[greenchris]

My girlfriend and I are seriously considering a move to Eugene. She would be making more money there than in Chicago plus the cost of living is waay cheaper. We visited there a few months ago and really enjoyed our time there it seems to be a nice, chill spot. I'm curious about a couple things though...
1. How much does it really rain out there? Are we talking a rainy winter or is there year round riding? Or does it rain, rain, rain...
2. Although I was there the only trail I actually visited was the MRT. It seemed awesome but how much trail is there locally. Right now I'm 45 mins away from 1 riding spot as the rest are 2+ hours away. How much trail is local in Eugene like under 30 min drive? I should add I enjoy all kinds of riding, mostly tech root and rocky, and ride a foes fxr.

Overall, what is all your guy's feelings on living in Eugene?
Thanks.

 

[hungryleprican]

If you like racing I know they have a series in Mt. Hood that's a blast that is only like an hour away from Eugene plus another series about an hour in the opposite direction (Willamette pass).

As far as trails, I know there is a couple places really close to portland and Eugene but I don't know about local spots

 

[Toshi]

is mt. hood really only an hour away from eugene? i'd bet it's farther away...

as for the OP's question, i can't comment directly. i did live in portland for a bit, however, and had no complaints with the riding (hood river pretty much exclusively).

http://www.gfra.org/

 

[hungryleprican]

is mt. hood really only an hour away from eugene? i'd bet it's farther away...

as for the OP's question, i can't comment directly. i did live in portland for a bit, however, and had no complaints with the riding (hood river pretty much exclusively).

http://www.gfra.org/

actually after checking it its more like an hour 45 - 2 hours

my b

 

[PacificPointer]

Didn't you come out here???

IMO Eugene is the best place to live in Oregon.

Yeah it rains but yeterday was 63 deg. Things are starting/have been blooming.

Trails galore,
PM for my # give me a call
Ed

 

[greenchris]

Didn't you come out here???

IMO Eugene is the best place to live in Oregon.

Yeah it rains but yeterday was 63 deg. Things are starting/have been blooming.

Trails galore,
PM for my # give me a call
Ed

Ed- I appreciate it a ton! Yeah me and the woman went out and loved Eugene. Now we are trying to decide between a few places and Eugene is def one of them. I'll give you a holler when I think of a bunch of questions to hammer ya with.
chris.

 

[elRey]

there are other towns in oregon that are far better in terms of riding. ashland and bend and hood river are prolly the best for dh/ freeride. eugene and oakridge have quite a bit of cross country though. imo the only reason i would want to live in eugene would be for MRT.

 

[gonefirefightin]

oregon in general is a great place to settle bro, the thing is, eugene will put you pretty much right in the middle for what the state has to offer.from eugene central oregon is less than an hour, hood is an hour and a half, the coast is an hour and southern oregon trails are a little less than two hours. you can ride in the rain in oregon, its not like rain you get where you are at. oregon rain is more like a heavy mist most of the time and it is very managable, plus it makes the riding better since the soil is more of a loamy compost than a sediment. you dont have to pump your own gas, there is no sales tax, your vehicle registration is less than 30 bucks, there are tons of micro brews and you will have 4 ski resorts close by.

do it.....

 

[greenchris]

there are other towns in oregon that are far better in terms of riding. ashland and bend and hood river are prolly the best for dh/ freeride. eugene and oakridge have quite a bit of cross country though. imo the only reason i would want to live in eugene would be for MRT.

Basically, Eugene was chosen because of opportunity. I would attend the University of Oregon and my girlfriend has been talking to Sacred Heart about working for them (she is a nurse).
We went out there a little bit ago and loved it. Moving a few thousand miles away doesnt scare me but id like to make a wise decision.

 

[greenchris]

oregon in general is a great place to settle bro, the thing is, eugene will put you pretty much right in the middle for what the state has to offer.from eugene central oregon is less than an hour, hood is an hour and a half, the coast is an hour and southern oregon trails are a little less than two hours. you can ride in the rain in oregon, its not like rain you get where you are at. oregon rain is more like a heavy mist most of the time and it is very managable, plus it makes the riding better since the soil is more of a loamy compost than a sediment. you dont have to pump your own gas, there is no sales tax, your vehicle registration is less than 30 bucks, there are tons of micro brews and you will have 4 ski resorts close by.

do it.....

damn...thanks for the good information. As far as the rain, is there a rainy period like october through april? Or is it just 12 months a year? I have heard it's a mist rather than a straight up downpour here in the midwest. After a days worth of rain the trails usually aren't ridable until we get a couple days worth of sun.
No sales tax, eh? I know it's doesn't seem like much but in Chicago it's close to 11%.

