[cannondalejunky]

K so here's the skinny...right now i live in arkansas and next summer i'm planning on moving to Ashland, OR...but the problem is, is i know nothing about the place...is there many good places to ride, and how much is rent gonna be on a decent sized one bedroom apt...and there is a chance i wont have a car for a while...is it easy to get around the place on a bike, and would it be too hard to get around on a motorcycle in the winter. jus some info i'm want to find out

cheers,
John

 

[elRey]

haha are there many good places to ride......haha


there are, someone else will tell you

 

[.:Jeenyus:.]

I live there (here?), plenty of good spots to ride, and lots of good riders. You can get from one side of town to the other in 15min on a bike. Not much snow down in the valley in the winter and it dosen't get to cold (below 30) that often during the middle of the day so you should be ok on a moto. I'm not sure how much rent will be, but I'm guessing it wont exactly be cheap considering how much real estate goes for here.

Feel free to PM me with any other questions.

 

[Hippy R]

If you're not in Ashland yet or if you are, talk to the guys at Ashland Cycle Sport on Oak Street as soon as you can. They will hook you up with some good places to ride.

Rent isn't too bad, and, like they said, it's great place for bike transportation.

Also, check out the trails above Talent. There is some sick riding there. Have a good year man and ride on.

 

[cannondalejunky]

jus thought i'd give this topic a lil bump to see if anyone else has anymore info

 

[EdBanda101]

Ya awsome riding spots. good skate park, trails. the djs arnt 2 hott, but ya. Rent will be a little spendy, you could probably find a roomat though. It snows maybe once a year in the valley and it melts right away, so it wont be 2 hard to get around. As the post above said, it takes like 15 minutes to get across town. Great place 2 live.

 

[Muuqi]

Yeah, like EdBanda said, the scene here is awesome. I dunno what sort of riding you do, but there's something for everyone. The trails are awesome (if a bit rutted out), skate park has good flow, and contrary to the above statement, the DJ's are coming along quite nicely. Keep your ears open for the Mt Ashland Super D coming this summer!

 

[EdBanda101]

Yeah, like EdBanda said, the scene here is awesome. I dunno what sort of riding you do, but there's something for everyone. The trails are awesome (if a bit rutted out), skate park has good flow, and contrary to the above statement, the DJ's are coming along quite nicely. Keep your ears open for the Mt Ashland Super D coming this summer!

o srry, havnt been to the djs in a while, but last time i went..........

Mt Ashland Super D?

 

[Muuqi]

That's right, Tita is putting a bunch of races this coming year, and one is gonna be a race down from Mt. A, as well as a Johns Peak DH, Spring Thaw, Return of the Jedi, Mt. A Hill Climb, and the Humbug Hurry Up. I'm going to try to talk her into helping to put on some sort of DJ comp as well.

 

[EdBanda101]

Sounds great. The only one that has been going on in the past here in Ashland is the Spring thaw right? well and hill climb.

 

[BuddhaRoadkill]

Why you moving to Ashland?

 

[Niall]

in my search for a new place to live I'm leaning toward ashland. I will be moving in the spring or summer, and I have not yet decided where to.

I'm curious about Ashland's weather, could someone give me an idea of what a year in ashland is weatherwise? I'm desperately trying to get away from Olympia's perpetual wet and grey.

From all accounts I've heard ashland is a nice town with good people and great riding. if the weather is nice, and I can get a job; thats all I need to be happy.

also does anyone know if ther are any small-scale bike manufacturers in the ashland area. not one-off outta the garage operations, but 15-25 person operations where I might find hope of getting work? (I'm a professional mechanic with a decade of experience and a desire to weasel my way into a fabrication apprenticeship)

 

[EdBanda101]

The weather in Ashland is just all over the place, you will never really knowo what your gunna get. In winter its cold most offten than not. It rains a bit, and snows very little. Summer its pretty hot. The rest of the year is pretty warm with occasional rain.

 

[Muuqi]

Yup, you really never know what it's gonna be, just two weeks ago it was 55 and sunny out. . .in the middle of December. But I'd say the weather is nice and rideable at least 70 percent of the year. There are two bike manufactuers in the valley, on is Mike Desalvo (www.desalvocycles.com), but he's more of a one man team. . .and the other is some dude who builds bikes called Wolfhounds, and to tell you the truth I really don't know anything about him or his company. Sounds like you might fit right in at UBI tho, United Bicycle Institute (www.bikeschool.com), people come from all over the world to learn how to mechanic and weld there. So that would be something to look into. Also there is a local parts distributer that is sort of a smaller business like you mentioned. Soo. . .I think no matter what you could find a job within the industry, but maybe no frame building right off the bat. Hope this helped!

EDIT: I decided to take a couple pics of the DJ and skate park here to give you an idea of what they're like

here's the roll in

view from the top of the roll in

the first couple kickers

more kickers

skate park

 

[EdBanda101]

The wolfhound bike guy is named Fred, i know him a bit, I think he is also a one man team, but im not sure of that.

 

[cannondalejunky]

Why you moving to Ashland?

mainly cause i'm goin to ubi and i wanna go somewhere else kinda far away to finish my school out at and i figure ashland sounds like a nice place

 

[pbr]

Ashland is a fun place to live. The riding is fun; the Mtn freeriding is good, with fun trails; the dj scene wasn't happening when I was there after the Central Point trails were dozed but is looking up now from what Muuqi is saying. (Ashland has a sanction jumping spot, but the dirt sucks, and dries up in the summer- right now is the time to build and it has to last through the dry season) If you like Park riding, Talent and Ashland have fun parks that allow bikes.

Here is the big drawbacks. Jobs don't pay much. I was working at a bike shop in Portland Oregon. I took a $3/hr pay cut to work at a shop in Ashland. In the summer, it gets so hot sometimes you won't want to ride. Its really cold in the winter. You can work around that stuff though.

It is nice to be able to ride everywhere. I lived in Ashland for a year and enjoyed my time there..

Good luck getting a job in the industry. UBI and UBP are pretty much it. Maybe Arrow Racing in Grants Pass. Wolfhound is just Fred making custom bikes; DeSalvo and Jones Bikes are also one man custom operations. As far as bike shop work, last time I checked, the starting wage was about $9.00 hr at local bike shops. When I lived there, I ended up working at a bar part time and at a shop part time to cover the bills.