When they look at me, they see a colorful, spandex-clad racer flying precariously over frozen terrain. They see my nostrils flaring, lungs heaving, legs spinning in a frenzied cadence. When I look back I see nothing. My world is a dark tunnel of pain.

I have been waiting for this day all year: USA Cycling Cyclocross Nationals in Bend, Oregon. I will not win a championship today. I will not even podium. When I’m done my boyfriend will find me and wrap me in a warm, puffy down jacket and my season will be over. I will find my racing friends and throw my arms around them. We’ll say, “Congratulations!” and “We’re done!” and then we’ll drink hoppy beers from a local brewery until the edges of our world soften and the bright Central Oregon sky looks just a little bluer. (Don’t miss Cyclocross Nationals this year, Dec. 8-12).

Mine was the first in a long weekend of races that capitulates the season. Three months of racing bicycles through mud, grass, gravel, dirt and sand. Three months of crashes, flat tires, mud-caked gears and long hours in the shop preparing our bikes for short, arduous races. Here at the pinnacle, we are delirious, overwhelmed, amazed and ecstatic.

The next race is well underway, and a drum line is thundering up on a hill above the course. Down in the beer garden the crowd is pulsing against the snow fence. Rosy-cheeked toddlers perched on shoulders are shouting, “HUP! HUP!” There is a pirate playing sax and a man dressed as Santa Claus. Over the loudspeaker the legendary Dave Towle calls the races with the fervor of an auctioneer: “One-to-go-One-to-go-One-to-go-One-to-go-One-to-go-One-to-go-One to go!”

The racers on course enter their final lap, eyes bulging and breath in clouds like charging purebreds. Controlled panic, raw acceleration, intense grace. Spectators are zealots at a revival, running across snowy fields for a glimpse of their favorite racer taking the barriers or navigating an icy hairpin turn. At the finish line, we press into one another and lean, lean, lean over the railing to see who will rip around the final corner first.

It’s a fever pitch. And the pros haven’t even taken a warm-up lap yet.

This is about more than championships. It’s our grand finale. Our big celebration. Bend is a high-desert mountain town surrounded by miles and miles of singletrack and long, sweet road rides. It’s a city full of pros, ex-pros, soon-to-be pros and a whole mass of nonpro enthusiasts. But it’s winter now and the only bikes worth riding are of the cyclocross persuasion. So we’ve taken over. It’s our time.

At night we wander through charming downtown streets filled with cycling-themed art galleries and friendly shopkeepers. We belly up to the bar at local breweries for some of the best beer that Oregon has to offer. We drink heart-stopping coffee from Thump Coffee Roasters; indulge in hearty, creative breakfasts at Chow or The Victorian Café; and then end the night – laughing and maybe a little starry-eyed – listening to veritable cyclocross legend and three-time Tour de France finisher Marcel Russenberger tell us stories about racing Cyclocross Worlds in the ’80s.

Movie premieres, monster parties and small gatherings give us a chance to connect and bond. I’m shoulder to shoulder with pros. Heroes and idols. The fastest in the nation.

On Sunday – the final day of this event – they’ll go head to head for the honor of wearing the USA jersey. But right now? We’re here together – just a bunch of ‘cross racers celebrating our passion in the biggest little bike town in the country.

If you are looking for a special St. Patrick’s Day celebration, take part in the 30th annual “A Wee Bit O’ Ireland” in Heppner, Oregon. Located southwest of Hermiston, Heppner doesn’t look like the Old Country, but the Irish spirit will be alive and well at the March 15-18 event. Enjoy food, drink, music, arts and crafts, sheep dog trials and amateur boxing. “The Gothard Sisters,” a popular Pacific Northwest fiddle and dance trio, will perform Saturday night. Visitors will enjoy the welly toss, the Great Green parade and road bowling.

March 16-17, the town of Lakeview in southern Oregon remembers the history and heritage of its 19th Irish immigrants with the annual Irish Days Festival. Friday evening features a corn beef and cabbage dinner along with traditional Irish step dancing. Saturday will see unique competitions like potato hockey, a bartenders race and outhouse races, along with various food competitions and a parade, music and a barbeque.

