Our art director takes his first voyage into the world of off-road riding
PHOTOS: CASEY CONTE
“YOU’RE JUST GOING to have to go for it, man,” Casey shouted through his helmet.
Sage words from our trail guide for the day, Casey Conte, about how to tackle the huge, almost vertical boulder about 10 feet ahead of me on the trail. My bike was already pointed up at what seemed like a 40-degree angle as I glanced over at Casey’s brother, Jesse, who was off to the side of the trail looking for another way around said boulder. He gave me a slow shake of the head. I knew the longer I hesitated, the worse it would be, so I eased out the clutch on my borrowed bike, put my trust in the bib tubes, and gassed it up the face of the big rock.
Our art director takes his first voyage into the world of off-road riding
WORDS: DAVID LANGRAN
PHOTOS: CASEY CONTE
“YOU’RE JUST GOING to have to go for it, man,” Casey shouted through his helmet.
Sage words from our trail guide for the day, Casey Conte, about how to tackle the huge, almost vertical boulder about 10 feet ahead of me on the trail. My bike was already pointed up at what seemed like a 40-degree angle as I glanced over at Casey’s brother, Jesse, who was off to the side of the trail looking for another way around said boulder. He gave me a slow shake of the head. I knew the longer I hesitated, the worse it would be, so I eased out the clutch on my borrowed bike, put my trust in the bib tubes, and gassed it up the face of the big rock.
elcome to Oregon trail riding. At this point we were about three hours into some of the most demanding, technical riding I’ve ever done in 37 years of riding motorcycles. And I was loving (almost) every minute of it. After tackling this particularly tough woods section, we emerged into the daylight onto a nice, wide fire road. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, as I figured we’d be getting some relief from the mini Erzberg we had just tackled. No sooner had this thought passed than I saw Jon Stierwalt (our other riding partner for the day) veer to the right off the fire road and gas it up an impossibly steep-looking off-camber embankment and disappear into another section of woods. I took a second to gather my thoughts and once again followed into the abyss.
For years now, my good friend Jesse Conte had been trying to get me up to the Pacific Northwest to ride his local trails with him and his brother. After seeing countless amazing riding photos on their Instagram feeds, I decided to book a flight and take the plunge. And boy was it an experience.
I’ve ridden and raced motorcycles for a very long time, mostly on motocross tracks where you face the same obstacles lap after lap. Off-road riding in the vast Oregon back- country, however, requires a very different mindset.
elcome to Oregon trail riding. At this point we were about three hours into some of the most demanding, technical riding I’ve ever done in 37 years of riding motorcycles. And I was loving (almost) every minute of it. After tackling this particularly tough woods section, we emerged into the daylight onto a nice, wide fire road. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, as I figured we’d be getting some relief from the mini Erzberg we had just tackled. No sooner had this thought passed than I saw Jon Stierwalt (our other riding partner for the day) veer to the right off the fire road and gas it up an impossibly steep-looking off-camber embankment and disappear into another section of woods. I took a second to gather my thoughts and once again followed into the abyss.
For years now, my good friend Jesse Conte had been trying to get me up to the Pacific Northwest to ride his local trails with him and his brother. After seeing countless amazing riding photos on their Instagram feeds, I decided to book a flight and take the plunge. And boy was it an experience.
I’ve ridden and raced motorcycles for a very long time, mostly on motocross tracks where you face the same obstacles lap after lap. Off-road riding in the vast Oregon back- country, however, requires a very different mindset.
Jesse had kindly loaned me his KTM 350 EXC-F, and the first thing I noticed was how different the bike setup is to a typical motocross bike: much softer suspension, very low gearing, and bib mousse inner tubes replacing standard tubes filled with air. Riding off-road with regular tubes is not a good idea; your tires would be bouncing off the various roots, rocks, and boulders, sending you all over the place, or you would be getting constant flats. The bib inner tubes soak everything up and give you much more grip on the technical obstacles. Knowing you won’t be getting any flat tires and can just plough through everything is a huge confidence boost. The downside is slightly less grip on wide-open sections, as the bib tubes have some give in them. That said, the trade-off is well worth it.
