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20th Annual Black Dog Dual Sport Ride and Clean-up


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#1 DirtyDog

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Posted 27 June 2011 - 04:52 PM

I haven't had a lot of time to follow up with this stewardship stuff but I plan to when work slows down. In the meantime, I found this article on the Forest Service website - an interesting example of a FS approved and sanctioned event. Food for future thought.

The Black Dog Dual Sport Riders kicked off there two-day 20th annual ride around the Mt. Hood and Gifford Pinchot forests on the weekend of June 4th with over 300 riders participating. The ride is a national event drawing riders from throughout the Northwest and surrounding states. And although this ride may appear as being simply another ride on the American Motorcycling Association’s (AMA) circuit, this ride is unique because of at least one difference: riders get points not just for their riding skills, but also for the amount of trash they gather up along their way.

The combined efforts of all the riders filled a larger dumpster over the two days. But the riders did a lot more than pick up garbage. The course the riders followed was established beforehand and sanctioned by the Mt. Hood National Forest and led riders on paved and gravel roads and even some trails. The special mechanics of these street legal, dual sport motorcycles allow riders to handle different types of terrain, which allows a different view of the forest and a way of seeing more forestlands in less time—the route around Mt. Hood on the first day of the event alone covered nearly 300 miles. The varied terrain also lends added challenge, which appealed to the participants.

The ride brought participants ranging from 16 to 70 years old, women and men, and from an array of backgrounds. The event was made possible by the partnership of AMA, the Northern Oregon Motorcycle and ATV Club (NOMAC) who staffed food stations, the Food Services of America who donated food, and the forest service who staffed informational pit meetings both mornings outlining the route and rules of utilizing forest roads. Tom Niemela has promoted this annual event throughout its 20-year history, and, through his efforts, the race has developed into what it has become today: an event that gives motorcyclists the chance to experience the beautiful forestlands while doing their part to protect and improve the surrounding environment at the same time.
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#2 simimike

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Posted 27 June 2011 - 09:01 PM

Working with the Forest Service is the way to go. They know what they are doing and what needs to be done. As an example, a number of years ago I was visiting my brother in Houston Tx. At the time he was a member of the Houston Trail Riders. That weekend they where working with the F.S. building a bridge across a creek. A number of members showed up and finished the bridge in about 6 hours. The HTR's appreciated a non-member coming out to help and made me a honorary member, I still have the patch. It later got back to me that the F.S. liked working with this group because they got right to work and got the job done ahead of schedule and under budget. So I look forward to working with the F.S.

mike
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#3 K7MDL

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Posted 28 June 2011 - 01:15 AM

For the record the course on Day 1 was closer to 207 miles, about 9 hours of riding with a short lunch break near Wamic, OR. Day 2 was spent mostly on the county trails west of Hood River for about 65 miles. Snow kept us in the lower elevations, with some long pavement bypasses as a result of blocked paths this year. Also these are Dual Sport Riding Events, not races. You follow a roll chart with turn-by-turn instructions and ride at your own pace, there are no rewards for finishing earlier or late. Each day we got 100 points per bag of trash turned in, and 100 pts is close to 25% of the total possible, with the other points being skill and luck based activities at checkpoints. The Blackdog DS Ride was June 4-5 and based out of the Odell,OR fairgrounds. I did my part for FWC evangelism for sure. It also brings in massive gas sales to tiny towns such as Wamic/Tygh Valley and Odell.

June 18 was the annual Dirty Face Dual Sport Ride event based out of Lake Wenatchee and hosted by the Lake Wenatchee Rec Club. Also co-ordinated with the Forest Service and local land owners it covered 133 miles and brings massive gas sales into the tiny town of Ardenvoir near Entiat River Road and the Columbia River. This year they also instituted a 100 point garbage turn in bonus. This event also sports about 250 riders. We were limnited to under 5,000 feet elevations this year due to snow, and no trails were on the route this year, forest road only, as it is hard to route 100 riders up a narrow single track trail, turn around at the snow line, and then double back against oncoming traffic on single width trails.

So some good stuff is going on out there. Each time I was one of the few popup campers there. Always results in an extra hour of conversation at the event by someone looking to learn more about them. Good times.
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