Wednesday, December 23, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Fatten up for winter
ELEMENTARY: One week
of CDL is planned
after January 4
By Bill Bartlett
Correspondent
I put my bike away last
week and brought out the
snowshoes. It wasn9t snow
or temperature that shelved
the bike. I simply don9t have
the right bike. Hopefully all
Sisters bikers are heeding
the recent posting of signs
by the Sisters Trail Alliance
to stay off the trails when
muddy. No further expla-
nation required. Bikes and
horses, even pedestrians, can
do a fair amount of harm to
the trail bed.
As I was tromping along a
few days ago around Melvin
Butte, after an overnight drop
of nearly four inches of new
snow down to 4,000 feet, I
encountered Rick Nordquist
and his buddies merrily
dashing though the snow
on 4 you guessed it 4 fat
bikes. My goofball sidekick,
Robbie, a snow-obsessed
Golden was in their way so
they had to dismount. It gave
us a little time to chat and for
me to get the appeal of snow
biking.
A <fat= bike and a fat-tire
bike are not necessarily the
same thing. A true fat bike
will come standard with tires
at least 3.5 inches wide, up to
five inches. Some standard
mountain bikes, especially
if produced in the last year
or two often can accommo-
date a <fat= tire, one that is
2.8 inches to as much as 3.5
inches. Like all bikes, frame
size and wheel size are not
the same thing either.
<Fat= bikes have tradition-
ally been on 26-inch wheels,
but it9s now possible to get
27.5 inches; even 29 inches.
The bigger wheel does give
the tire more contact, there-
fore traction and more roll.
Basic physics here. My take-
away after talking with Rick
is that you don9t try this at
home. Get on down to Blazin
Saddles or Eurosports and
get properly fitted. Especially
if you9re dreaming of riding
the snow or beach.
After a proper fitting,
Continued from page 3
PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT
Fat tires can get riders out into winter terrain.
the key to it all is tire pres-
sure and clothing. Normally
a 26-by-4-inch tire would be
inflated to 20-25 psi for pave-
ment, 12-15 for dirt trails,
and only 8-10 for snow. Rick
and his gang were actually
running at 3-4 psi, in pursuit
of better traction. The day I
saw them, they had already
inflated or deflated four times
as the terrain changed from
packed Forest Service roads
to open meadow to running
on snow-covered horse trails.
They are careful on trails to
not get under the snow and
into the muddy dirt.
Fat bikes are heavy, start-
ing with a beefier frame and
just the sheer weight of the
bigger wheel and tire. Five-
inch-wide tires will run bet-
ter in the snow but are more
stamina-sapping. It9s like ski-
ing, or in my case snowshoe-
ing today. Uphill builds heat
and you start to wonder just
how many layers you really
needed. Downhill, on a bike,
at 15 mph in a 10-mph wind
and suddenly you9re wonder-
ing where the other fleece is.
Another reason to see a
pro are gear options. Rick
assures me that the most
experienced riders will fall
often in the snow. At least it9s
a soft landing for the most
part. A dropper seat post will
facilitate the frequent times
you9ll have to dismount. And
for sure, do not use clipless
pedals. Flat pedals are a safer
bet for snow.
As they take off hooting
and hollering, I9m thinking:
how much is this going to
cost me? Both shops in town
can get you into a fat bike for
around $1,700. You can also
spend three times as much
but you don9t need to fork
out nearly that much to ride
pretty much anywhere at any
time. Did I mention beach?
Won9t that sound sweet come
February?
January 11 4 provided that
nothing else significantly
changes in the interim regard-
ing coronavirus infection
rates.
Under the in-person
hybrid model, students have
been attending class on site
at Sisters Elementary School
Monday-Thursday and take
part in distance learning on
Fridays.
Sisters Elementary School
remains the only public
school in Deschutes County
conducting in-person learning
under the hybrid model.
The extension of the <Safe
Harbor= clause also included
the opportunity for Sisters
middle and high schools to
be able to continue Limited
In Person Instruction (LIPI)
beginning January 11, which
allows a measured number of
students to be on site under
particular guidelines during
the school day.
Scholl is very pleased
Sisters Elementary will have
the opportunity to continue
in-person instruction and
acknowledged that elemen-
tary students returning to
CDL for the first week of
January is challenging, but
has good reasoning behind it.
In his letter to parents,
Scholl said, <I understand
that comprehensive dis-
tance learning is no one9s
first choice in an educational
model. The Oregon Health
Authority and Deschutes
County Public Health have
predicted and seen increased
case counts after every holi-
day throughout the pandemic.
21
Our return to CDL for the
week is to help protect our
school community and to
allow us to get back to and
stay in our hybrid model.=
He added, <We are very
excited about this extension
and our ability to continue to
serve our youngest learners
in-person on January 11.=
Scholl also explained in
the letter why the district is
continuing to proceed with
caution.
<While students appear to
be less affected by COVID,=
he wrote, <our schools are
an ecosystem consisting of a
wide range of hard-working
people from our commu-
nity. Although we know that
schools are not 8spreaders,9
the continued high case count
creates concern. The safety of
the entire ecosystem must be
considered in any plans mov-
ing forward.=
Scholl pointed out that in
neighboring Crook County,
schools returned to CDL
before the holiday break, not
because students were becom-
ing infected, but because
spread in the Prineville com-
munity required staff to be
quarantined, leaving schools
unable to conduct in-person
instruction.
As in all of his communi-
cations with the community,
Scholl encouraged everyone
in Sisters Country to continue
being diligent about minimiz-
ing the spread of the virus.
He said, <I continue to
ask that our community fol-
low COVID-safety protocol:
wear a mask, socially dis-
tance, and wash your hands.
Although the COVID case
count dropped slightly in
Deschutes County, we still
need a significant reduction to
get all students back into our
hybrid model.=
With gratitude & joy, we wish you
Merry Christmas
and a
Prosperous New Year!
From
Shelley Marsh
& Tiana
Van Landuyt
220 S. Pine St., Ste. 102 | 541-548-9180
935 E. Creek View Drive | Sisters, OR | MLS#220113815
Mark Ossinger
Ossinger,
Broker
— 206-713-1045 —
Licensed in the
State of Oregon #201236356
and State of Washington #25554
61651 Gemini Way,
Bend, Oregon 97701
Mark@fathomrealtywa.com
www.fathomrealtywa.com
Whychus Creek View Frontage! 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2,848 sq. ft . on
1/4-acre lot, vaulted ceilings, master bedroom with fireplace on main
level, off ice or 4th bedroom, gourmet kitchen with 6-burner range,
double oven, microwave and warming drawer, media room upstairs.
www.CreekViewSisters.com. $899,500.
PENDING
PATTY CORDONI
Principal Broker
541.771.0931
SUZANNE CARVLIN
Broker
818.216.8542
RealEstate@PattyandSuzanne.com | www.PattyandSuzanne.com
Sotheby’s International Realty© is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Aff iliates, LLC.
Each off ice is independently owned and operated. All associates are licensed in the State of Oregon.