Me, Myself and bīke

Blog: Waste Wise Lane County Blog Last year, approximately 100 residents—divided between Cottage Grove, Florence, and Oakridge—received free repair services from 16 program fixers. Approximately 90 of those items were successfully fixed, meaning they were diverted from the trash, and put back into use.   The program is also par...

Eugene's Polk Street bike lane plan moves forward after input The City of Eugene is moving forward with plans to add bike lanes on Polk Street from Second Avenue to 18th Avenue after gathering community feedback.

A Southern California county released troubling new data Thursday showing a sharp year-over-year increase in e-bike-related injuries requiring hospitalization. https://ktla.com/news/california/riverside-county-ebike-injuries-rise/

Calling all bicyclists! The Forest Service and Department of Interior are seeking public input related to identifying and developing long-distance biking trails on federal lands. As part of the Biking on Long-Distance Trails Act, Section 121 of the EXPLORE Act, we are looking to identify long-distance biking trails that make use of existing trails and roads, and we are seeking nominations for opportunistic locations to develop or complete future long-distance biking trails.

All are encouraged to nominate trails for consideration and to view more requirements information at the following link: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/78dc4e636e7d400487f09da2b901777f

Nominations will be accepted through August 3, 2026.

Oakridge has been recognized as one of the top U.S. destinations for mountain bikers.

The 3,200-person city in the Cascade Range was ranked fifth on Outside Magazine’s list of the country’s best mountain biking towns, placing it in a category that includes places like Moab, Utah; Bentonville, Ark. and Durango, Colo.

The ranking cited the city’s more than 300 miles of trails into the Umpqua and Willamette national forests that surround it, and a vibe that is “timber town transitioned to tourism.”

Eugene Cathcart, part-owner of Willamette Mountain Mercantile, a bike shop in Oakridge, said the area has a hub and spoke layout.

“There’s all of these trails that act like spokes going out into the wilderness around us here, and they’re long,” he said. “A lot of them run through old-growth forest, and they have a really fun, playful character that works really well for mountain biking.”

Outside Magazine cited Oakridge as a prime location for enduro riding, a style of riding that often includes courses with steep terrain and challenging downhills.

“The combination of riding in steep, wooded areas and some of the technical features like roots and rocks make a lot of our trails not too beginner-friendly,” Cathcart said. “Some of our trails are accessible to beginners and range all the way up to quite challenging.”

Oakridge has adopted mountain bike tourism as part of its economy, with multiple companies offering guided tours and shuttle services for those who don’t want to take on long climbs to get to the downhills.

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