Halloween Haunts on Two Wheels
As the leaves begin to change and the air turns crisp, Bend is gearing up for a busy season of transportation projects. From road resurfacing to bikeway improvements, these projects are designed to enhance the safety and comfortability of our road.
Read on for opportunities to engage on specific projects at the city’s open houses.
And with all that going on, don’t forget to see our upcoming events section for Second Sunday Spokes and the World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims.
Our Favorite Bike Routes – Hollinshead Park to Drake Park
This route from Hollinshead Park to Drake Park is the best way to get from east to west in Bend on the north side. This route can be adapted for much of the north east part of Bend.
We are Looking for Board Members!
As 2024 is rolling to a close, we are looking for more folks to join the Bend Bikes Board of Directors!
- Do you love to ride your bicycle to work or for errands?
- Do you wish there were more opportunities to safely get around Bend by walking, biking, or rolling?
- Do you want to roll your sleeves up and help advocate for the safety of people who bike, walk, and roll in Bend?
- Does an overnight bike tour board retreat sound like your kind of fun?
We are a grassroots, all volunteer, nonprofit organization that advocates for the safety of people who ride bikes and for a comprehensive network of bike-friendly routes in Bend. The full Board meets every other month and board members typically work on other projects as their schedules allow.
We are searching for people of all ages and backgrounds who are passionate about getting more people on bicycles in Bend. Interested? Please complete our application by November 15th and we’ll be in touch shortly after! We plan on doing interviews in November/December with new board members starting in January.
Upcoming Events
Second Sunday Spokes
Sunday, November 10, 9am – Greenwood Ave Loop
We will do a loop from Looney Bean Coffee Shop down the new Greenwood Ave improvements, take a right on Second Street, a right on Franklin and end up back downtown at Looney Bean.
Meet at 8:45am for the ride to start at 9am. Hope to see you there!
Influence Changes to NE Neff Road
Neff Pedestrian & Bicycle Improvement Project (online now through November 12)
After an in-person open house on October 21st, a virtual open house is available through November 12th, 2024. This open house is different from open houses you’ve seen before because there are no proposals to evaluate yet. Instead, they are collecting your ideas about what you’d like to see from NE Neff Rd and Eagle Rd to NE Norton Ave and NE 6th St. What difficulties do you have along this corridor and what improvements would make you more likely to walk and ride in this area?
Riverfront Street Design Open House
The in person event was October 30 but it is online until November 13
After listening to ideas from the community last April, the City of Bend and Bend Parks and Recreation District have developed concepts for rebuilding Riverfront St and connecting the Deschutes River Trail from Miller’s Landing Park to Drake Park. You can see these concepts and make comments about them at an open house that was held on October 30.
All the open house materials: powerpoint, design concepts, and questionnaire will be live on the project website for two weeks after October 30th so you can see what’s planned and submit your ideas.
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Events
On Thursday, November 14, there will be two events in Bend to commemorate Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old black girl who integrated the previously all-white William Frentz Elementary School in New Orleans on November 14, 1960.
Bear Creek Elementary
Meet at the Ponderosa Park parking lot off SE Virginia Ave. at 7:15 AM and then depart for Bear Creek Elementary at 7:25 am to walk to Bear Creek Elementary. For the early arrivals, there will be hot chocolate and treats from Sparrow Bakery
Jewell Elementary
Meet at Sun Meadow Park on Dayspring Drive at 7:15 am and depart at 7:25 am to walk to Jewel Elementary.
The City of Bend’s Study on People Streets
The City of Bend is starting to plan for “People Streets”—vibrant, people-centered streets on which cars are not the only planned use. The corridor from Juniper Park, across the proposed Hawthorne Overpass, to Drake Park is being used as a case study for learning to think about what these “people streets” could look like and where they should be. Learn more at the open house:
Friday, Nov. 15 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Commons Café & Taproom
875 NW Brooks St.
World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims
On November 17, members of the community will gather at noon at the Peace Corner in downtown Bend to remember those in our community and around the world who have been the victims of traffic violence. In the United Staes over 40,000 people are killed annually in roadway crashes. The rate of deaths in the United States in the highest of the 29 highest income countries in the world. Since January 1, 2024, the Bend Police Department has responded to 1623 crashes including one fatality.
We will pause on this day to read the proclamation passed by the Bend City Council and then hear from community members who have been impacted by traffic violence. For these crashes not only impact the victims and their families but also friends and other community members. In addition, we will remember those who provide the emergency services to the victims as well as the medical and rehabilitation care.
After the memorial event, we will make a memorial bike ride along NW Wall Street, then NW Riverside Drive by Drake Park. The ride will then return to the Peace Corner along NW Harmon Blvd. and NW Newport Ave.
Please plan to join us as we remember those lost and injured as well as to advocate for better support for safe streets.
Franklin Avenue (Harriman to NE 15th)
Learn more about the upcoming project for Franklin Avenue (Harriman to NE 5th) (online from December 3-17)
The second Franklin Avenue open house will be online from December 3 to the 17th. They will be showing more complete plans for Franklin Ave from NW Harriman Ave to NE 5th St. This is an informational open house to give us all an update and they won’t be soliciting comments. This section of Franklin is part of the Bend Bikeways project which will result in a north-south corridor and an east-west corridor across Bend. This section is as close as the Bend Bikeways get to downtown.
Bikey Book Club
Next Meeting: January 27, 2025
The book club is taking a long winter nap and will reconvene on January 27th, 2025! We’ll be watching a video related to our next book, Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle by Jody Rosen. The library has a copy and there should be time to check it out before our next meeting. Watch this newsletter for details about our next meeting.
For those of you who have more time to read in the winter, we’ve compiled a list of all the books we’ve read so far. Enjoy the reading and the biking through the winter!