Category : Bike Tours

$29 plane tickets from Bay Area to Bend!!!!

Allegiant sees growth in region

Direct flights from Redmond to Oakland, Calif., to start April 26

By Rachael Rees / The Bulletin

Published: January 24. 2012 4:00AM PST

Allegiant will launch new air service from Redmond to Oakland, Calif., as part of the company’s ongoing effort to reach leisure travelers in markets where it sees growth potential.

“We are adding a new route because we believe the community understands the value we bring,” said Brian Davis, spokesman for Allegiant Travel Co.

Beginning April 26, the company will offer nonstop air service from Redmond Airport to Oakland International Airport, Davis said. Flights are scheduled to run twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays, but Davis said the schedule could change.

“We adjust our capacity throughout the year in order to meet customer demand,” he said. “A lot of our destinations are seasonal. We’ll adjust the schedule based on what we see from customers.”

Representatives from Allegiant, Redmond Airport, the Central Oregon Visitors Association and others are scheduled today to announce the flights to the Bay Area, Allegiant’s third destination for nonstop air service from Redmond.

Customers can begin booking Allegiant flights to the Bay Area today. An introductory fare starting as low as $29.99, excluding taxes and fees, will be available for flights purchased by Feb. 7 for travel through Aug. 14., Davis said.

Unlike the major commercial air carriers, Allegiant offers flights from smaller cities to major leisure or recreation destinations, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It also offers package deals containing flights, lodging and rental car. But it typically does not offer daily service like the major commercial airlines.

While flights to the Bay Area are available through other airlines, Davis said Allegiant’s service is a different product. He said most legacy airlines target business travelers, while Allegiant focuses on leisure travelers who book flights in advance.

“We’re targeting folks looking to get away to the Bay Area,” Davis said. “Allegiant’s service is built with a price point that allows those folks to go because it is affordable.”

Central Oregon tourism officials see the new air service as a tool to bring Californians to Central Oregon.

More than 20 percent of visitors to Central Oregon come from the Golden State, according to Alana Hughson, COVA president and CEO.

The Bay Area and Northern California have been identified by the agency as the regions providing the greatest opportunity to increase awareness of Central Oregon and generate visitors to the region, she said.

COVA will invest more than $250,000 in a marketing campaign designed to reach more than 80 percent of the Bay Area market, encouraging its residents to choose Central Oregon for spring break and summer vacations.

“The Allegiant flights from (Oakland International Airport) help expand our accessibility from the Bay Area and offer value-oriented flights, which are so critical to leisure travelers,” she said. “The additional option to fly to Central Oregon from either (Oakland airport) or (San Francisco International) is a tremendous benefit to position Central Oregon as an easy, affordable destination for Bay Area travelers.”

Davis said Oakland International Airport was strategically selected not only to offer service to Redmond and other areas, but as a new base for Allegiant.

The company selected Oakland airport, instead of San Francisco International or another in the region, because its terminal is easier for customers to navigate, it has fewer fog delays, it’s geographically closer to downtown San Francisco and costs less to operate from for Allegiant.

In addition to Oakland, Allegiant also flies from Redmond to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona.

If consumers continue to fly Allegiant out of Redmond, more destinations may be offered in the future, said Davis, and Andrew Levy, president of Allegiant Travel Co., said the company believes the region will support it.

“Allegiant continues to grow our offerings as the community embraces our convenient nonstop service,” Levy said in a news release. “We are confident Central Oregon residents will continue to support the Allegiant brand of affordable travel and take advantage of our low pricing when bundling their air, hotel and car rental package.”

Mexico Singletrack, Los Barriles in Southern Baja

Los Barriles, Southern Baja. Home of amazing singletrack, but also the home of amazing fish tacos. On the flight home from Baja I was trying to decide which I would miss more. I finally gave up and decided I just need to go back soon to enjoy both again.

My business partner Lev and I have been working on ways to extend our mountain bike season (personally and also business wise). Living in Bend, there are options for winter riding, but they all include bootie covers and many layers.

Luckily for us, a few Cog guides have been spending their winters in Los Barriles, 45 miles NE from Cabo, building singletrack while wind surf guiding their winters away. With over 40 miles of trail now ready to ride, taking our guide’s word that the hotel they were working through is a great place, we put together tour packages for mountain biking in Los Barriles. But we needed to see it ourselves before bringing guests down, so I convinced my husband to travel with me to check it out.

