Seeing that MotoSport is located deep in the heart of Oregon, really we're just a bit south of Portland, we thought we'd do the riding community a big favor since we often get asked about the riding availability and conditions here in the state.
People are astonished and a bit perplexed when we say "Don't ride here" or matter-of-factly, "Go somewhere else." Riding in Oregon is completely different from other parts of the country and over the years our reasons began to add up.
So to help you understand why coming to Oregon with a truck-full of dirt bikes is a bad idea we came up with 10 reasons why you should stay home or visit another state.
1. Far Too Many Places to Ride
There's nothing worse than having too many place to ride your dirt bike. It begs the age-old question of "Where do I ride today?" You might be tempted to throw your hands up and never get on your dirt bike since there are so many places to ride in Oregon. Think of it like going to a really nice restaurant and not knowing what to order because everything looks so good and you want it all right now. But you can't, so why bother?
Think Hood River, Bend, the Coast, take your pick of forests all over the state. Heck, even the Portland metro-area offers some places to ride which brings us to our second reason why you shouldn't ride in Oregon.
2. Intimidating MX Tracks
Thursday Night MX is a summer staple in Portland. Anybody who is anybody on a dirt bike knows about TNMX. The great Brian Barnes is a sometimes announcer and the owners of the track are top notch long-time advocates of the sport.
Just a bit south in Albany is the Albany MX Park where you can, of course, ride on their motocross track but the facility also boasts a Flat Track, Arenacross track, and sand drags among other activities. How boring!
Mountain View is east of Portland in Sandy, OR. Mountain View incorporates natural terrain and sits on 15 acres of land with breath-taking views - you can probably guess what type of views based on the park's name.
Yep, we hear you. Who wants to go there?
3. Non-Yellow Fizzy Race Brews
Geez, thanks Portland for helping spur along the exploding craft brewing industry. Really, the last thing anyone wants after a having a blast on the track or trail is to wind down with fine tasting liquid refreshment from the likes of Rogue, Widmer, Pyramid, Deschutes, Full Sail, Ninkasi, Hopworks, 10 Barrel, Double Mountain...need we say more? Enough with all the craft breweries!
4. Suffocating Clean Air
Breathing is waaay to easy in Oregon. Braap on or maybe it's braap off as fresh air abounds everywhere especially around all those forest areas where there are...
5. Empty trails
Forget running into other riders. The vast amount of space set aside for off-roading thanks to the fine efforts of the Oregon Motorcycle Riders Association often makes us wonder if anyone ever rides in Oregon because you just don't run into other riders, literally! According to OMRA, Oregon is one of the most pro Off-Highway Vehicle states in the nation. That's the type of state you just want to avoid especially when riding dirt bikes.
6. Overly friendly people
It's true. The people here are a bit friendly. Just try driving through a neighborhood and NOT get waved at by complete strangers. Now take that existing annoying friendliness to the already tight-knit family-oriented Motocross community and you're going to make real friends for life without the need for Facebook.
7. Topography is hard to spell
Seriously, is there any place with such an enormous amount of varying landscapes than Oregon? And you can ride dirt bikes all over it?
You've got desert riding in Eastern Oregon, mountains pretty much all over the state, green forests in the west and of course there's beach dunes. So let's add that all up. In Oregon, you can ride your dirt bike on desert trails, sand dunes at the beach, gnarly wooded forests, and awesome backcountry roads in a number of mountain ranges in the state.
Yeah, this place sucks.
8.It's wet
It rains a lot in a good portion of the state and since trees abound much organic matter finds its way to the riding floor which makes for good loamy soil in many areas. Besides, who wants to get good and dirty on a DIRT bike. Riding in the rain and mud is overrated and is a big reason not to bring dirt bikes to Oregon.
Oh, and if you really don't like the wet there's all that other terrain available where it doesn't rain in the state.
9. Lack of deadly critters
If dodging rattle snakes and outriding a hungry puma is your thing, Oregon is the last place you'll want to ride your dirt bike. All this state has is slugs, frogs and the occasional butterfly.
10. All dirt bikes are required by law to be fixies
The craziest law on the planet got voted in last year. No one. Ever. Rides here. Anymore.
Hopefully we saved you time and money if plans were in the works to visit Oregon and ride. We're sure native Oregonians could add to this list as it's not comprehensive. In the meantime, those of us burdened with living here who love dirt bikes continue to manage with what we have and, when able, make the occasional trip out of state.
But for some reason, we always come back.
