The Rides

We’re excited to share the Best of Central Oregon's back roads with you. We’ve been using unpaved roads to connect big drop-barred loops around Bend for as long as we can remember. Our objective for this camp is not to ride all-gravel, all the time. Our goal is to connect seldom used, unsealed roads and trails with safe and scenic tarmac sections, and to see beautiful parts of Central Oregon that few riders ever will. So there will also be great paved roads, but most of the challenges of Bend Unpaved will be found off the tarmac, and off the beaten path.

There will be three big days of riding. One loop will explore the Desert East. One will reach the melting snow flanking the volcanoes of the Central Cascade Range. And the third will explore the Deschutes river that effectively divides these two very distinct landscapes. We will endeavor to push campers, but not to break them. We’ve already done the endless hike-a-bikes through sand and snow, been thwarted by countless dead-ends, and gotten hungry, cold, and lost— so that Unpaved campers won’t have to.

The longest ride group will be in the saddle for an average of 5-6 hours a day. Great shorter ride options of 3-4 hours will be available each day for changes in ambition or weather. Rides outside the scope of these two daily options can be planned for on an individual day-to-day basis.

GPX files will be made available to Unpaved campers the week prior to camp, and GPX devices are recommended, but not required. Organic selections will determine smaller ride groups over the course of each day, with Camp Hosts splitting up to keep everybody moving and learning. We’ll occasionally regroup at pre-determined rest/feed stops along the route, though a follow car will be close at hand each day to offer mechanical assistance, food, hydration, or clothing.