Portland Highland Games celebrates its 60th anniversary on July 21, 2012, at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. The event showcases world-class pipe bands, Celtic entertainment, and top competition in heavy athletics, Highland dancing, solo fiddling, piping and drumming. The kilted mile run, sheepdog demonstrations, caber toss, and parade of massed bands are among traditional favorites. Bring the kids for games, a fun run and a tug-o-war.

Head to the village of Yachats on the central Oregon Coast for the Yachats Celtic Music Festival Nov. 9-11. In its 11th year, the festival features Celtic music from world-class musicians from Ireland, Scotland, Asturias and Galicia as well as dancing, food and spirits. The weekend usually includes whiskey and beer tasting, Irish step dance classes, and fiddle, flute and whistle workshops.

Framed by towering 400-foot canyon walls, Lake Billy Chinook offers a unique perspective on Central Oregon that also provides plenty of elbow room. The lake – due west of Madras – is framed by the snow-covered Cascade Mountains to the west and a vast undulating high desert to the east, It is big country, where distances are great and people are few.

But Oregon State Parks Interpretive Ranger Paul Patton noted that when it comes to Eagle Watch, the lack of people is actually a good thing. “There are some days when you will see more bald eagles and golden eagles than you do people in the park. It’s just stunning to watch the wildlife,” he said.

He’s right. We found a compelling wildlife show at The Cove Palisades State Park Viewpoint #2. The spacious viewpoint offers a breathtaking view of the lake and its varied canyons – but we were soon drawn to a more dramatic life and death show that played out hundreds of feet below us on the lake’s surface.

Not one but two bald eagles repeatedly buzzed a flock of ducks. The little waterfowl were bunched up wing-to-wing so to avoid getting caught by the eagle’s sharp talons. We watched this age-old predator-prey game marked by multiple eagle dives, with talons extended, for more than fifteen minutes. It was a remarkable activity amid a timeless rim rock country on a lake that’s more than seven miles long.

PGE Wildlife Biologist Robert Marheine said that Lake Billy Chinook has been a drawing card for the eagles for many years. “Well, it’s a combination of plentiful food (the lake is home to a bountiful kokanee salmon) plus, huge rocky cliff escarpments that provide preferred raptor roosting and nesting habitat – it’s a special place,” he said.

Marheine was quick to add that wintertime eagle viewing demands preparation including warm clothing, powerful but comfortable binoculars and finally, lots of patience. “I don’t know how many times we’ve been out here with people who say, ‘I don’t see an eagle,’” said Marheine. “And they jump into their cars and leave. Too bad! Usually, that’s when a bald eagle comes right up to us on a thermal and drifts over our heads. If you bring patience, you will be rewarded.”

PGE’s “Round Butte Overlook Park” is a good place to duck in to learn more about Lake Billy Chinook (the lakes formed when Round Butte Dam was completed in 1964), plus the eagles and other wildlife that live in the area.

It is also the main site for the upcoming 18th annual Eagle Watch event that is co-sponsored by PGE and Oregon State Parks.
The popular event draws folks from all over the west during the last full weekend in February. Patton noted that many people come to Eagle Watch to learn more from the eagle experts and guest speakers who attend the two day event.

“Eagle Watch has grown into a major event for our region,” added Patton. “You can learn about the natural and cultural history of this area and usually see plenty of eagles. It is great fun for the entire family and it’s free! Whether you’re a first time eagle viewer or seasoned researcher, Eagle Watch offers something for everybody.”

Founded in 1988 by Gary Fish, owner of Deschutes Brewery, Sagebrush has raised $2.3 million for more than 40 organizations ranging from animal charities to disability services and environmental efforts. This year you can join the fun in five different ways:

Scramble: Things kick off on July 9 with the new Sagebrush Community Challenge/Scramble — a 90-minute race around set checkpoints in downtown Bend. ($15)

Nosh: Also new, the Sagebrush Street Fare (get it?) on July 13 brings together the area’s best local food and microbrews with great live music. ($10 for entry and first pairing)

Dine: Private dinners on July 14 will feature culinary creations of local and celebrity chefs. This year’s lineup includes John Finger and Terry Sawyer of Hog Island Oysters in Napa, Calif.; Mark Kiffin from The Compound in Santa Fe, N.M., and Nigel Viet from Mövenpick Hotel Saigon in Vietnam.