Jesse had kindly loaned me his KTM 350 EXC-F, and the first thing I noticed was how different the bike setup is to a typical motocross bike: much softer suspension, very low gearing, and bib mousse inner tubes replacing standard tubes filled with air. Riding off-road with regular tubes is not a good idea; your tires would be bouncing off the various roots, rocks, and boulders, sending you all over the place, or you would be getting constant flats. The bib inner tubes soak everything up and give you much more grip on the technical obstacles. Knowing you won’t be getting any flat tires and can just plough through everything is a huge confidence boost. The downside is slightly less grip on wide-open sections, as the bib tubes have some give in them. That said, the trade-off is well worth it.
We were on our second day of riding and I was starting to get a feel for it. We’d faced tight, technical, steep, rutted forest sections where every tree root, branch, hidden rock, and bump seemed to be out to get me, but also long, winding (also steep), rocky uphills that felt like you were riding on marbles, and where a loss of momentum would send you back down for another attempt. Possibly the most white-knuckle parts were trail sections that were just wider than your tires, with a mountainside immediately to one side of you and a sheer drop on the other. Zero room for error was not an overstatement.
But this type of riding is exhilarating. You constantly have to process and react to new terrain as it comes, and the ride becomes more about survival than trying to go fast. There were of course parts where we were cruising down fire roads admiring the spectacular views, or winding through super fun, flowing single track that leaves you smiling from ear to ear. You also don’t have to ride the super technical stuff—there are trails that cater to all levels of riding. On this particular day, though, I was riding with some pretty hardcore guys who seemed determined to show me some of the tougher trails Oregon has to offer. I certainly had to rely a lot on the riding instincts I’ve built up over the years. I came away with a whole new respect for the off-road genre and just how skilled those guys are.
We were on our second day of riding and I was starting to get a feel for it. We’d faced tight, technical, steep, rutted forest sections where every tree root, branch, hidden rock, and bump seemed to be out to get me, but also long, winding (also steep), rocky uphills that felt like you were riding on marbles, and where a loss of momentum would send you back down for another attempt. Possibly the most white-knuckle parts were trail sections that were just wider than your tires, with a mountainside immediately to one side of you and a sheer drop on the other. Zero room for error was not an overstatement.
But this type of riding is exhilarating. You constantly have to process and react to new terrain as it comes, and the ride becomes more about survival than trying to go fast. There were of course parts where we were cruising down fire roads admiring the spectacular views, or winding through super fun, flowing single track that leaves you smiling from ear to ear. You also don’t have to ride the super technical stuff—there are trails that cater to all levels of riding. On this particular day, though, I was riding with some pretty hardcore guys who seemed determined to show me some of the tougher trails Oregon has to offer. I certainly had to rely a lot on the riding instincts I’ve built up over the years. I came away with a whole new respect for the off-road genre and just how skilled those guys are.
This type of off-road riding is as much about the comradery of being out with your buddies and supporting each other (along with some relentless banter) as it is about the riding itself. Coming into this trip, I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but the level of fun was off the charts. The riding was definitely a challenge, but also very satisfying once you’ve made it through sections you had serious doubts about. Plus, the views were simply breathtaking. Also, you don’t have the pressures of a motocross track, where even on practice days you feel like you have to go as fast as possible.
At the end of the second day, as we sat around drinking a few beers, exhausted and happy to have made it through unscathed, I asked Jesse, on a difficulty scale of one to ten, what he thought that day’s riding would rate. “About a six.”
Based on what I had just ridden, I can’t imagine how tough a seven or above must be. Perhaps next time I’ll venture into those zones. 
This type of off-road riding is as much about the comradery of being out with your buddies and supporting each other (along with some relentless banter) as it is about the riding itself. Coming into this trip, I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but the level of fun was off the charts. The riding was definitely a challenge, but also very satisfying once you’ve made it through sections you had serious doubts about. Plus, the views were simply breathtaking. Also, you don’t have the pressures of a motocross track, where even on practice days you feel like you have to go as fast as possible.
At the end of the second day, as we sat around drinking a few beers, exhausted and happy to have made it through unscathed, I asked Jesse, on a difficulty scale of one to ten, what he thought that day’s riding would rate. “About a six.”
Based on what I had just ridden, I can’t imagine how tough a seven or above must be. Perhaps next time I’ll venture into those zones.
