I’ve done plenty of posts on real estate in Bend Oregon and home sales in Central Oregon.  Invariably, I’m drawn back to the incredible “quality of life” we have here . . . the lack of real traffic, the clean air, the wonderful and eclectic restaurants, the usually salubrious climate, and the now affordable home prices.

Bend offers an amazing array of outdoor recreational activities; a great event was held this past weekend. From December 10th, through the 13th., Bend hosted the 2009 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships.

For the uninitiated (myself included, until last Thursday), cyclo-cross is a form of bicycle racing that typically takes place in the fall and winter.  Racers, riding bikes that resemble road bikes with knobby tires and brakes like a mountain bike

deal with inclimate weather (they saw it all here . . . the temperature for Thursday’s first heat was a frigid 7 degrees!), steep terrain, a variety of surfaces (dirt, pavement, grass, ice), and man-made obstacles (stairs, barriers) over which they are forced to carry their bikes.

The riders run laps on a spectator-friendly short course.

Heats normally run from twenty minutes for the juniors to an hour for the elite riders.

The event drew more than 1700 competitors.

Here are a couple of “You Tube” links to the Cyclo-cross championships:

Crash

Bicycle Race

The event was a tremendous boon to beer sales and to the Bend Oregon economy.  And, according to racers, was ” . . . the best; the biggest venue, the best crowd, the best course.”

After all the above excitement,  click here to search for homes in Central Oregon.