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With its seemingly limitless roads, , is one lakes and trails, Bend, with of multisport’s hidden gems. But wn a large race series coming into to Cen- and a smattering of pros calling tral Oregon home, it’s only a matter of time before “ Little Boulder” takes center stage.

o one would dare discount the claim that Bend, Oregon, is a cyclist’s paradise. Downtown Bend, which is quaintly situated around a five- block radius flanking the Deschutes River, is virtually overflowing with chain rings and bicycles. They adorn picture frames in gift shops, hang from the backs of cars like ornaments and blow in the breeze in theN form of intricately designed wind charms attached with recycled spokes. Yes, much like hats shaped like cheese in Wisconsin or red apple T-shirts in New York City, bicycles have become an unspoken symbol of the culture of Bend, and an indication of this small town’s emergence as a tourism hot spot for the outdoors enthusiast. If you are a serious cyclist living in Bend, it’s also a sign that you’d better be ready to throw down. When Doug LaPlaca, CEO and president of Visit Bend, first moved into town four years ago, he had barely unpacked his moving truck when he decided to head out on one of the town’s famous group rides, which leaves every Saturday morning from Hutch’s Bicycle Shop. LaPlaca was the first one in the shop’s parking lot that morning, but a few minutes after he arrived, who should roll up but the legendary über-biker and pro triathlete Steve Larsen, followed shortly thereafter by four-time XTERRA world cham- Bend it pion Conrad Stoltz. “My jaw just dropped as I sat there in the parking lot watching icon for Leadman after icon roll up,” says LaPlaca. “It was like, well, crap, welcome to Bend. Here we go.” By Susan Grant-Legacki For the past decade, Bend has been quietly amassing the kind of outdoor street cred usually reserved for mountain towns twice its size. It was named “Best Mountain Biking Town in America” by Mountain Bike Action in 2010 and one of Outside Magazine’s “30 Best Towns in America” in 2007. It’s home to several members of the U.S. Ski Team, as well as Team RadioShack’s Chris Horner and trail running phenom Max King. It’s easy to see why they call Bend home. With Mount Bachelor just 22 miles from downtown, nearly 300 days of sunshine a year and 2 million acres of public lands to play in within an hour radius, probably the hardest thing to do in Bend is stay inside. Of course, inside is where the beer is located, and since this small town of 77,000 boasts 10 microbreweries, people definitely find the time to sit down and have a pint. What you might not expect in such a training paradise is a fledgling triathlon scene that remains mostly under the radar. Individually, each sport has thrived there for years, with events like U.S. Masters Swimming competitions, the XTERRA Trail Running Champion- ships and the USA Cycling Elite Road National Championship regularly rolling through town. Until recently, however, the number of Bend residents identifying themselves as triathletes remained kind of hit or miss. “Our triathlon club is actually only two years old,” says Deschutes Multisport Club president Michelle White. “We have about 60 members now and we are really growing, but I was kind of surprised when we started the club that it took this long to get one in Bend.” However, with Life Time Fitness bringing their new Leadman Epic 250/125 race series into town this fall, chances are this tiny town in is about to tick over the edge from hidden triathlon gem to crown jewel. SUSAN GRANT-LEGACKI lavamagazine.com lavamagazine.com 098 : BOARDING PASS : R p d/ cc o en b isit /v rt o alp

