There’s a push to turn Bend into something called Bike Town USA. And that’s not a clever contrivance on the part of the media. Visit Bend, the regional tourism bureau, came up with this name and they plan to make good on the designation, continuing to bring high-profile cycling events to the city this year and beyond to maintain and build upon the momentum provided by the December’s Cyclocross National Championships.

There are more cycling events coming to Bend, in addition to the other popular races, like the Cascade Cycling Classic, that have already become mainstays in the area. They might be onto something with this Bike Town USA stuff, but lately the focus of the cycling community hasn’t been on these new events, but rather on Skyliners Road.

Texas has Textbooks?

The Alamo didn’t involve Mexicans, Ross Perot and Ralph Nader never existed, and the Civil Rights Movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among minorities, according to new textbooks from the Texas State Board of Education. In addition to exporting lousy presidents, Texas is also a major buyer of textbooks so most schools may be using these “edited” materials.

“I think the Left has a real problem seeing their own bias,” said Dr. (really a dentist) Don McLeroy, one of the conservative members dominating the board and demanding a full revision of history. Ronald Reagan not only overthrew the Soviet Union single-handedly, but also cured cancer while wrestling Bigfoot, and “free enterprise” (capitalism is suddenly a bad word among conservatives) makes everyone rich. Five members of the Board are minorities, all of whom will be deported once these books come out, with Mavis Knight of Dallas leading the lackluster opposition saying, “I cannot go back to my community and say I participated in perpetrating this fraud on the students.”

I’m no Elizabeth Gilbert, and when my life changed dramatically a few years ago I didn’t set off for Italy to eat, India to pray, or Indonesia to find love.  I didn’t have the money or the resources.  My husband died in September 2006 and it took me six months to put one foot in front of the other, to figure out finances, and to adjust to not being a full-time caregiver.  It took another year for me to realize that I needed to head for Bend.

Twelve years before his death, my husband Ralph had a devastating bicycling accident that left him a C-4 quadriplegic, unable to move his arms or legs, incapable of eating or voiding on his own. One minute he was an amazingly fit athlete training for the California Land Rush, a 400-mile, two-day road bike sprint from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and the next he was flying over the handlebars of his Italian racing bike, about to plunge into a reality neither of us was prepared for.

The author has been sent on the road to discover a lost country formerly known as America. He is reporting from D.C., marrying his new pal Gary for a goof, on assignment for Or-Bust.com and The Source Weekly.

Kettle said “Say What?” to the Pot

“The reconciliation rules have never been used…” repeated Orin Hatch (R-Utah) over and over on Meet the Press, proving the GOP is more redundant than Lil Wayne (who is now serving a one-year sabbatical at Rikers Island on gun charges) “The reconciliation rules have never…” Really? Do any parents remember the S-CHIP bill that brought health care to uncovered children? That’s just one evil example of legislation passed by Obama and Dems in that underhanded manner, via reconciliation… How about Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy, adding $1.7 trillion to our debt? Yep, holier than thou Republicans have used reconciliation for only good, right? Reconciliation is a ruse so Republicans can object to the process rather than a health care bill that has most of their wants included—too bad Dems (who called reconciliation “the nuclear option” under Bush) are wimps trying to help the sick and needy, while the GOP (which calls Obama a racist Mexican woman) cares only about fiscal responsibility and freedom, err, corporate donors and regaining power.