Mountain Bike Oregon is a great mountain bike event in Oakridge, Oregon. Oakridge is a small town that used to be a booming timber town. Like many other similar towns in the Pacific Northwest, the lumber industry declined, lumber mills closed and the town’s economy was devastated. While Oakridge doesn’t have much of a logging industry any longer, what it does have is some of the best mountain biking in the Pacific Northwest, maybe even in the entire country. Some of the Oakridge citizens, who are avid mountain bikers, understand this and have undertaken a delicate balancing act; trying to boost the local economy by promoting mountain biking while preserving the natural beauty of the area. MBO has been their showcase event, it is always a great time. For mountain bikers, it doesn’t get much better; great riding, good food and complimentary beer from the best local breweries; the total Pacific Northwest experience.
Loading the bikes and riders for Friday morning’s ride
Alpine is a world class mountain bike trail; the marquee ride for MBO. If you do come to Oakridge to ride, riding Alpine is a must. It is a long, winding trail that has it all. When you get to the Alpine trailhead, this is what you see:
The trailhead cutoff had just been rebuilt by the GOATS and offered an easy entrance to Alpine. This used to be pretty much a “hike-a-bike” section, now you can ride
A big part of the MBO experience are the great people who run the event. Randy Dreiling of Oregon Adventures is one of the founders of MBO and handles many of the logistics, Paula does a lot of the organization, local Oakridge residents who feed the hungry mob and last, but not least; the volunteer guides who make sure the riders don’t get lost, provide support and make sure everyone has a good time. Many of these guides are members of the Disciples Of Dirt(DOD), some of the most hardcore and fun loving mountain bikers you’ll ever find.
Because of the late spring weather, the trails were in perfect condition; grippy and no dust. Everything was green with flowers in bloom, pretty much perfect.
MBO always has great food and plenty of it for hungry riders
As if epic riding and good food weren’t enough, there is the legendary MBO beer garden that opens at 4PM on Friday and Saturday, serving up all the local brewery beer you can drink
Having a couple cold beers and reliving the day’s great riding with your friends out in the Oregon woods; not a bad way to spend an evening.
Friday was about as perfect as it gets.
Unfortunately, Saturday and Sunday brought a pretty healthy dose of PacNW liquid sunshine and the rest of the weekend was a little moist and muddy. No rides were canceled and all the riders headed out into conditions we see most of the year around here. Mountain bikers are a hardy bunch; a little rain and mud is not going to stop anybody.
Another successful MBO is in the books, looking forward to the August MBO for more fun and games.