The Wild One: The Holy Grail of Flat Track Fun

Next to sex, drugs and rock & roll, motorcycles top the list in getting your heart pumping and the good times flowing. The Wild One (formerly known as Dirt Quake USA), is an event like none other, almost a Woodstock for motorcycle racing and shenanigans, and the whole shindig revolves around flat track. But the fun doesn’t stop there – nope, not even close. We had so much damn fun that I don’t even know where to start, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning.

Castle Rock, Washington, is a small town in the middle of nowhere, about 70 miles north of Portland, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and Castle Rock Race Park, where the event was held, is a ⅜-mile dirt track with a storied history that’s been around since the ‘60s. Driving up to the event, along the lush, tree-lined Cowlitz River, I had no idea what I was in for. This was also my first time in either Oregon or Washington, so everything was new to me. The promo video below, is all I had to go off of for what to expect.

I pulled up the dirt road to the event’s entry, and the first thing the girl at the entrance booth told me as she leaned over my window was, “I hope you’re wearing your party pants, and did you bring me any beer?”

Over the years, I’ve learned not to show up empty handed to any sort of social gathering, so I reached and grabbed a fresh-out-the-cooler Yellow Jacket, cracked it open, and happily handed it over as if it were my price of admission. The fairy-winged / tutu wearing girl slugged it right in front of me – the whole thing. It was going to be a good day.

I was there to race, so I wouldn’t be enjoying any libations until after all that was over, unfortunately, but she certainly set the tone and gave me an idea for how the rest of the night would unfold.

The Pacific Northwest is one of the last frontiers, and naturally, the people there are a little different – but aren’t we all. They’re a little strange, and definitely weird, but in the best possible way. They embrace their eccentricity and celebrate it. Some really let their freak-flag fly, and they’re not ashamed – not those attending The Wild One, anyhow.

Below is more or less how the weekend went down…

All in all, The Wild One was just that, a wild one, and I can’t wait to go back next year. What you see here is just a small glimpse, which actually barely even scratches the surface of the event. There was so much more that happened (a lot of which I’d rather tell over a beer), but hey, sometimes you gotta just live your life, unglue your eyeballs from your phone and enjoy the little things, the things that will forever live on in your memory as fond times. Motorcycles are an incredible thing, and they have the power to bring people together in awesome ways. Grassroot motorcycle events like The Wild One are popping up and happening all over the country, and most of them are an absolute blast, so long as you keep an open mind and don’t mind getting a little dirty.

Ride motorcycles, have fun.

Part II: We Almost Run into the Wall and Live to Tell About It… Coming up Friday