If ever a reason existed to own a mountain bike, it’s the Mrazek Trail.

”It’s singletrack in the truest sense of the word,” says Alex McClaran of Hutch’s Bicycles in Bend, a former pro racer and avid local mountain biker. ”It’s narrow, windy, twisty, and it takes the least-direct route to get anywhere. It’s the reason mountain bikes exist.”

The Mrazek Trail climbs steeply out of Shevlin Park and into a sense of the sublime. The ride alternates between speedy, open singletrack, undulating sections through the forest, tight spots between handlebar-grabbing trees, ditch crossings over planks, and open mountain vistas.

Surprisingly, the trail is one of the lesser known in the area, partly because it doesn’t show up in the popular mountain bike trail books and maps for the region, in part because it’s a relatively new trail about 5 years old.

Also, the introduction to the trail is a steep and rocky section that switchbacks away from Tumalo Creek, probably discouraging a fair number of riders who figure the rest of the trail is also a spine-jolting, technical monster out of their league.

”People just go, Holy cow, I’m not going to ride that.’ ” says McClaran. ”They never experience the rest of the trail.”

But first impressions can be deceiving.

You might have to walk your bike, or pay somebody to carry it for you, but do whatever it takes to get past that initial section to find out about the rest of the Mrazek Trail.

That’s not to say that the rest of the trail is powder-puff stuff. In fact, it’s not designed for the weak of heart or legs. You don’t have to be a stellar athlete to enjoy the trail, but having some fitness will definitely make the ride more enjoyable.

”It’s your classic Central Oregon singletrack,” McClaran says, ”in the sense that the terrain undulates as it ascends. As you go west, it basically ascends the whole time.”

The trail passes through history as well, skirting some large, eroding tree stumps and even the remnants of an old railroad track from Bend’s salad days as a lumber and mill town.

Now, about that trail name.

Mrazek is the last name of Bohumil, formerly of the Czech Republic and now of Portland.

So why is one of the sweetest mountain bike trails in Central Oregon named after him?

Mrazek makes mountain bike frames that have a distinctive sweeping appearance, several of which have been ridden to the tops of podiums in various Oregon mountain bike races.

The bikes also make for good trail riding, one of them owned by Phil Meglasson, the Phil” in Phil’s Trail, who rode his Mrazek through the forest over what became known as Mrazek Trail.

To get to the Mrazek Trail, head west of Bend via Shevlin Park Road to Shevlin Park. On the bike, take the trail that climbs out of the parking lot on the right just after the park work shed. This trail is part of the Shevlin Park Loop.

Stay on this trail, going through a four-way intersection and bearing left at a fork in the trail a little later. Eventually, the trail parallels Tumalo Creek, and just past the two-mile mark, riders reach Mrazek Trail and the steep section that turns many a would-be Mrazek Trail rider around.

A hint that you’re on the right trail is a sign put up by the U.S. Forest Service, which incorporated the Mrazek Trail into the trail network.

After ascending away from the creek, the trail is pretty straightforward, though it does cross a doubletrack and reappears on the other side. Just follow the tracks. Because of land exchanges between the Forest Service and Crown Pacific lumber, some rerouting of the trail has taken place higher up, but the changes are well marked.

”I think the trail is better now,” says Eric Vickers of Hutch’s, noting the trail has about 2,500 feet of climbing. ”(The changes) added a couple more technical sessions and it actually added more single track.”

The trail used to lead to a set of radio towers but, after the land swap, now terminates at the North Fork Trail, a distance of about 20 miles from its start.

Mrazek Trail has a different feel from many Central Oregon trails.

”The Mrazek is just one long, continuous trail built by one person,” says Eric Meglasson, Phil’s son and a member of the Central Oregon Trail Alliance, which maintains the trail. ”So the entire trail flows really nicely, and I think it feels a little more remote than the other trails. There aren’t as many roads to cross and not as many other users out there.”

Many epic loops can be created off the Mrazek Trail. Riders who turn south and cross Skyliners Road can hook up with the Phil’s Trail network.

Or, after climbing the Mrazek Trail, riders can simply point their knobby tires back the way they came for an out-and-back trip.

And after climbing for more than an hour, McClaran and fellow rider Mario Fennerl seemed giddy with the prospect of miles and miles of rolling singletrack back to Shevlin Park.

”Because we can’t help ourselves,” said McClaran, releasing the brakes and disappearing down the trail.