A quick break along the Crooked River Canyon Highway.
Studded Tires || Now is the time!
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
541-903-0509
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.
Two wheeled Clinic
A free bicycle repair event will take place at the Clover Building on the Crook County Fairgrounds.
This past holiday season Bicycle Re-source of Bend reconditioned and donated over 50 bikes and helmets to the Crook County Holiday Partnership that distributed them to area children for Christmas.
“They have made it their mission to help some of the more rural outlying areas,” said Brenda Comini, director of Crook County Human Services. “We have had a wonderful partnership with them and we want to not only bring bikes to the community, but get kids out on them and teach them how to keep their bikes usable.”
To that end, the Bend-based nonprofit, along with Prineville’s Good Bike Shop’s owner James Good, will hold a free bicycle repair clinic on Sunday.
Jeff Schuler, founder of Bicycle Re-source, said that he and Comini provided information about the clinic to all of those receiving a bike from the partnership.
“Brenda and I thought that this year we would give them a follow-up to maintain their bikes,” said Schuler. “We are on our fourth year with the partnership and each year we try to think of a way to expand on the educational aspect of biking.”
This will be Good’s first year working with Schuler, someone he says comes out from Bend to do a lot of good things for the Prineville community.
Good explained that there will be up to five bike stations offering everything from flat tire repair, to brake service and derailleur adjustments, to safety checks.”
“I am excited to be a part of it this as it will connect me with cyclists in Central Oregon,” said Good. “The clinic is also a great way to offer residents some quality bike repair.”
Good added that in addition to repairs, the clinic will offer advice on proper bike etiquette and safe riding tips.
Comini sees the clinic as a natural extension of what both businesses are trying to bring to Prineville.
“Schuler’s partnership with Good is all about promoting biking in the area and the safe and proper use of bikes,” she said. “It is a healthy family activity that we are all trying to encourage.”
Good says that in the near future there will be a number of opportunities for bicycle users to enjoy the outdoors on their new two-wheelers.
“The new COTA bike park will be coming on-line this summer and the Lower 66 mountain bike trails should be complete,” he said.
Good has also been asked to be a presenter at the Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism in Eugene this April.
“I will be participating in a discussion with the Agritourism Working Group,” said Good. “I will be talking about my connection with the High Desert Farm and Food Alliance and our plans to offer one-day bicycle farm tours.”
Good is also involved with planning an August off-road event that will offer rides of 125, 45, and 10 miles that will highlight biking in the Ochocos.
Schuler said that he is happy to see Good in Prineville, offering local cyclists a solid bike shop resource.
“When we leave, James will be there,” said Schuler. “We will try to help him in any way we can.”
Schuler added that he expects a good crowd for Sunday’s clinic.
“We expect that this clinic will be our biggest,” he said. “We know there is a need and the good weather helps. We want to get people out riding their bikes.
The free bicycle repair clinic will take place on Sunday, Feb. 22, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Clover Building at the Crook County Fairgrounds.
There will be a drawing for bike helmets and two refurbished BMX bikes.
For information about the clinic, call Jeff Schuler at 541-410-9620.
Prineville goes full bore into bicycling
COTA hopes to have new trail system done by June
By Beau Eastes / The Bulletin / @beastes
Published Jan 7, 2015 at 12:01AM / Updated Jan 7, 2015 at 06:17AM
Crook County COTA chapter
Website:www.cotamtb.com/chapters/crook-county
Email: CrookCountyRep@cotamtb.com
Note: Ad-hoc work crews to finish Lower 66 begin this month
PRINEVILLE — The wheels are moving on multiple bicycling projects in and around Prineville.
The Crook County chapter of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance announced Tuesday night at its January meeting at Good Bike Co. that by this June it hopes to have the area’s newest trail system, Lower 66, completed, as well as a 1.5-acre BMX bike park.
Lower 66, which sits on 66 acres of state land just south of the Ochoco State Scenic Viewpoint off state Highway 126, will boast three miles of multiuse trails within the Prineville city limits once completed.
The two main loops are nearly finished, said Darlene Henderson, head of the Crook County trail alliance chapter, with the connector trail between the north and south loops requiring most of the work. Signage and a trailhead kiosk are also expected to be added.
The Prineville Bike Park, which will be located adjacent to Ochoco Creek Park, is in the initial fundraising stage, according to Henderson, but she expects construction to start and finish within a two- or three-week period this June. COTA, which has raised $10,110, estimates the bike park will cost approximately $102,000.
“All the right pieces have just fallen together in the last two years,” Henderson said about Prineville’s recent plunge into the cycling community. “You’ve got to have a good relationship with land managers. You’ve got to have public officials like (County Commissioner) Seth (Crawford) get behind these things. You’ve got to have people willing to organize and people like Stephen (Henderson, Darlene’s husband) do the trail work. And you have to have a meeting place like Good Bike Co.”
“Projects like this,” Darlene Henderson added, “you’ve got to have all the pieces in play.”
Lower 66 and the Prineville Bike Park could be just the beginning of a wave of bike-related projects in Crook County.
COTA has submitted a multiphase trail proposal with the U.S. Forest Service for a 270-mile trail network within the Ochoco National Forest. Phase 1 would create a 75.2-mile trail network based around the current Lookout Mountain Trail northeast of Prineville.
Crook County bike enthusiasts are also looking at more rides within the city limits, similar to the Lower 66 trails, to enhance the cycling opportunities in the area.
“The Lookout Mountain trails, those will attract tourists,” said Crawford, who is also a Central Oregon Trail Alliance member. “But projects like Lower 66 and the bike park, those are about quality of life for residents of Crook County. We’ve got an amazing quality of life here, but if you don’t get ahead of the curve, you fall behind. This is an opportunity to improve our quality of life.”
— Reporter: 541-383-0305,
beastes@bendbulletin.com