Former Bend mayor Bob Woodward, outdoor enthusiast and mtn. biking, XC skiing pioneer, has died at age 85

(Update: Adding podcast interview video in 2022)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Former Bend mayor and city councilor Bob Woodward, a colorful personality, avid outdoor enthusiast and prolific journalist who helped pioneer and develop the sports of mountain biking and Nordic skiing in Central Oregon, has passed away at the age of 85.

Family and friends confirmed Woodward’s battle with Parkinson’s disease came to an end on Friday as they began sharing on his Facebook page many stories about his memorable, active decades on the High Desert, playing a key role in the outdoor lifestyle so many thousands now participate in.

Woodward, born and raised in Illinois and known to his many friends as “Woody,” first visited Bend in 1976 and moved to the then-much smaller town with his wife, Eileen, two years later. He is credited with helping to put Bend on the mountain biking map, as well as being an avid trails builder and advocate.

Brian Ladd of the Ladd Group had a talk with Woodward in 2022 for his BendBeat podcast.

“Bob was the first journalist to write about and promote mountain biking in the outdoor press,” Paul Hammerquist of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance, which Woodward co-founded, said in a biography accompanying his 2012 nomination to the Marin Museum of Bicycling’s Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Woodward wrote and photographed mountain biking articles throughout the ‘80s and in 1991 authored a groundbreaking book on the sport for Sports Illustrated.

He also competed as a licensed NORBA (National Off Road Bicycle Association) racer for a decade, medaling at the Mountain Biking World Championships and perhaps best remembered for his colorful race names such as the Reverend Lester Polyester and Art Deco.

Woodward and Bob Matthews ran Nordic ski camps and races that drew hundreds of cross-country racers.

Woodward also played an early role in another very popular activity: kayaking. Bend Magazine, in its feature on the region’s outdoor pioneers, told of the Klister Korner gang, also including Gary Bonacker, Dennis Oliphant and many others, who made the first kayak trips down the lower Crooked River and the first non-stop run of the Deschutes from The Riverhouse to Tumalo State Park.

In 1992, Woodward and three friends – Tom DeWolf, Steve Stenkamp and John Wujack – ran as a slate for four of the seven city council (then Bend City Commission) seats. They called themselves the “Men Without Ties,” in both the sartorial and political sense, accepting no donations from special interest groups. All four won, and Woodward later was chosen by his colleagues as mayor, serving from 1997-99.

In one of the many fond remembrances posted on Woodward’s Facebook page, DeWolf recalled meeting him in the early ‘80s, when he was running a downtown theater and restaurant, Pat & Mike's, and Woodward's frequent recommendations about movies to show, such as the 1935 Charles Laughton classic “Ruggles of Red Gap” and music to play (usually jazz).

In another post, he shared some of the accomplishments of the time, such as saving and renovating the Tower Theatre and getting a roof on the former Bend High gym, preserving what soon became the Boys & Girls Club.

Stenkamp’s sister, Jennifer, called Woodward “truly one of Bend’s great citizens … We are poorer by his passing.”

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Woodward's wife Eileen posted his last 'Saturday Ramble' on Facebook about a week before his passing:

Saturday Ramble

The Name Game

Now appearing as…

As I came around the corner, a guy across the street yelled,” hey Art, I see you had a good race last Saturday.” indeed he’d run perhaps his best race ever in his career providing me with a racing persona..the man more formerly known as Arthur “Art” Deco.

I went with Art so as to not take myself too seriously as a runner and middle of the pack finisher. Art had fun, dressed sharp and led to my adopting a handful of pseudonyms. For example the Reverend Lester Polyester of the First Church of Synthetics Orlon Falls, Texas.

Les had a moment of fame at an in-line skate race in Las Vegas sponsored by Rollerblade.

Trailing just behind a pack of six skaters, the Rev took advantage of a crash among that group and finished strong.

After a rest, he went to the giant scoreboard area to see how he’d placed.

As he came up on the display he heard a voice say,” wow, look at that a minister finished fourth.” Mission.. accomplished.

The rest of my sporting alter egos /stand-ins are::

Sven Hardwax cross-county track ski nut

Lars Klister all in on backcountry ski

And last but not least, for a good time call Mort Adella

Photo- Art Deco gets a job as a model