This site is for all the cycling junkies who'd like to live in the perfect place - a town that can be built around your wishes. Whether you want to come to visit or move here, you'll find info on the best trails and road rides in this unique area right here. If you just want to daydream and look at pix and video footage, it'll be here.
My deep motive is to attract people who love the outdoors to Oakridge, so we can help make over the city and make it the ideal mountain/road/ski/river playground. If you can bring your own IT job or recreation-related business, Oakridge welcomes you. If you, like me, like to work from your home and go for a bike ride right out your back door anytime you feel like it, you need to check out Oakridge.
Mountain bike singletrack trails are our claim to fame, with 300-500 miles worth within 25 miles. Much of the riding is among giant oldgrowth forests with virtually no-one on the trails. We are fortunate to have a very supportive National Forest and local Middle Fork Ranger District. You won't believe it if you're used to user conflicts and closures!
We have the necessary bike shop, hip cafe w/ great java and microbrews, and art gallery with the assorted motels from super inexpensive to Best Western with jacuzzi and pool. Good WiFi and DSL access. Low housing costs, too! What else do you need?
Oh yeah, and we have some of the top mountain bike races in the State and, for the top endurance racers, in the country.
The weather is mild, so you can bike year 'round or go skiing and boarding at our nearby Willamette Pass ski area. They offer lift access to their trails in the summer months. And FREERIDING is coming this summer!
Many famous racers have visited Oakridge and have given their blessings.
My connection is in being the promoter during the first few years of the growth of the Oakridge Fat Tire Festival, when it grew to be the largest mtn. bike festival in the state. I'd like to see the town really bloom into the coolest place a cyclist could find themselves.
The city of Oakridge has an industrial park where the old lumber mill used to be. It might be the ideal place for manufacturing/designing/testing any type of outdoor recreation gear. There are trails running from it in several directions, great paved forest roads with little traffic for road biking, and great kayaking or fishing streams a stone's throw away. I'm sure the City could make any manufacturer that creates some jobs a sweet deal with tax breaks and other incentives. (Call 'em: 541-782-2258).
If you want more excitement or different trails to ride, Eugene is 45 minutes away; Bend is about 100 scenic miles away.
Oakridge has the potential to become a scene like Bend, except it hasn't been discovered yet and priced up by developers. And, although Bend is beautiful in its own way, most who have ridden both areas prefer Oakridge trails. It's much greener here.
So consider this blog an invitation to come enjoy Oakridge. There's room for more people to share this special place. It's your chance to make a city in the image of what you'd like it to be. A little investment capital could go a long way at this point. And it would be fun to have more people who share a love of the outdoors to party with!
Lots more to come - I just want to kick off this blog. I'll start inviting some friends to add content: photos, video, and trail and event descriptions, maps.... all the stuff you'll need to plan your adventure in Oakridge, Oregon.
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