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Which is not to say that triathlons (or professional triathletes) don’t prove a point or gain some fitness, but simply so you can check out what’s exist in Central Oregon, and if the area could elect a professional athlete around the next corner. advocate, it would likely be Matt Lieto. “I’d say I’ve seen almost a 50-percent It was while playing around on these trails and lakes that Life Time Fit- increase in the number of triathletes around town in the past five years,” ness’s Keith Hughes first considered it for his new race series. “I spent time says Lieto, who has lived in Bend for seven years. Lieto says the very things kayaking there years back, and I always knew it would be such a great venue, about Bend that cultivate his performance may be the very things that but it wasn’t until I started to develop the Leadman series that it really came have prevented it from gaining a reputation as a triathlon Mecca. “This together,” says Hughes. “Matt [Lieto] mentioned to me at our Vegas event last town suits the pros who don’t want to live in a fishbowl like you might get year that I should come check out Bend, and he and I spent some time just driv- in Boulder,” he says. “If I’m constantly training with other pros and seeing ing around, and everything just immediately fit.” what they’re doing and I’m not, I just start comparing myself and it gets in The course needed to be impressive, both aesthetically and physically, my own head. For some pros, that knowledge and that pressure is a huge and Hughes had the ultimate Bend insider to help him meet these demands. motivator. It’s isolated here, and if you are an elite athlete living here you “It’s no coincidence that this course literally goes right by my house,” laughs have to be OK with doing your own thing quite a lot.” Lieto. However, in a place full of elite athletes from all over the spectrum, This isolation that Lieto speaks of is exactly why the Leadman in Bend Hughes knew that bringing in a large event such as a triathlon needed to be is sure to be a hit with those who appreciate the great outdoors. Whether something that had the full town’s support. He was overwhelmed by the you’re winding your way up Mount Bachelor, spinning out your legs response. “At my initial meeting with the town council, more than 20 Olym- through deserted country roads or running through the forested paths in pians showed up to speak about the event and put forth their support,” Shevlin Park, Bend has a way of making you want to push yourself, not to says Hughes. “I think the fact that this is a relatively small race is part of it,

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MOST SCENIC THE WORLD’S TRIATHLON IRON DISTANCE NEW ZEALAND 3.8km SWIM SUSAN GRANT-LEGACKI

180km the large climbs, but it’s during the descents BIKE but it’s also a beautiful and challenging one that shows off this place in such a perfect way.” that strategy will come into play.” The Leadman Tri 250 course will begin with a Hughes is looking to top out entries at 750 5K swim in Cultus Lake, followed by a 223K bike athletes, but for the first year they plan to stick that takes athletes up and around the base of to between 300 and 500. “I think the concept of Mount Bachelor twice, and finishing off with a this race distance is still relatively new, but once 22K run along the Deschutes River. The Lead- people see this course and what it’s like to climb 42.2km man Tri 125 course follows the same route with up Mount Bachelor, I think it’s going to generate a RUN a 2.5K swim, 106K bike and 16.5K run. “The goal ton of buzz for next year.” with these Leadman Tri races is to lengthen the The race is already the talk of the town. “I low-impact events and decrease the high-impact think we’re going to see a lot of closet triathletes one,” says Hughes. “We offer a challenging swim coming out for this race, people who maybe iden- and bike, but a shorter run so they won’t have tified themselves only as cyclists, but who want to take so long to recover, and they won’t be so to do some cross-training now as well,” says beaten down over a long period of time.” White. “But more than that, I think this race will The course definitely favors cyclists, open up this place to the professional triathletes, with more than 6,000 feet of climbing, but once they see how great a place it is for training.” the point-to-point course layout that starts Of course, no one in Bend is dying for it to partway up the mountain and ends in town become the next Boulder either. “Maybe don’t tell ENTER ONLINE NOW: also features a 12-mile descent, followed by a everyone to move here,” jokes Kevney Dugan, www.challenge-wanaka.com steady roll into T2. The largest of the climbs, director of sales and sports development for Visit known as Grade, is the queen Bend. “I think if in 10 years, Bend could become stage of the famed Cascade Cycling Classic. for this series what Kona is for Ironman, that

“It’s not a technical course per se, but there are would be the ultimate success story for us.” so many different gradients, terrain and gear differences to take into account,” says Lieto. Go to lavamagazine.com/matty-in-bend to see Matt

CW11776US “You’ll see the strong riders pull away during Lieto show off the new LeadmanTri Epic 250 course

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