The “highway” enters Los Barriles along the beach, but higher up allowing a great view of town. A long ribbon of beautiful white beach and bright blue ocean greet you as you enter the small town. Men with big smiles are selling fresh shrimp on the side of the main road, foreigners are driving the streets in quads, and kids are skipping home from school with backpacks on. It was a friendly place, full of color and much to look at. It also had a very relaxed feel, the perfect place for a vacation of mountain biking.

We were hungry, so after saying hello to our Cog guide, Todd, and checking out the hotel right on the beach, we headed down the road to his favorite taco spot. El Viejo was full with both locals and gringos (which also many are locals) and we eagerly ordered fish and shrimp tacos. After an amazing meal, we rolled ourselves back down to the hotel to lay on lounge chairs at the pool and relax the rest of the afternoon away (until it was time for margaritas, a fabulous dinner and an evening stroll through town). Tomorrow was a riding day and we were very excited!

One of the best things about the hotel, after the fact that they have a pool, a bar at the pool overlooking the beach, stand up paddle boards and kayaks for guests to use, a restaurant and super friendly staff is that they also have a full fleet of full suspension 2012 Specialized mountain bikes for guests to use. That means we did not have to travel with a bike and still have a great bike to use.

We started the next morning with breakfast at the hotel and then meet Todd to ride. We were able to ride right from the hotel, going South along the beach until we came to a really cool overlook. From here we traveled inland, riding up a few hills on fireroads, passing a few donkeys and also enjoying singletrack that carved through the landscape. Arriving at another awesome overlook that looked south along the coast, we enjoyed a ripping, technical downhill (video coming soon!) past cactus (watch out!) and other desert trees all the way back towards town. We were really impressed – Baja has some serious singletrack! The trail wasn’t sandy, but packed dirt with fabulous views, fun short climbs and lots of fun downhill!! And the best part: we rode in shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the breeze as we flew down the trail and finishing the ride with a dive into the pool – or my other favorite, a beer and some fish tacos. Ahh, life is good!!

The Cog tour will include four full days of singletrack, all different routes. Working with Todd, we came up with the plan – two days of riding straight from the hotel, one shuttle day and one full day awesome adventure. Of course we had to drive the adventure route to make sure the mileage was not too much, which it wasn’t, but it also not really fit for a 4×4 vehicle, much better on bike!

There is a ton to do in Los Barriles once everyone gets back from the ride. You can take the stand up paddle boards out, or use the hotels snorkeling gear and check out the fish life or even go fishing. Walking around town is fun too, there is shopping, photos to take and of course many restaurants and bars to enjoy. The hotel includes three meals a day, with with the town full of great restaurants, we ate some of our meals out and are pretty sure you will want to as well.

We were able to ride a few days, stand up paddle, snorkel, visit surrounding towns, lounge at the pool and meet lots of great people. The town was super safe, even at night when we would wander in the dark to walk off our dinner.  I am very excited that we will be offering tours in Los Barriles and look forward to coming here every year to ride and have a great time!

Hopefully you will be with us!

Feeling the love from Visit Bend

Wow, Visit Bend, Bend’s local tourism board that is wonderful to work with and loves bikes just awarded us a great award. We wanted to share the press release and also say thank you to everyone in Bend! With Bend being full of amazing people and things to do, it makes it very easy to want to bring people here to share the amazing place we live in.

Read on…

Cog Wild Mountain Bike Tours Wins “2010 Excellence in Tourism Award” from Visit Bend

(Bend, OR,) March 25, 2011 – Cog Wild Mountain Bike Tours was recently presented with the 2010 Excellence in Tourism Award from Visit Bend. When presented with the award, Cog Wild owner Melanie Fisher said: “We love Bend, which makes it easy to promote. We create opportunities for our guests to feel that love and enjoy not only their bike tour but their entire Bend vacation”, says Fisher.

Cog Wild is the only locally owned mountain bike tour company in Central Oregon, offering one-day tours and bike vacations for individuals and groups. The company also provides the guests with accommodations and referrals to events, restaurants, breweries and other recreation opportunities besides biking. Many guests end up extending their vacation when they learn about Bend’s culture and other fun activities in which to participate.