 

[gunslingger]

i moved her from Phoenix and can not say I like oregon very much. Yeah there is a lot of outdoor stuff and a ton of variety but the weather sucks. it rains and is cold and depressing.

I am sure it is better than chicago but if you have other warmer and clearer optins take them and run

 

[gonefirefightin]

the valley (eugene, salem, portland) does get some rain but not as much as central oregon (bend, redmond, sisters) spring and fall in central oregon is about as normal as anywhere else. the valley will be alot wetter.

central oregon is mecca for single track and downhill and its an hour from eugene.

 

[Monkeybidnezz]

I went to college at UofO and personally wouldn't want to live there long term because it is such a small city and a little too slow paced for my liking. I've always liked bigger cities, so yes I am a bit biased after living in LA, Tokyo and now Seattle.

 

[renorider40]

Do it just so you don't have to drive an hour to ride.

 

[Skookum]

Oregon will be a hell of alot better mt. biking than anything in Illinois.

NO BRAINER.

We'll see ya on the trails.

 

[greenchris]

Oregon will be a hell of alot better mt. biking than anything in Illinois.

NO BRAINER.

We'll see ya on the trails.

i have skooks permission...it's a done deal.

 

[luelling]

I've always lived in Oregon and I like it. I lived in Southern Oregon for a long time and the weather there would probably be more like Chicago. Klamath had lots of snow and cold weather, but it was sunny almost everyday. I moved to Salem and really like the fact that I can ride year round, and there is great road, xc and dh riding really close. I think Portland gets more rain than Salem, it has really been a mild winter with some pretty warm temps (we had one streak of bitter cold).

 

[bikegrrl]

actually after checking it its more like an hour 45 - 2 hours

my b

Mt. Hood Meadows quotes the distance from Eugene to Meadows at 185 miles. Ski Bowl, where the races happen, is about 15 miles west of Meadows, i.e. closer to Portland. So given Oregon traffic, which inexplicably backs up when there aren't accidents, and the huge numbers of sloooowwww Oregon drivers, I would put it more at close to 3 hours. When I went to college in Eugene, it seems it took us close to 2 hours just to get to PDX.

And I agree with Monkeybidnezz about the slow pace in Eugene. Even Portland, which is much bigger, is too small for me. But for a small town, Eugene is cool - it's a college town with a big arts community so there's way more happening there than there would be in a town without a college and the arts.

I wasn't MTBing too much when I lived in Eugene so you'll have to listen to others about really-local trails. But Post Canyon and Falls City both rock and they're not that far away.

 

[greenchris]

And I agree with Monkeybidnezz about the slow pace in Eugene. Even Portland, which is much bigger, is too small for me.

Well, that sounds inviting to me! I've lived in Chicago forever with a couple short stints in Flagstaff and southern Illinois. The slow traffic, slower lifestyle, and lack of civilization sounds great.

 

[boostindoubles]

the oregon country fair is a definite bonus too. http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/

 

[DH Diva]

Mt. Hood Meadows quotes the distance from Eugene to Meadows at 185 miles. Ski Bowl, where the races happen, is about 15 miles west of Meadows, i.e. closer to Portland. So given Oregon traffic, which inexplicably backs up when there aren't accidents, and the huge numbers of sloooowwww Oregon drivers, I would put it more at close to 3 hours. When I went to college in Eugene, it seems it took us close to 2 hours just to get to PDX.

And I agree with Monkeybidnezz about the slow pace in Eugene. Even Portland, which is much bigger, is too small for me. But for a small town, Eugene is cool - it's a college town with a big arts community so there's way more happening there than there would be in a town without a college and the arts.

I wasn't MTBing too much when I lived in Eugene so you'll have to listen to others about really-local trails. But Post Canyon and Falls City both rock and they're not that far away.

I live in Corvallis and it takes 2 hours to get to Ski Bowl (mt. Hood). Corvallis is an hour closer to mt. hood than Eugene so you are realistically looking at 2.5-3 hours from Eugene.

To be perfectly honest, Eugene has very little in the way of riding unless you drive an hour to the East to Oakridge. There is a couple very easy trails around the city limits in the hills, but nothing more than a 45 minute XC ride over painfully groomed runners paths. There is a riding area that is about 45 minutes away called shotgun creek. The trails are marginal, and it's in the middle of hill billy central. Nothing to wet your pants over. There is "a" trail called Hardesty mountain which is fun, it's about 30 minutes outside of town on the way to oakridge, but it gets old quick if that's all you have to ride and it's a paved/gravel climb to the top.

