The Subaru of Bend Outside Games are not so much about competition — they are simply about enjoying outdoor sports.

“There will be a race or two, but for the most part, we want people to just show up, try some new equipment, talk with some pros, have some fun, learn some things, and not be standing there,” says Bend’s Jim Gross, who came up with the idea for the Outside Games. “We want to try to get people all excited about … what we get all excited about.”

And what we get excited about is Central Oregon’s myriad opportunities for outdoor recreation. In their second year, the Outside Games maintain a goal of bringing together cyclists, paddlers, runners, skateboarders, triathletes and many more in a six-day celebration that includes two other local favorites: craft beer and live music.

The Outside Games start today with the Oregon Adaptive Sports and Bend Bicycle film festivals and conclude on Sunday with the Floatchella Water Parade on the Deschutes River. In between, the days are jampacked with an array of outdoor sporting events, including mountain biking, whitewater and flat-water paddling, skateboarding, geocaching, swimming, road cycling and running.

“The second year is smoother, and people know what to expect,” Gross says. “People have really warmed to it, and they see a long-term opportunity, which is really what it’s all about.”

The Outside Games are basically a bunch of established adventure sports events all rolled into one week in June.

Gross, as owner of the Bend Radio Group, helps market the Outside Games. He says he hopes that within a few years they will become as big a spectacle as the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colo., where professional and amateur athletes from around the world compete in nine sports and 25 disciplines for more than $100,000 in prize money.

The primary difference, though, is that the Outside Games are more about participation, while the Mountain Games are more about competition.

Central Oregon is home to many pro mountain bikers and paddlers, and the Outside Games offer more of a chance to mingle with the pros than to compete against them. Gross notes that for those who thrive more on competition, the Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival, which takes place this Saturday and Sunday in Sunriver, features highly competitive endurance races, including triathlons, duathlons and a marathon.

“They’ve been doing that and pulling huge numbers, but largely regional,” says Gross of the Pacific Crest races. “But ironically, they haven’t pulled as much from Bend. They’re involved with us this year. We’ll be promoting and incorporating that.”

Wednesday’s Outside Games schedule includes the Deschutes Whitewater Experiences, a chance to watch several pro kayakers take on whitewater just a couple of miles upstream from Bend.

Saturday at the Seventh Mountain Resort, mountain bike legend Kirt Voreis, of Bend, and his wife, Lindsey Voreis, will offer free clinics on free-ride mountain biking at a pump track and skills trail with wood features.

Gross says that eventually he would like to expand the Outside Games to include rock climbing and fly-fishing.

“We’re hoping as time goes on, it will slowly but surely get bigger and bigger and create more of a regional draw,” Gross says. “It’s really being built up by the community, which was the whole idea of it. Bend is so unique, with so many events going on, we wanted to corral them and help them, and in the process, kind of latch everybody together. It draws more people and we can raise more money.”

Proceeds from beer sales at Outside Games events will go to the Bend Endurance Academy, the Central Oregon Trail Alliance, the Deschutes Land Trust, the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance, Deschutes County Search and Rescue and Oregon Adaptive Sports.

Subaru of Bend Outside Games

The schedule of events; for more information, including locations and times, visit www.theoutsidegames.com.

Today: Oregon Adaptive Sports and Bend Bicycle film festivals.

Wednesday: Deschutes Whitewater Experience; Pickin’ and Paddlin’.

Thursday: Wanderlust’s kayak and canoe tour of Sparks Lake; Deschutes Brewery 25th anniversary street party.

Friday: Soleja Boarding Co. Longboard Cruise; Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival in Sunriver.

Saturday: Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival in Sunriver; Cog Wild’s mountain bike demos; free-ride clinic with pro mountain bikers Kirt and Lindsey Voreis; Bend brewers’ cruiser crawl and poker ride; the Champions of the Universe Invitational Cycle Pub Races.

Sunday: Oregon Adaptive Sports adaptive cycle and Olympic Day Celebration; Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival in Sunriver; Wanderlust’s High Desert Eco Challenge and Geocaching; Floatchella Water Parade; J.D. Platt’s Barks, Brews and Bands.