The feedback from tour guests shows they also reflect Cog Wild’s love of Bend. One guest wrote: “We could not imagine the ‘Bend experience’ without Cog Wild. We don’t have to plan. All we have to do is ride. That’s why we come, season after season. We can ride the bikes of our choice – the latest and greatest – on the best trails found anywhere. Plus the folks at Cog Wild are great to deal with, accommodating and fun.” (deleted tour years, as “season to season” implies as much and is more reader-friendly)

Cog Wild’s multi-day hotel tours include local food and libations from Deschutes Brewery, Bend Brewing Company, Jackson’s Corner, Nancy P’s bakery, and highlights the best of the downtown nightlife for guests. In addition, clients stay in local hotels and use all the bike shops for rentals and repairs while in town, reinforcing the strong “Make Local Habit” values of the community

“We’re excited and humbled to be recognized with this award,” said Fisher. “We understand that the allure of mountain biking in Bend is about more than world class trails; it’s about the community of Bend and everything it has to offer. We live in an amazing place and enjoying sharing it with our guests from around the world. We want to thank Visit Bend for this honor, and everyone who makes Bend awesome!”

New Trail Opportunities Abound: Making new trail connections on the eve of the Big Fat Tour

COTA is stoked to announce that several new trails in the Wanoga Complex will be open this fall. Due to a very productive trail work season, especially with the great turnout for the Steve Larsen and Bend Dental Group Work event last weekend in which 68 people turned up to work for four hours on these two trails, we have been able to complete a new trail, which is part of a link from Tiddlywinks Trail, over to Edison Snow Park. This new connector trail is called Kiwa Butte trail, named after the butte it climbs.

Work also has progressed far along the new Dinah-Moe Humm trail, which will complete this connection to Edison Snow Park. The target to open these two trails is mid-October – just in time for the first event that will use them, Bend’s Big Fat Tour. It’s gratifying to live in a community where such enthusiasm for community service is evident. Thanks to everyone who came out and especially to the friends and family of Steve Larsen and Bend Dental Group.

Other plans to build new biking opportunities around the Wanoga area include a new information kiosk and skills park inside the loop parking lot at the Wanoga Trail Head. COTA is still awaiting the final OK from the Forest Service, but we plan to break ground this fall and lay the foundations for a large pump-track and “island” with ADA-accessible paths to a new kiosk that will show maps of the area and other trail information. Stay tuned to learn more about this new development.

Before you head out there to explore the new trails in the Wanoga area, make sure you have a keen sense of direction as the signage has yet to be installed and maps do not show the new trails yet. There’s no need to worry about that if you have registered for Bend’s Big Fat Tour (Oct. 15 – 17), because you only need to pay attention to the specific trail ribbon that marks the route. Although the Friday ride for this year’s BBFT is full, there is still space to sign up for either the 75-mile or 45-mile options on Saturday, both of which include routes along these new trails.

Registration includes the traditional Saturday night party, hosted this year by Deschutes Brewery at the Mountain Room. The 2010 BBFT will be the first chance to ride some brand new trails, but it’s also a must-do for any serious mountain biker. More info about this event, which benefits several local charities including COTA, can be found at bendsbigfattour.com and remember: “It’s about the ride!”

Fremont in July

Myself (Woody), my son Kai, Lev, Chris K, Katy and Chris D had a great weekend in the Fremont exploring, trail working and riding. There is some important new beta on trail conditions and we were able to clear several large sections of trail to ride. Some areas have seen so little use, coupled with huge forest fires and beetle-kill the trail is no longer there. Bummer. Other sections are still very good for riding (as long as you like primitive conditions) and the flow is outstanding. Lev and I had major success clearing a large section of trail from Yamsay Mountain Roadless area all the way back down to Silver Marsh Campground. That last 12 miles is all downhill and some of it is STEEP! I LOVE this trail and can’t wait to go back. Enjoy the pics (click on each image to really check out each photo – they are worth it!)

Keep Moving: Freemont trail beckons, other opportunities abound

Hot weather and dry trails are going to be the norm now. While the snow is quickly melting away from the remainder of the summer trails, the mosquitoes are advancing as well. Trail runners and mountain bikers would do well to keep moving and avoid these bloodthirsty insects. Repairing a flat tire or stopping for a snack has a sudden new urgency.

Trails recently opened include the North Fork Tumalo Creek trail and portions of the Metolius-Windigo trail connecting to the top of Mrazek. Although there are still a few small snow patches, these will be melting soon and pose no problems for trail users. Other sections of the “Met-Win,” including the connection from RD 370 to Three Creeks Lake and from Happy Valley South to Flagline tie, are still blocked by snow and downed trees. Flagline trail remains closed until August 15 to protect elk breeding habitat.

