2021 Ochoco Overlander Update

COVID 19 VACCINATION REQUIRED TO RIDE

The 2021 Ochoco Overlander is quickly approaching, and frankly we couldn’t be more excited to get into some of the most beautiful country Central Oregon has to offer.

Following public health recommendations, a Covid 19 vaccination will be required to participate in this year's ride. Proof of vaccination must be received by Good Bike Co. NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 1, 2021. All event staff and volunteers will be vaccinated. Thanks for your help in respecting our small Central Oregon communities.

Any rider who has not submitted proof of vaccination by September 1 will not be allowed to ride. Please email James, jgood@goodbikeco.com, if you have any questions or concerns.

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2021 Ochoco Overlander Route

Day 1

70 miles, 5,300ft

Enter the world class Ochoco National Forest as you embark on your FOUR day adventure; camp, swim, and fish along the John Day River

Day 2

25 miles, 2,000 ft

Take the morning easy, you deserve it!

Casually pedal through the breathtaking Painted Hills one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon. “When you travel to the Painted Hills, you can see millions of years of history revealed in the layers of mountains of earth, one color at a time. A journey to the hills is a journey through ancient and recent history”. (Travel Oregon)

Refuel in the small town of Mithcell, OR (pop: 124). Accommodations at Spoke’n Hostel. Be sure to check out Mitchell and enjoy a pint at Tiger Town Brewing Co.

Day 3

27 miles, 3,900 ft

Climb out of Mitchell and back into the Ochoco National Forest. Enjoy the summit of Mt. Pisgah and the vistas it and the Mill Creek Wilderness provides; Camp, swim, and fish at Walton Lake

Day 4

46 miles, 2,550 ft

As you cross over the Ochoco Divide on day Four you will traverse over the North edge of the Mill Creek Wilderness on a dirt two track road (read single track’ish). Roll down McKay Rd. back into Prineville where we will finish with a family-style dinner and bonfire on the outdoor patio at Good Bike Co.

BIG THANKS to our 2021 Ochoco Overlander Sponsors

Salsa Cycles, Burley, Backporch Coffee

Good Bike Co. is Hiring!

Bike Mechanic and Sales Associate Wanted

Good Bike Co. LLC is looking to hire a full or part time Bike Mechanic and Sales Associate. We are looking for a team player that fits well within the Good Bike Co. family and that can hit the ground running.

Located on the TransAm Bike Trail, the Oregon Outback and home of the Ochoco Overlander we focus on Bikepacking and Bicycle Touring. With that said the Ochoco National Forest just on the outskirts of Prineville has some of the best single track Central Oregon has to offer.

Repair Technician:

Technicians must be knowledgeable in the maintenance and repair of a wide variety of bicycle makes, models, components, and parts & accessories. It is also an expectation that service technicians will keep current with new technology and changes in equipment design. Good Bike Co. is willing to help aid in keeping this person current and up to date.

Sales Associate:

This position will interact with GBC staff and customers on a day to day basis, offer a hospitality environment, assist in bike sales, and sales of parts and accessories in our showroom floor. This position will also be responsible for our rental fleet and maintenance of the rental fleet.

Other:

Good Bike Co. also has craft beer on tap, assists with the Ochoco Gravel Roubaix Race and puts on the the Ochoco Overlander Bikepacking Trip among many other community events. All employees are required to help with our events throughout the year in different capacities. This position requires work on weekdays, weekends and some evenings for after hour events and clinics.

Qualifications:

- Two years experience or more working as a mechanic in any industry

- Strong customer service and hospitality skills

- Ability to work as a part of a team and alone

- A positive attitude and willingness to work hard

- Able to stay focused and self driven

- Trustworthy and accountable

Full-time employees are offered a Simple IRA, PTO, great discounts within the industry, and time off for riding. Pay DOE.

Please send resume or CV to info@goodbikeco.com

Ochoco Overlander V2019

SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 20-23, 2019

Everyone had a ball last year and that was just us getting started!

Save the date for our 2019 Salsa Cycles Ochoco Overlander. Embark on a bikepacking journey that circumnavigates the entirety of the Ochoco National Forest (Central Oregon) covering over 200 miles and 15,000' of climbing.

A 4-day lightly supported bikepacking event in Central and Eastern Oregon.

October 5th-8th, 2018
Good Bike Co. LLC || Prineville, Oregon

Riders will load up their bikes to pedal 220 miles and over 18,000 feet of elevation exploring the entirety of the Ochoco National Forest in Central and Eastern Oregon. You will roll out from Good Bike Co. LLC with 40 new friends and pedal through the breathtaking Crooked River Canyon, wind through the remote Maury Mountains, and traverse the rugged terrain of the Ochoco National Forest back to Good Bike Co. in Prineville, OR.

Riders haul all of their own gear, but leave the rest to us. They’ll enjoy a fully catered dinner each night and a hearty breakfast every morning from the Sandwhich Factory, Beer from Ochoco Brewing Company, fishing opportunities at each campsite and throughout the route, stocked lunch/aid stops, and sag support throughout each day.

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.”