Local talent comes from Bill Ballard, Broken Top Resort, Bend; Matt Lightner, Castagna, Portland; Gavin McMichael, Blacksmith, Bend; Matt Neltner, Deschutes Brewery, Bend; Scott Neuman, ¡Oba! Restaurante, Portland; and Scott Shampine, Graffiti Street Food, Portland. ($500 per plate)

Tee off: As many as 52 teams will play in the Sagebrush Golf Classic on July 15 at Broken Top Golf Club. ($3,000 per team)

Feast: The Sagebrush Feast on July 16 at Broken Top Resort will include award-winning Deschutes Brewery beer paired with signature dishes from local and Sagebrush chefs. ($200)

And organizers are hinting about something special. “This will not look like any Feast that has happened before,” said Aimee Baillargeon, executive director. “We’ve got some surprises for the community.”

For complete information, visit the Sagebrush website.

Photo Courtesy of Studio404photography.com

Watch or race: The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic rolls out June 8-10 in the Columbia River Gorge. Pro riders and weekend warriors alike compete in road races, a time trial and a criterium in downtown Hood River. (Warning: “Crash Corner” is not the place for the faint-hearted). Mud will fly during the Oregon Enduro Series Super D (that stands for downhill) races in Bend, Ashland, Hood River, Sisters and Mt. Hood/Sandy. Races start in June and roll through summer, with finals in September.

Mix and mingle: For quirky fun in Bike Town (a.k.a. Portland) check out Mississippi Avenue’s Cirque du Cycling on June 16 for the Art Bike Parade, Family Ride and high-speed bike race. Or double your fun at the 27th Annual Northwest Tandem Rally, June 29-July 2 in Salem. Enjoy scenic group rides, wine tasting, food and music.

Just ride: The Oregon Trail still offers adventurers an epic ride. Check out Oregon’s newest (and ninth) official scenic bikeway. The Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway is a challenging, 134-mile figure-eight loop leaving from La Grande and looping through Union, North Powder and Baker City in rugged Eastern Oregon country including sections of the original Oregon Trail. Take a couple days if you need; there are plenty of great places to stay and eat along the way.

And if you’re hankering to see what’s at the end of the Oregon Trail, embark on the inaugural Barlow Road Ride, an historic two-day century (100-mile) course from Oregon City to Government Camp.

National champs: Watch the big dogs race for national titles in Bend. The USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships take place September 5-9, with 800 competitors expected. And stick around Bend for the USA Cycling Marathon Mt. Bike National Championships on September 15.

Editor’s Note: To see a complete list of cycling events in Oregon this year, check out RideOregonRide.com

“BendFilm is truly an event that people look forward to,” says Festival Director Orit Schwartz. “We’ve got some really spectacular films this year.”

The opening night film is ETHEL, about Ethel Kennedy and made by her filmmaker daughter, Rory Kennedy. Other highlights include Deadfall, starring Eric Bana and Sissy Spacek, a heist thriller set in the wintry Canadian countryside. Melissa Leo stars in The Sea is All I Know, about a family coming to terms with the death of their daughter. Lily Tomlin lights up The Procession, a comedy that chronicles the travails of a family stuck in a funeral procession. Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard produced When You Find Me, the story of two sisters whose childhood bond is tested by a tragedy they are too young to understand. An all-star cast in It’s a Disaster revel in self-absorption while the apocalypse knocks on the front door. Lovers of the 80s will love the Rick Springfield-tribute documentary An Affair of the Heart.

BendFilm is known for awesome parties, too. Friday night marks the return of the fabulous DJ dance party, held this year in the black box theater of the Cascades Theatrical Company. Every night, in fact, a great party with live music will offer the chance to mix and mingle with filmmakers and fellow film lovers. On Saturday night, the awards ceremony is the culminating event of the weekend’s competition.

Tickets are on sale now at www.bendfilm.org. Membership begins at $50, film festival tickets run $12 per film, and full weekend passes begin at $125 for films-only and $200 for a full festival passes. New this year is the Indie Pass, for $1000, which allows a pass holder to jump to the start of the line and guarantees a seat. Many free events will be offered, as well, including panels of filmmaker and industry experts at the Nature of Words office,  and the BendFilm Kids Sunday free morning event at McMenamins, which screens a film particularly intended for a younger audience. Many of the after-parties are held at local restaurants and bars and require no entry ticket.