Other newly opening trails include the Lookout Mountain and Round Mountain trails in the Ochoco National Forest, the North Umpqua Trail, the McKenzie River National Trail and the Fremont National Recreation Trail. This week, COTA is sending trail work crews to the Fremont Trail to perform some clearing work and other spring maintenance. If you say you’ve never heard of the Fremont NRT, you’re not alone. Most people haven’t. It starts near the town of Silver Lake and meanders across ridges, through valleys and over mountaintops, passing near the towns of Summer Lake, Paisley and Lakeview, finally reaching the California border 175 miles later. Visit the Fremont National Forest website for more info on this unexplored gem.

On the hottest days there’s probably no better ride than the McKenzie River Trail, which is only one hour from Bend. The cool waters of the McKenzie River can soothe even the hottest heads. More than a ride, hike or run, the McKenzie is one of those rare opportunities to travel under your own power and see true old-growth forests and more species of moss than anywhere else on earth—a special novelty for us dry siders.

If you are not yet a COTA Member, please consider joining this month. Basic membership is cheaper than a round of golf or a night out on the town. COTA relies on our members for funding and political capital. Please see the COTA website to join, www.cotamtb.com. Thanks for your support.

Be safe and have fun out there.

Fremont – remote riding…

Whew, my legs are tired. Not so much from the riding, but the snow that made riding so hard and slow and punishing. Lots of pushing the bike while thinking, damn.. if only the snow was not here this would be fabulous riding!!

Cog is always looking for new and exciting places to take people riding. The Fremont National Forest is an area we have always wanted to share with our guests, but a HUGE forest fire in 2002 made that impossible. Now that years of trail work have taken place to make it worthwhile we went out there to check it out.

There are still miles of trails stopped up by downed dead trees, but other areas were cleared and ready to ride. Thanks to  a freak snow storm we got last weekend our bike trip had the makings of some epic-ness, but it all worked out. Redesigning our routes to include South facing trails, we were able to ride sections with steep climbs, great views and fast & zoomy downhills. There are huge Ponderosa Pines out there, and thanks to seeing tracks in the snow – even some bears.

We will be sharing more details as we get a trip together, but the plan is for the first multi-day trip for Intermediate and Advanced riders to take place next year. In an area with no other mountain bikers since if you do not know where to find the trails you will never find them, it is remote, beautiful and great riding.

Enjoy some photos! And then come ride!

Women’s Weekend trip a success!!

This past weekend was Cog’s first Women’s Weekend which was a huge success. Although I normally do not go on the multi-day weekend trips since it means being gone out of the office most Fridays, I chose to guide this event since I was so excited about it. I have wanted to have this tour for years, designing the weekend to include great riding, yoga and massage, three things I love and felt many other women would enjoy as well.

We spent three days riding local and less-known trails outside Bend. The first two days we saw hardly any riders and were able to enjoy solitude while taking in the beautiful scenery. The trails were a little dusty, but everyone was able to spread out and ride at their own pace. On Sunday, our last day, we split into two rides on Bend’s close to town trails. There were a few spills and tumbles, but most of the dust was washed away by a short dumping of rain towards the end of the ride.

A huge thank you to the women who joined us this past weekend. Both Lindsey and I enjoyed getting to know everyone, shared some funny stories and trying to stuff everyone with yummy food. We thought the weekend was great, although the mountain biking was hard at times but with an amazing massage therapist along and camping along a beautiful lake the good definitely outweighed the hard!!

Can’t wait for next year!!

North Umpqua Trail: Labor Day weekend tour

North Umpqua Trail, the “Crown Jewel” of the northwest? Pictures only show so much. You should come ride with the CGC (Cog Guide Crew) and see it for yourself. Cheers!

Ellsworth Rides Weekend – Huge Success!!

This past weekend was the first annual weekend of its kind with Cog Wild. We had 17 riders join us including Tony Ellsworth, Chevy who welds all the frames and Dave who manages the bikes being built. It was a blast and we can’t wait until next year. Here are some photos:

We rode three days: Mt Bachelor to Lava Lake, Charlton Lemish Loop and Flagline back to Bend. The second and third ride were perfect – beautiful climbs through huge trees dripping with moss and long downhills that went on for days and days. Some riders did the hike to the top of the twins and enjoyed the screaming downhill.

Evenings around camp had some fun surpises that all will have to join a multi-day tour with Cog to find out about. Thanks to Deschutes Brewery we had some great beer to enjoy after a post-ride dip in Little Cultus Lake and our chef Paul made sure no one went hungry.

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend! We are already planning new routes for Friday and thinking of what we can do better. Hope to see you there!!