FOUR-PAGE SPORTS PULLOUT INSIDE
• B SECTION • FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2021
THE REGION’S HUB FOR
OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
Each week in this section, you will find the area’s
most complete guide of what’s open and closed;
outdoor activities and events; top picks of places to
explore; conditions of hiking and biking trails,
fishing holes, water flows, camping spots, parks
and more — as well as features from outdoor
writers and field experts.
Going back
to biking
basics spurs
rediscovery
of parks
VERT-
FEST
EST
BY BRIAN LONGORIA
For The Bulletin
Winners reflect on thousands of feet
climbed and skied and the joy of
touring Central Oregon backcountry
BARRY WICKS
EMILY KEDDIE
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
T
BY MARK MORICAL • The Bulletin
Wicks, 39, went to Tumalo
Mountain on the first day of the
virtual event and promptly skied
11 laps up and down, which took
his was Barry Wicks’ chance to live out the ski -bum dream.
MOUNTAINS nearly 11 hours. The next day, he
headed to Bachelor and began liv-
And, man, did he make the most of it.
ing out of his van.
“It was four cone laps plus nine Pine
Wicks, a Bend resident and cyclist by trade, recently won the
(Marten) laps every day,” said Wicks, the
sports marketing director for Kona Bikes
Central Oregon Avalanche Center’s Virtual VertFest, climbing and skiing a total
and former pro mountain bike and cyclo-
cross racer. “That took 8.5 or 9 hours to do.
of 137,469 vertical feet over nine days from Feb. 27 to March 7.
That was more achievable.”
Bend ultrarunner Emily Keddie, 34, won
“My goal going into it was just to do
nine days. The avalanche center typically
the women’s division of the Virtual VertFest,
15,000 feet a day, which seemed like a huge
stages its VertFest as a one-day event at
finishing with 83,037 total vertical feet.
amount, but achievable,” Wicks said. “I
Mt. Bachelor ski area, but this year, due to
“It’s a great workout,” Keddie said. “I just en-
kind of did some calculations on how long
COVID-19, the virtual event had a nine-
joy pushing myself at long distances for a long
it would take to do that. I was thinking
day window and competitors could log
amount of time. Backcountry skiing lends
1,500 to 2,000 feet an hour.”
their vertical feet anywhere they wished.
itself to that really well. It’s a really healthy,
Wicks, who often summits and then
Still, most stuck to Bachelor, which has a
low-impact exercise. It’s really versatile. You
skis down Cascade volcanoes during
free, easily accessible skin track up the cin-
can keep it low-key and just tour around. Or
the spring, knew he could take the time
der cone and then along Ed’s Garden run
you can go up mountains and back down.”
off to maximize his vertical feet over the
up to the Pine Marten Lodge.
See Vertfest / B9
During the pandemic, my
daughter learned to ride her
bike without training wheels.
After riding for so many years,
it’s easy to forget how scary and
exciting those
first couple
of rides can
be. Luckily,
learning to
ride a bike
PARKS
unlocks a
world of ad-
venture, new views and fresh
air, which I think we can all use
after the last year.
As she has progressed, we
have been exploring new
parks and trails nearby, and it’s
exciting to share some of my
favorites with her. Having the
added benefit of also being a
Bend Park & Recreation Dis-
trict employee, I am familiar
with the bike-friendly parks
and trails in our system, and I
want to share a few of my fa-
vorites.
Let’s get the bigger, often-
visited parks covered first:
Shevlin Park has more than
9 miles of trail with several
loops and out-and-backs avail-
able with no road crossings.
Shevlin is a great fit for fami-
lies. The paved service road is
closed to vehicles, which is per-
fect for beginners or little ones
on scoots and training wheels.
The park also offers a series of
trails for beginner to interme-
diate mountain bikers so my
spouse can pick up dust and
meet up with us later.
Pine Nursery Park has a
nearly 2-mile loop around the
park’s perimeter. A fishing
pond, playground and Cascade
views make it a nice half-day
outing. With just two in-park
road crossings and relatively
level, this trail is good for bik-
ing with grade-school aged
children and older.
Big Sky Park is a great east -
side choice with a 1.6-mile
out-and-back trail and no road
crossings. Like Pine Nursery,
it has great Cascade views, a
playground and an off-leash
area. Unlike Pine Nursery, it
has amazing natural area and
feels like it’s much farther out
of town that it really is.
If you’re looking for longer
rides, Larkspur Trail — South
and the Old Mill section of the
Deschutes River Trail are pop-
ular.
Here are a few favorite hid-
den gems in the park system:
Rockridge Park and Trail
is a newer park in northeast
Bend. This is another great
family-friendly option, with
two playgrounds, a skatepark,
Frisbee golf course and unique
rock outcroppings. Rockridge
also boasts more than a mile of
unpaved and accessible, paved
paths that meander through
the park with no road cross-
ings.
See Biking / B10
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