Washougal Bound

Washougal is a cool place to see at least once for sure!  Safe travels and have a blast this weekend!!!  

Whenever I watch washougal...I want to go drink beer In The creek like poto was doing..that looks fun as hell...

Make sure you hit PiR for Thursday Night Moto Pro Night - cannot miss this if you are in town. Stop by and say hi too!!!

Headed there with the wife for the first time this weekend, pretty stoked to finally make it up that way!

It's a killer road trip from California . We always stopped and rafted hell's gate on the Rouge river. Camped and fished the whole way. Great food too.  

Debating whether to fly up from SoCal or not. I’ve been to Glen Helen, Pala, and Ironman, but have always been fascinated with the scenery of Washougal.

For first-timers, if you are not staying at the track Friday night, plan to be going through town by 0600. That's if you want to watch practice and get a decent spot to set up. Last couple years the backup into the track was 2-3 hours due to limited access and sheer volume. It's possible the heat (94-96f?) will affect the turnout this year, but not much. If you ride a street bike in you can get around a lot of the stuck traffic. Getting out is similar - I just hang out in the shade for 2 hours after the race to avoid the chaos.

I love when people get to experience and enjoy my home, the PNW.

Hell yeah, see ya there!

Thanks for the feedback, helpful advice when considering a day trip (or overnight trip) from SoCal.

I went in 2015, it rained but was still amazing. Enjoy

Those who haven't been to the track lately are going to be mad at all the new insurance required. 8 foot tall fencing that's 4 feet further back from the whoops from last years. 

No more leaning over the fence your view will be chain link fence. 

I always loved the hot Shugal races, PNW chicks love to sport the small bikini tops whenever it’s above 57deg and not drizzling! 
 

crap not to disrespect any vital lady’s 

#Do.It!

PDX is right close and it’s a must-see at some point in everyone’s moto lives

Yeah we went up last weekend for OTMX and the amount and height of new chain link installed was shocking. It is really gonna screw with the views and vibe. Although I have seen plenty of bikes come over the old fence in the whoops so I get it. But it still sucks. 

Showing up Thursday afternoon ! First time for us. And yeah it’s a hike from So Cal.  We’re on day 4 and about 630 miles in

Is there any flat rv spots? And do they actually search the inside of your motorhome on the way in?

PiR gates open 2:30 and it's only a few miles from the airport. Practice starts at 4, races at 5. 

One of these years I need to check out TNMX at PIR.   
It always seems like it's too much to fit in with the amateur races going on at Washougal.

 

There are some flat RV spots, but each year it seems like the turnout is bigger and the RV's get larger.
I would count on being on a slope of some kind and plan on bringing some wedges to drive up on and blocks for your leveling jacks.

They have a search checkpoint as you enter the track into the lower parking field.
They do a quick search and will want to open up your cabinets, fridge, coolers, etc.
They are very fast and I've never seen them ask anyone unload a vehicle or open up their RV's slide-outs or anything crazy.

To echo this advice, even leaving the race at the beginning of the last moto, you may get out of the track what seems fast (running with the rest of the people with the same plan), but the accordion will happen as you get closer to town, it will still be at least an hour and a half to get to the freeway.  It is the one drawback to Washougal, you will be sitting in horrid traffic getting to the track, and leaving.  Get to the track by 7AM, you will still have some traffic, but not nearly as bad, it ramps up crazy fast after that.  At that morning hour, you will still find a place to sit on HP hill as well.  Getting out after the races, you may want to leave really early, or follow Hammer 663s advice, hang out for a bit, let the chaos leave before you.

One downside leaving, assuming you will be in 2-3 hours or more traffic, it is a two-lane road, no amenities or places to stop, as a 50 year old dude assuming I drank at least a gallon of water throughout the day or more, if you need a restroom on your way home, you are 100% screwed.  I literally took an empty jug of water in the car last year just in case...  LOL.  Might sound full dip-shit, but when you gotta go and the suffering kicks in and you know there is no place to pull over or go and you are stopped in traffic with no end in sight, you have to get creative.

I passed a bunch of the factory rigs heading west/Washougal bound on the interstate yesterday near Rapid City, SoDak. I know they’re just trucks, but still cool to see them traveling together in groups.

Searching fridges cabinets and coolers ? Looking for what ? Can you bring alcohol in ? 

I parked on the shoulder and did that for a couple hours while we waited for the traffic to die down!

Searching for anything.  LOL.  No alcohol (etc.)  I have heard some folks that were barely even glanced at, and some folks got the rubber glove treatment (over the recent years).  I will say last year, the guys searching looked homeless (at least they were not flaggers right?), whatever they confiscated, got taken back to their place  haha.  I did note as the lines got longer, their searches were less gritty.

For race day, the only place you can get a beer or wine if that is your thing, is the beer gardens which in both cases, are in really odd spots with low visibility, completely fenced in.  With the way they did it, I would have felt like a raging alcoholic sitting in there, it really did look like a corral for "those people", you really can't see much, you are fenced in, it was almost pointless to be at a race, and not seeing the race for the sake of an adult drink.  I used to love having a beer watching the races, but they have made that less and less of an option each year.  Same old story, idiots that can't control themselves ruin the fun for the people who can moderate and do it responsibly.

This is great advice, thank you. I’ve decided to go this weekend, flying up on Friday. I’m allowing minimum three and a half hours to leave the track and return to Portland airport. The traffic will suck, but I’m looking forward to the day.

I raced PIR a few years ago when I drove up, fun track! A bit tight but the dirt is good! Finished 5th in my class but still got a numberplate trophy (they were giving them to the top 5).

MOTO XXX will have a booth at this years Washougal somewhere on vendor row! 

Stop on by say hello and pick up some swag. Shirts, Hats, Jerseys, Hoodies, Kids shirts and Hoodies too. 

We'll have our dart game set up at our tent.. Hit a bullseye, win a prize! 

Unfortunately it was too expensive to fly the Moto XXX girls up there. 

See ya there Friday & Saturday!