All Comers Meet 2008

March 13, 2008


By Randy Dreiling

I have learned that not all mountain biking events are alike, some are downhill races that last just 4 minutes, while others are multi-day races or events that are simply fun to attend. The All Comers Meet (ACM) fits that definition. While the trails have fun and creative names, the trails you ride are not on any maps. You park “by the gravel pile”.

ACM is held in the middle of the woods outside the tiny town of Lorane, Oregon.
The trails are not on any map, because they are on private timber land and built by your event host, “Disciples of Dirt” (DOD). DOD is a local mountain biking club, and its riders are also the guides for Mountain Bike Oregon.

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Waldo Lake in the Fall

November 19, 2007

By Randy Dreiling

Life has been really busy since I last wrote an entry for the blog. I got married and have been busy with other things life threw my way. Sorry I haven’t written in a while.

One of my favorite places to ride in the Fall is Waldo Lake.

Waldo Lake is one of the clearest lakes in the world. Waldo is an amazing place to view from its shores or campgrounds, but to mountain bike around Waldo adds a whole new experience. The ride is longer than you would think. The ride is about 22 miles with a fair amount of short roller climbs. The trail’s elevation is at around 6,000 feet. Many people think they can whip around Waldo in an hour or two, which is not true for the average rider. I think the fastest people I know can knock out Waldo in around 2 ½ hours. The fastest I have done it was 4 hours, but then again I still like to ride Waldo and enjoy the views too. Most times I ride Waldo it takes 5-6 hours, which includes snack breaks and sightseeing stops.

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Oakridge Oregon: A Mountain Biking Mecca

October 20, 2007

Mountain biking enthusiasts everywhere are spreading their love for this sport, by transforming the Oakridge/Westfir area into a mountain biking mecca. Check out comments from Randy Dreiling, owner of Oregon Adventures, on this growing phenomenon.

“Oakridge/Westfir, Oregon is clearly becoming more popular for mountain bikers- you can tell by the amount of cars with bikes on them around town. So this has me thinking, what will Oakridge look like in 2, 5, 10, 20 years? I personally think the changes will be great. I believe Oakridge/Westfir will become a mountain biking hot spot, and attract a number of skilled and adventurous bikers (most of our trails are for intermediate and above skill levels). Our location also allows Oregonians to escape the city and enjoy nature. I also think that more people will buy houses here because of the strong mountain biking community.”

Interested in participating in the growing community of Oregon mountain bikers? Head on over to the Oakridge/Westfir area. If you would like a few ideas on where to get started, check out Randy’s previous blogs, and hit up some of his favorite trails. You may also find additional information on the Oakridge/Westfir area by visiting their Chamber of Commerce.

For more information on mountain biking throughout Oregon, please visit our Outdoor Recreation section.

The Mountain Bike Oregon Story

June 1, 2007


By Randy Dreiling

People have asked about the best way to see the trails in the Oakridge/Westfir area. You could buy a guide book or call Oregon Adventures for shuttle and/or guide services. For this blog, however, I am going to shamelessly plug one of the events I promote: Mountain Bike Oregon (MBO).

Before you hit that “home page” button, please read on and find out what this event does for our community and mountain biking in general.

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My 1st Real Spring Ride in the Willamette Valley

May 10, 2007

By Randy Dreiling

Spring in Oregon is always interesting and our first ride of the season proved that. Sure we have ridden the fun trails close to Oakridge- trails that are a short distance from our houses (like Salmon Creek and Flat Creek). But today we wanted to hit Alpine Trail, my personal favorite. This was going to be a fun ride because we had a fun group together. It was nice out and we had some brand-new, giant demo bikes provided by Collins Bike Shop in Eugene. They had provided these bikes to me for their customers to test ride, and also for my Oregon Adventures tour clients to demo if they wished. John and Jake help me out with tours so I wanted to make sure they had a chance to get a feel of the bikes.

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Mountain Biking Trails in Oregon

March 30, 2007


By Randy Dreiling
*This entry is a continuation of Adventures in Mountain Biking, posted on 3/28/2007

Randy Dreiling, one of our resident mountain biking gurus, has decided to share his favorite biking trails in Oregon. Read on to discover a new trail- and start ridin'!

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Adventures in Mountain Biking

March 28, 2007


By Randy Dreiling

This is my first attempt at a blog, and I guess the first entry should start by giving you a
little background about myself. I am 39 years old and live in Oakridge, Oregon.
I grew up in Kansas until I was 12. We arrived at our new home in Cottage Grove, Oregon, on Friday the 13th of July, 1979. I guess you could say I started mountain biking right away, as the hill by our new house was bigger then most mountains in Kansas (the tallest point in Kansas is Mt. Sunflower at a whooping 1,200 feet).

My brother David and I immediately rode and pushed our bikes up the hill, while my little brothers Jeff and Tim were too tired. David and I rode down the hill, and it scared the hell out of us but excited us at the same time, so of course we did it over and over again, going higher and faster each time up. We could tell we were going faster because the speedometers on our bikes looked exactly like the ones you would find in an old car. We had contest to see who could lay the longest skid mark. I have now learned as an adult mountain biker, however, that skidding is a bad idea. But hey, we were on pavement. As we got faster, it got more painful, because we started to crash. Mom and dad were not too happy about their bloodied, skinned-up kids.

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Inside Scoop: The World’s First Dedicated, Lift-Assisted Downhill & Freeride Mountain Bike Park

February 13, 2007

Fat-tire fanatics already know that hundreds of mountain trails, designated bike lanes and widened shoulders make Oregon a haven for incredible bicycling adventures (just have a look at the trails on our site).

We’re psyched to announce some really exciting news from our friends in the mountain biking community. We’ve just heard that Oregon will soon be home to the world’s FIRST dedicated, lift-assisted downhill and freeride mountain bike park.

For those of you unfamiliar with this sport, “freeriding” is to traditional mountain biking as the demolition derby is to bumper cars. And it's performed by adrenaline-junkies seeking the ultimate thrill of gravity defying free-flight…on a bicycle!

For more about the world’s first dedicated lift-assisted downhill and freeride mountain bike park, read the following blog by Iris R, Oregon’s “bike guru” at the Dept. of State Parks:

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