Opening night of BendFilm is on my birthday this year. You better bet I’ll be there and I hope you will be too! See www.bendfilm.org for more information.

It is a question on many visitors’ minds at a place where the answer is easy to find and higher education is center stage at the High Desert Museum near Bend. You’ll agree with the staff’s adage that this remarkable complex of displays, demonstrations, and hands-on events make the museum “more like an expedition than an exhibition.”

From birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles, to river otters and porcupines, this is a place where you can see and learn about the arid Intermountain West, which includes portions of eight western states and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The museum spreads across 150 acres filled with exhibits and demonstrations. A mile-long trail goes through twenty-five acres of trailside exhibits, including a trout stream, otter ponds, porcupine dens, and historic interpretive displays of frontier life and industry.

A favorite part for me is the Earl A. Chiles Center and a walking tour through vignettes of life called “Spirit of the West.” This timeline stroll covers thousands of years in the span of a few hundred feet. Along the way, you are invited into a Native American campsite to learn how hardy vegetation, abundant wildlife, and a mineral-rich terrain sustained generations of natives. Then come the explorers and the fur trappers, the miners and sheepherders and sodbusters, and finally the immigrants, fresh off the Oregon Trail.

All of this is explained through sights and sounds that put you in the scenes from Stone Age to rustic dirt roads in a western frontier town. Few places convey the story of humans on the desert as well as this experience, including how the mines, then the ranches, and then the railroads brought more and more people to the desert, so that by the 1880s, small cottage industries began to sprout and, in many ways, forever change the face of the desert.

A new large-scale exhibit called “Sin in the Sagebrush” serves up sights and sounds and role players in costumes to put you into a scene from Oregon’s most recent past. You’ll love seeing the many wildlife species on display at the museum too. Hawks, eagles, and turkey vultures are frequently seen soaring over the wide expanse of the desert, but at the museum you can see them all close at hand and learn about their special adaptations for survival.

The close connection with wildlife is a lasting legacy message from the museum’s found, Donald Kerr. Kerr owned a passion for wildlife and he was a big believer that animals can connect with newcomers and perhaps change attitudes about the high desert.

Whether education or recreation, the High Desert Museum will capture your heart and bring you back time and again.

Editor’s Note: Grant’s Getaways is a production of Travel Oregon brought to you in association with Oregon State Parks, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and Oregon State Marine Board. Episodes air Fridays and Saturdays on KGW Newschannel 8 and Saturdays on Northwest Cable News Network.

Travel Oregon will be on the road with Farm to Fork during their 2012 series, where we will introduce you to the winemakers and farms you’ll discover across the state. I was first up to the table at last week’s dinner at Fields Farm in Bend, where I got to know more about the three things that make up this magical experience: the farm, the feast, and the community.

The Farm
With tasty appetizers and wine glasses in hand, farmer Jim Fields led us around his 10-acre certified organic vegetable farm to its prized crop, garlic. After digging up a bulb, Fields (who describes himself as simply an “extreme gardener”) answered questions about how and when to plant and care for crops. I was most impressed (as an amateur extreme gardener myself) with the farm’s massive rhubarb plants – by far the largest I’d ever seen.

The Feast
After the tour of the bountiful produce on the farm, we were ready to eat! Platters of food were served up family-style, along with local wine and beer pairings from Maragas Winery and 10-Barrel Brewing Company. The food was fresh, simple and delicious – all the way to the dessert, a crème caramel cake with strawberry-rhubarb compote, which we ate as the sun slowly set over the Cascade Mountains.

The Community
Somewhere between the shrimp tomato consommé and the roast beef from Dancing Cow Farm, I had the opportunity to speak with the winemaker, rancher, and farmers who provided the food for my delicious meal. Their passion is contagious, and it extends from supporting local agriculture to supporting the local community.
One of the best memories you’ll take from a Farm to Fork experience is getting to know your tablemates. After spending a few hours in deep conversation and laughter with people from all over the state and the country (we sat by folks from Bend, Portland, California and Michigan), you’ll feel like old friends. We walked away from the table at Fields Farm full of good food, a couple of hours of laughter and an appreciation of everything that makes Bend taste good.