Oh yeah, it rains a lot. I mean a lot a lot. Most trails are unridable most of the winter and early spring months. Cyclocross is huge here as a result though.

 

[greenchris]

Oh yeah, it rains a lot. I mean a lot a lot. Most trails are unridable most of the winter and early spring months. Cyclocross is huge here as a result though.

Interesting. So, basically there's only a couple lame places to ride within a few minutes of Eugene. Now is that DH or howabout some trail riding? I figured a ton of the riding is out in Oakridge?
OT: Does anyone have any knowledge of Sacred Heart hospital...as would it be a good place to work as a nurse? My girlfriend is a RN and she has been talking with them???

 

[PacificPointer]

I live in Corvallis and it takes 2 hours to get to Ski Bowl (mt. Hood). Corvallis is an hour closer to mt. hood than Eugene so you are realistically looking at 2.5-3 hours from Eugene.

To be perfectly honest, Eugene has very little in the way of riding unless you drive an hour to the East to Oakridge. There is a couple very easy trails around the city limits in the hills, but nothing more than a 45 minute XC ride over painfully groomed runners paths. There is a riding area that is about 45 minutes away called shotgun creek. The trails are marginal, and it's in the middle of hill billy central. Nothing to wet your pants over. There is "a" trail called Hardesty mountain which is fun, it's about 30 minutes outside of town on the way to oakridge, but it gets old quick if that's all you have to ride and it's a paved/gravel climb to the top.

Oh yeah, it rains a lot. I mean a lot a lot. Most trails are unridable most of the winter and early spring months. Cyclocross is huge here as a result though.

DH
I dont know girl. You didn't have one positive thing to say about Eugene when the town you live in has less things to do and offer. There are hundreds of miles of trails in the coast range and foothills to deep Cascades. The places you talk about are the typical spots.

Your talk of hillbilly is funny when your neighbor town is Albany who is in competition with Springfield and Klamath Falls in inventing the "tooth" brush. Corvallis home of the Reser frozen burrito

 

[PacificPointer]

Interesting. So, basically there's only a couple lame places to ride within a few minutes of Eugene. Now is that DH or howabout some trail riding? I figured a ton of the riding is out in Oakridge?
OT: Does anyone have any knowledge of Sacred Heart hospital...as would it be a good place to work as a nurse? My girlfriend is a RN and she has been talking with them???

Yes at the end of the Beltline is the new Sacred Heart being built. Its massive. My sis-n-law worked there before they moved and she liked it way more than where she is now.

Hey there's riding all over the place and riding is what you make of it. I hunt so I'm used to running in the woods after my dogs on my FR/DH rigs.

PM for my #

 

[greenchris]

Yes at the end of the Beltline is the new Sacred Heart being built. Its massive. My sis-n-law worked there before they moved and she liked it way more than where she is now.

Hey there's riding all over the place and riding is what you make of it. I hunt so I'm used to running in the woods after my dogs on my FR/DH rigs.

PM for my #

word. we are planning another visit for this spring ill def hit you up with some questions before...

 

[DH Diva]

Your talk of hillbilly is funny when your neighbor town is Albany who is in competition with Springfield and Klamath Falls in inventing the "tooth" brush.

Except I don't go riding in Albany. Shotgun creek is just that, a creek where the hillbillies go to shoot their rifles and go "mudden."

In my personal opinion, an hour away is not close for good trails. I can ride from my house and be on good trails in 10 minutes. To me that is close. And we were talking about riding, not the social scene.

It's my opinion after having lived in Eugene for quite awhile. You don't have to agree with it.

 

[DH Diva]

I figured a ton of the riding is out in Oakridge?

There is a ton of XC riding in and around Oakridge, some DH. The riding there is really good too. There is a lift assisted riding area called willamette pass (about 20-30 minutes past oakridge). But oakridge is a bit of a drive. My point in my original post was that as far as hopping on the bike and riding to something close, there just isn't anything. You will have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get to good riding areas.

Sacred heart is a good hospital. Their ER has been a little under staffed/under equipped in the past (for example, I was there once and they didn't have an x-ray tech working the night shift, WTF it's an ER??). I have a feeling with the new location this will be different. I know a few people who do or have worked there and they are all very happy with it as a whole.

It's a good place to live overall, I just wanted good riding closer because I used to race.

 

[greenchris]

It's a good place to live overall, I just wanted good riding closer because I used to race.

Awesome, I appreciate your info!