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PPP Your guides to the race
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Pole Pedal Paddle 2011 race prevtraliew Oregon’s The 35th edition of Cen race signature multisport to Bend From Mount Bachelor
• Saturday, May 21
INSIDE Preview of Saturday’s Pole Pedal Paddle
IN GO! Spectators’ guide
on in one event? Want to define Central Oreg Pole Pedal Paddle, Look no farther than the rt’s love of outdoor Dese High which combines the titi and community
WEATHER TODAY
FRIDAY
Sunny and mild High 72, Low 43 Page C6
• May 20, 2011 50¢
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
MIDEAST SPEECH Find a full transcript at www.bendbulletin .com/speech
Support for Bend zip line slackens By Nick Grube The Bulletin
Matching support for revolts may prove difficult
If you were hoping to take a ride on a 1,000-foot-long zip line through Bend’s Old Mill District this summer, you’ll have to keep dreaming. That’s because the 1,000-foot zip line, which would have carried riders from the shopping area to a landing zone across the Deschutes River, recently hit a snag
that leaves its future in limbo. Changes in design — specifically a 17foot increase in the height of the launch tower — caused the Old Mill District to back away from the project last month after it had lent its support and called it a boon for tourism. “It just wasn’t quite what we had in mind,” Old Mill developer Bill Smith said. “We knew it would be taller than
PPP PREVIEW • PART III
A legacy lives on
By David E. Sanger New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON — After six months of struggle inside the White House to reconcile U.S. interests in the Arab uprisings with American values, President Barack Obama on Thursday sought to portray the region’s revolt in the historical tradition of the American Revolution and the civil rights movement. In his speech But even as Thursday, Obama apPresident pealed for Barack Obama the people of said the 1967 the region to borders should embrace selfbe the basis determination of an Israelias the route Palestinian to peace and peace deal. prosperity, he left open how far the United States could go in matching its enthusiasm with concrete financial support for a sustained transformation, in a region where repression has often been the handmaiden of A N A L Y S I S poverty and seething frustration. Also in his speech, Obama began a new effort to break the stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, setting out a new starting point for negotiations on the region’s most intractable problem. A day before the arrival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Obama declared that the prevailing borders before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war should be the basis of a deal. See Speech / A5
the buildings around it, obviously, but it was much taller than the buildings around it, and it just would have been out of place.” Bend-based Wanderlust Tours is the company behind the zip line. Initial plans showed the launch tower located near the catwalk between Strictly Organic Coffee and Victoria’s Secret. The cable height was about 50 feet.
Photos by Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
At her home on Mirror Pond, Jenny Sheldon displayed an original PPP mug, a picture of her late husband, Dave Sheldon, and a sleeve of Kodachrome slides he had made.
Jenny Sheldon, who founded the race with her late husband, will honor his memory by competing Saturday
Jenny Sheldon and her late husband, Dave, founded Bend’s annual Pole Pedal Paddle, using the slopes of Mt. Bachelor, Century Drive and the Deschutes River, flowing in front of her home on Mirror Pond in Bend.
But when Wanderlust submitted its plans to the city, the launch tower had been moved behind one of the buildings, and the platform had been raised to above 60 feet. This new configuration would have carried riders over one of the buildings on their way to the landing zone across the river near a parking lot off Columbia Street. See Zip line / A5
Police say they couldn’t stop hit-run suspect from driving drunk By Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin
When Robin Elbek was arrested Tuesday for allegedly driving drunk and fleeing the scene of a crash, Bend Police had already spent more than an hour trying to keep him from climbing behind the wheel. Police say that even though Elbek, 51, was visibly Robin Elbek intoxicated in the parking lot of a local diner, there was little they could do until he got in his car and drove. That’s because an Oregon statute prohibits local governments from barring public intoxication. As a result, police can’t take away a person’s keys or make an arrest to prevent drunken driving. They just have to wait. See DUII / A4
Once destined for basketball stardom, man roams streets By Adam Nagourney New York Times News Service
By Mark Morical • The Bulletin
TOP NEWS INSIDE IMF CHIEF: Strauss-Kahn posts bail, will be held by armed guard, Page A3
T
he letter, short and to the point, says it all. Dated May 11, 1977, it was written to Jenny Sheldon by one of the most influential visionaries in the history of
Bend, Bill Healy. He was congratulating Sheldon on her organization of a first-time event called the “Pole Pedal Paddle.” Part of the letter reads: “It looks as though it was so successful
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that you may have created a monster. I’m proud of you!” Healy, who nearly 20 years earlier had founded what is now the Mt. Bachelor ski area, was onto something. That first PPP drew about 65 participants. This Saturday, more than 3,000 skiers, cyclists, runners and paddlers from Central Oregon and far beyond will take part in the 35th edition of the U.S. Bank Pole Pedal Paddle — a race that all started with the vision of Bend residents Dave and Jenny Sheldon. The map, also short and to the point, explains it all. Sketched rather rudimentarily by Dave Sheldon in the spring of 1977, the map includes two skiers, a cyclist and a canoeist along the original PPP course from Mount Bachelor to Bend. The PPP has become more than just
the region’s signature multisport race. It has evolved into an annual celebration of all things Central Oregon: The mountain, the road, the trail, the river — even the beer. Today, teams of racers mix with other teams to form one boisterous postrace gathering at the finish in Bend’s Les Schwab Amphitheater. That celebration lives long into the night at house parties, bars and everywhere throughout Bend. They all have their reasons for racing and reveling. Many race in honor of loved ones who have passed on. Hundreds will be racing for Dave Sheldon on Saturday, including his wife and kids. See PPP / A4
Courtesy of Dave Sheldon
A Kodachrome slide from Dave Sheldon’s archives shows the early days of the PPP in Bend. “I think Dave’s genius was understanding that this wasn’t going to just be a community thing, this was going to bring people to the community … and just be a fun, wacky race,” Jenny Sheldon said.
LOS ANGELES — When Stephen Turner pulled his silver Mercedes into the Mobil station on a gritty stretch of Hollywood near Vine Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, he did not immediately recognize the gigantic man with Windex who ambled over and offered to wash his windows for a tip. Lewis Brown But the man, now washes Lewis Brown, car windows in recognizedTur- Los Angeles. ner and said hello. Four decades ago, Brown had galloped down the court, all 6feet-11 and 260 pounds of him. Even all these years later, Turner, gazing at the man, suddenly remembered the towering fellow basketball player. Turner had idolized him, when Brown led his Compton high school to three championships in the 1970s. Brown was a member of the celebrated squad that lifted the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels into college basketball’s top rank. A regional legend, destined for professional stardom. See Prodigy / A5