep, Crook County Rep and the newly minted South Deschutes County Rep (6 board positions possible). 

How it works: Complete the nomination form and submit by May 1st. You must be a current COTA member (renew/join here). In May we will assemble a Voter's Guide, so that the election process can begin with the official ballot sent by email on June 1st to all members. Ballots for memberships received after third week in June must be cast in person at the annual member meeting, Thursday, June 27th, 2019 at 7:00pm at Wild Ride Brewing in Redmond. Election results announced at the meeting, followed by the COTA membership meeting.

Board of Directors Job Description
COTA’s Board of Directors is a vibrant group of people committed to developing, protecting, and enhancing mountain biking in Central Oregon. COTA’s Board is responsible for organization-level direction setting and decision making. Board members do most of the managerial and administrative work required to advance COTA’s mission. 

Board members attend approximately one 2-hour Board meeting per month. In addition, Board members manage committees, plan events, represent COTA at community functions, participate in fundraising efforts, and do many other tasks. Board members should expect to spend a minimum of 15 hours per month on COTA business. Most Board members spend much more time than this due to their passion for our work. 

The Board is elected by COTA’s membership. Board members serve 3-year terms. Board members must be current dues-paying COTA members for the duration of their term and should reside in Central Oregon. Prior Board and trail work experience are helpful but not necessary to serve on the Board. Other skills that are useful but not required include: event management, finance, general administration, volunteer management, fundraising, information technology, and marketing.
 
COTA’s Board is currently comprised of 15 members. COTA’s three Officers—Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer—are elected from within the Board. Six members are chapter representatives: Bend, Crook County, Madras, Redmond, Sisters, and South Deschutes County. The remaining 6 members are at-large. At-large members are expected to manage at least one committee. COTA’s committees currently include Trails, Communications, Advocacy, Finance, Membership, Fundraising, Training, Strategic Planning, Events, and Elections. Board members or active volunteers also fill four Coordinator roles: Trails Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, Membership Coordinator, and Sponsorship Coordinator. 

If you are interested in running for COTA’s Board and would like to speak with a current Board member to learn more, please email us here.

Here's the COTA Board Nomination Form.