Smoky Labor Day hurts Bend’s outdoor rentals

Outdoor rental companies said they were seeing a slow Labor Day weekend.

They blamed the smoke, not the heat, for the uncharacteristically slow holiday.

Porsha Murdock, who works at Hutch’s Bicycles, said the heat is never the issue for their business.

“The heat doesn’t usually deter people from riding bikes,” Murdock said Monday. “I mean, they are super-fun, and you can go an jump in the Deschutes after.”

This year Hutch’s Bicycles and Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe representatives said they were seeing much slower business compared to past Labor Day weekends.

Typically, bicycle shops are struggling to keep up with reservations.

“We’re turning bikes around pretty quickly on a normal Labor Day,” Murdock said. “I mean, we get one bike in, and most of the time we’re washing it off real quick and getting it ready for the next person and sending it right back out the door.”

This weekend was a big change from what rental companies saw earlier this summer, when they were struggling to keep inventory in stock. Now the smoke has left stores full.

Ethan Flattery of Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe said Labor Day is their last big push at the end of the summer.

“Kind of get the last surge around Labor Day, and this year I would say that was the case,” Flattery said. “We didn’t do quite as well as we could have, because of the smoke.”

Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe said with the smoke and the recent eclipse concerns, fewer people seem to be renting gear in Central Oregon.