Friday December 21top

Trail to Tour

PDX cyclists looking for to get an edge on the competition need look no further than the competition. A five-person panel made up of Bend’s top professional cyclists (including Tour de France alum Chris Horner and fellow road warriors Carl Decker, Adam Craig, Chrissy Ruitter, and Megan Elliott) will be answering questions on topics such as staying motivated and how they keep in tip-top shape. Admission gets you a free beer (21+) or a soda (tough luck, kiddies), and one of the door prizes is a cruiser bike! Catch No. 1: This all takes place in the far-away land of Bendites. However, it will also be broadcast globally on Cycling.tv—a London-based broadband television site dedicated to all things cycle. Catch No. 2: A subscription to Cycling.tv will set you back up to 25 Euros! Tower Theatre, 835 NW Wall St., Bend., 541-317-0700. 7 pm. bendbikensport.com. Easy. $5-$10.

Saturday December 22top

Hot Cider Kayak Tours

A "thermos of hot apple cider infused with a fresh cinnamon stick” is almost reason enough to take this three-hour kayak tour, but the incentives don’t stop at your watering hole of a mouth. There's also the stellar destination: Sand Lake—a “shallow marine-dominated estuary” off the Oregon Coast that can only be fully explored during the highest of tides, and even then only for a few short hours. That’s where the guides of Kayak Tillamook County (incentive No. 3) come in. They know which deep channels to navigate and even manage to make multiple stops along the way to point out the local history and abundant wildlife without leaving you to sandbar surf. Be sure to check out their impressive page of eco-ethics at kayaktillamook.com before you go and read about the group's mascot. It may just inspire you to dress up in a red-legged frog suit, hop in a kayak and get all flippity-floppity with a paddle! Additional Sand Lake tour dates: Jan. 5-6 and 19-20, Feb. 19 and March 6-8. Sand Lake, Tillamook County., 866-4808. 8:30 am-noon Saturday, 9 am-12:30 pm Sunday. Call 866-4808 for reservations. Easy-Moderate. $65 (includes equipment, cider, snacks and half-hour lesson).

Sunday December 23top

Moonlight Snowshoe Tours

Holding “the only permit in the area to rent” snowmobiles, it’s a bit of a dichotomy that Mount Hood Adventure should also run snowshoe tours. Anyone who’s ever been distracted by snowmobile noise and fumes while shoeing to Twin Lakes from the Frog Lake Sno Park knows exactly what I’m talking ’bout. If these tours weren’t led by knowledgeable guide Greg “Chopper” Moreno, or if it weren't for the fact that the engines-on-skis traffic should be fairly quiet by this time of night, I’d say just rent a pair of shoes yourself ($10), print out a recreational trail map (mthoodadventure.com) and go explore on your own. But then that would make me one of the easily distracted. Collins Lake Resort, 88149 E Creek Ridge Road, Government Camp., 1-888-422-4776. 6-9 pm. Call 888-422-4776 for reservations. Easy. $55.