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.

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.

Oregonians have their own way of looking at things. There is a spirit of fun and adventure that runs through pretty much everything we do here. And when Oregon was struggling to rebound from a severe recession in the 1980s, Oregonians looked for a way to respond that did more than just make money.

The people of Oregon knew it would take some cash to jump-start the economy, but they weren’t about to settle for business as usual. They also wanted to offer Oregonians a chance to have some fun! So, on November 6, 1984, Oregonians voted to create a state lottery by a margin of two to one…

— It Does Good Things, a webpage created by the Oregon State Lottery

I’m a hardcore slot machine junkie. There are no other words to describe my compulsion for my favorite drug. I’ve been clean for nearly a year. I wouldn’t predict a longer run of sobriety for me except for what I can manage today. That’s the nature of true addiction.

For about 10 years of my 14-year gambling stretch, I gambled in binges – every one to three weeks. Toward the end I became a furious and resentful woman. I hated my beloved town that had become a playground for the rich and fatuous; the once-wild Southwest that was pocked with gated developments and huge fifth wheel RVs—and my friends, for seeming to no longer want to spend much time with me. But more than anything, I hated my species for gobbling up the planet that was my purest medicine. And every one to three weeks, I burned gasoline driving an hour or more to casinos in which I could forget the fact that I was in a casino whose existence was gobbling the planet even faster. Only when I was hunkered down at my favorite slot machine did I feel relaxed and normal. That’s the nature of this addiction.

When you meet Cassondra Schindler – and if you live in Bend, you will – you’ll feel immediately at ease. She’s one of those rare people whose charisma brightens any room she’s in. And when she says, “I am so happy to meet you,” you believe her. Because she really means it.

You may know Schindler from her work with the Cross-Culture Bicycle Art Walk or Ignite Bend, the recurring multi-media slideshow project she produces at the Tower Theater. You may know her through her Twitter posts, which are followed by members from as far away as Istanbul and Japan, or through her work in social media and advertising formerly at tbd advertising and now at Global Strategies International/Ogilvy. Or you may know her through the many conferences, meetings and community events she frequents. No matter how you know her, one thing is apparent: Schindler is passionate about everything she does.