Central Oregon Bicycle Community
Central Oregon Bicycle Community Guide
A practical guide to finding rides and cycling resources, sharing community information, recording completed rides, and using COBC's activity features.
Questions or suggestions? bicycle@tfol.org
Welcome
What COBC Is
The Central Oregon Bicycle Community is an online gathering place for cyclists throughout Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Madras, Prineville, La Pine, and neighboring communities. It welcomes road, gravel, mountain-bike, touring, commuting, fitness, and recreational riders.
COBC helps riders discover independent clubs, informal groups, public events, useful resources, and stories from other cyclists. It also provides tools for sharing Community Notes and recording completed rides.
What COBC Does Not Do
COBC does not organize, sponsor, supervise, or insure the rides listed through Find a Ride. Schedules, registration, waivers, route details, ride leadership, and participation requirements are controlled by the organization or group responsible for each ride.
Public and Signed-In Access
Public View
Visitors may explore COBC without creating an account. Public pages include Find a Ride, cycling resources, active Community Notes, published Ride Reports, stories, and cartoons.
Signed-In View
A free Website 44 TFOL account adds COBC's interactive features. Signed-in Website 44 users may post Community Notes, log completed rides, suggest resources, view Ride Activities, and open the monthly Leaderboard.
Users may edit or delete their own submissions. The Uber Administrator may manage submissions when administrative help is required.
COBC Homepage
Find a Ride
Find a Ride points cyclists toward established clubs, informal riding groups, public calendars, organized events, and other sources of current ride information. It is the best starting point when you want to ride with others.
Because these listings lead to independent organizations and services, check the source before leaving home. Confirm the date, time, starting location, pace, distance, terrain, registration requirements, and cancellation policy.
Community Notes
Community Notes provide a simple place for timely cycling information. Notes may cover local events, trail or road conditions, volunteer opportunities, weather or smoke concerns, informal activities, and other useful updates.
Notes from all COBC areas appear together in one feed. Each note retains its selected area, and the author may return later to edit or delete it.
Ride Reports
Ride Reports are completed rides recorded by community members. Reports from all Central Oregon areas appear in a unified feed rather than on separate location pages.
A report may include the ride date, title, ride type, starting location, distance, elapsed time, elevation gain, average speed, power, notes, and the area most closely associated with the ride.
Community Links
The Community area connects riders to the COBC Guide, Resources, Ride Activities, the Leaderboard, cycling stories, and the Cartoon Gallery. Community Items may also highlight useful links, newsletters, and other regional information suggested by signed-in Website 44 users.
Finding Rides and Resources
Choosing a Ride
Compare the advertised pace and distance with your current ability. Ask whether the ride is no-drop, how often the group regroups, what terrain and equipment are expected, and whether membership or advance registration is required by the outside organizer.
Using Resources
The Resources page gathers links for clubs and groups, route-planning services, Oregon Scenic Bikeways, gravel and adventure routes, bicycle shops, advocacy, and other cycling information. External links open resources maintained by their respective owners.
Signed-in Website 44 users may use Suggest a Resource to recommend an addition. A suggestion should include a clear title, a useful summary, and a valid link when the item points to another website.
Logging a Completed Ride
Manual Entry and File Uploads
Use Log a Completed Ride to record a ride manually or upload supported activity data. Manual entry works well when only basic ride information is available.
FIT, GPX, and TCX files may supply additional ride details when those details are present in the source file. Always review the completed form before saving because exported files and services do not all provide the same fields.
Ride Area
Choose the area that best represents the ride: Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Madras, Prineville, La Pine, or Central Oregon. The selected area remains attached to the report when it is edited, although all reports appear together in the unified Ride Reports feed.
Editing and Visibility
The author may reopen a ride to correct its description, area, statistics, or visibility setting. Published rides may appear in the public Ride Reports feed. Non-public rides remain available to their author where the feature provides personal access.
Ride Activities and Statistics
Ride Activities
Ride Activities provides signed-in Website 44 users with a recent activity view. It is separate from the public Ride Reports feed and requires a Website 44 TFOL account.
Rider Statistics
Recorded ride data can support personal summaries and statistics such as distance, elevation, speed, elapsed time, heart rate, cadence, and power when those measurements are available. Missing measurements are simply omitted.
Leaderboard and Privacy
Monthly Leaderboard
The Leaderboard summarizes published rides for the selected month. It ranks participating riders by total distance and also displays total elevation and ride count. Very short activities below the qualifying distance are excluded.
The Leaderboard is intended to encourage participation and consistency across many riding styles—not merely competition among the fastest riders.
Public Leaderboard Preference
Leaderboard visibility is controlled by the public ride-leaderboard preference in the rider's profile. Riders who do not want to be listed publicly can turn that preference off without losing their underlying ride records.
Share Location Carefully
Before publishing a ride, review its title, starting location, notes, and other details. Avoid publishing a private home address, another person's personal information, or details that could create an unwanted location history.
TFOL Account Access
Creating an Account
From Guest view, choose Register and complete the TFOL registration form. After submitting the form, open the verification email and follow its link before attempting to sign in.
youremail@gmail.com44
Account Rather Than Club Membership
A verified Website 44 TFOL account is the only account requirement for current COBC interactive features. There is no active, separate COBC club-membership application requirement.
If you have difficulty registering, verifying, or signing in, use Contact Us or email bicycle@tfol.org.
Stories and Cartoons
COBC also includes cycling stories, photographs, and cartoons. Stories preserve memorable rides and useful experiences that do not fit into a statistics-based Ride Report. Cartoons add a lighter view of familiar cycling situations.
When sharing photographs or stories about other people, respect their privacy and obtain permission when the material identifies them or includes personal information.