“Hey, let’s go for a ride at Winchester.” This led to a new experience of riding the Oregon Dunes south of Winchester Bay, Oregon. We were planning to go to Bend Or for a course in April, so a little trip to the sand dunes seemed like a good idea. I’d done some work to my wife’s quad to improve the performance in the dunes and needed to get it tuned for the changes. The Dyno shop is located at Winchester Bay now, so the fact that we could ride at Winchester and try out the quad was an easy sell. We arrived at the Craz-e-Dealz shop by the afternoon on Friday and had a chance to catch up on the latest news from Tess and Amir, the shop owners. Soon the bike was tweaked and ready to ride—so the sand was next. First we checked out Banshee Hill, blasting out across the sand and up and down the hill several times, just for the fun of it. Then we headed out to explore the rest of the dunes. At this time the dunes were still in winter shape—that is, they were steep and the dune face was almost vertical for the last few feet. By summer the sand becomes softer and the tops rounded off. When we were there, they were a bit hard from the winter winds and rain. The fun factor is huge when you charge up the face and have to really go fast to make it. The last bit is so steep that only the momentum you build up keeps you on the hill. If you try to come down the face, you have to power down the first bit to add direction to what is almost a free-fall—what a rush!
Mysterious sandscapes
There were watercourses running at this time of year in some places that will be dry in summer. Little streams start and stop in the middle of nowhere. It looks almost surreal. Water also lies just under the surface in places and forms areas that are just like quicksand. We came across some guys with a Razor who had tried to go through one of these soft spots and failed, so we helped dig them out. By the third day the wind was smoothing off the sand, so each run was like a new place. It was a very moving experience. All of the marks from the previous day were erased, and not a soul was in sight. After one last pass at Banshee, it was time to load up for the trip to Bend. What a great adventure we’d had.
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