The next Farm to Fork Dinner with available tickets is September 2 in Corvallis. Reserve your place at the table at www.farmtoforkevents.com.

Disclosure: I did not pay for the  activity mentioned in this blog post, but thoughts are my own. 

Editor’s note: Travel Oregon is on the road with Farm to Fork during their 2012 series. Read about their other dinners around Oregon. 

The aromas of Central Oregon are branded on my brain. Born and raised there, I had a lot of time to follow my nose. It amazes me sometimes how many memories of Central Oregon I can recall by the odors, fragrances and pungencies of my childhood: a newly-mowed hayfield after a late spring rain: driving outside Madras in the summer and being assaulted by ripe peppermint — as if the entire region was chewing green Dentyne and exhaling simultaneously; asparagus juice on my hands from picking the wild spears that grew in rock patches along the roads; sage when it’s in bloom; snow, just before a big storm; our pig farm.

Yes, a pig farm. And yes, it smelled. But I also learned what real bacon tasted like. From the huge garden my mother tended each summer, I discovered how minutes-old corn melts in your mouth. I realized that tomatoes actually have flavor.

One aroma that only recently joined these positive olfactory memories of Central Oregon is that of fine coffee. Growing up, I remember coffee one way: it came in a can and was brewed in a pot on the stove, where it sat all day evaporating and fermenting into a sour dark sludge. Back then, you drank your coffee either black or with cream and sugar, period.

Central Oregon was a half step behind the coffee craze that entered America’s latte psyche in the late 80s. Java here would remain decidedly rural for a few years, stuck in the Maxwell House and Folgers rut until an influx of transplants imported a palette for better coffee to complement their gentrification. Royal Blend Coffee was one of the first to feed the need for a strong brew. Not long after, Starbuck’s opened its first location. Then, like coffee beans sprouting, roadside espresso shacks and convenience store espresso machines completed the region’s mocha metamorphosis.

In 1999, a new kid walked onto the coffee block. With two bags of organic coffee beans and enough youthful energy to believe they could add another shot to an already crowded field, Richard Steffensen and his wife Rhonda Ealy founded Strictly Organic Coffee Company.

Coffee, they believed, should be more than just a morning jolt on the way to work or play. With its place in the American culture, coffee should be flavorful, but also friendly to the economies and environments of the places that grow it. It seems that a good portion of Bend agrees. Richard and Rhonda have a successful roasting operation in Bend, in addition to a retail store downtown and a new coffeehouse in the Old Mill District.

They spent a morning with me, sharing stories about their travels to South America and the relationships they’ve built with the farmers in a small coffee co-operative in Nicaragua. The day I was there, we opened the first bag of the Nueva Esperanza Co-op’s beans from this year’s harvest. I even learned how to brew the perfect shot of espresso, something that’s always eluded me.

Another childhood aroma that was rekindled on my road trip to Central Oregon was the unmistakable bouquet of corn dogs, cotton candy, and chocolate-dipped bananas at the Deschutes County Fair. That’s where “On the Road” special correspondent, Sean McGrath, ran into food court nirvana attempting to do an expose on fair cuisine. I’ll let you judge his journalistic skills in today’s video, but let’s just say he had a bit of a brain freeze… and that was before he made it to the ice cream cart. You know, you just can’t take a city boy to the country.

To see what would go well with your latte at Strictly Organic Coffee, check out what Central Oregon’s hotels and inns, restaurants, wineries, breweries have to offer during Oregon Bounty. You’ll find music, food and Oregon wines served at the Bend Fall Festival on October 6 & 7. To sample craft brews available only once a year, grab a mug at the Fresh Hop Beer “Tastival” at Deschutes Brewery on October 27. For wine and artisan cheese tastings, hit Maragas Winery every weekend. Love to see what chefs over here can do? Several great restaurants are featuring special three-course Oregon Bounty menus matched with local wines, beers or spirits. Just click on the Central Oregon section of the map on the Oregon Bounty website and take a tour. Happy travels.