So there you go, my two specific suggestions about what you should add to your editions. First there should be a location to highlight every issue, with a place to go as a destination, with information regarding the area, the season, the local clubs, etc. I can't imagine you would run out of information or ideas on that one anytime soon! And secondly I would recommend you include in each edition a write up on one famous, or infamous local club race that has stood the test of time, and has become a local legend in the riding circles of that state or region. By the way, have you ever heard of the Oreana 100? FYI, David Kamo is from a small town here, and is just tearing up the desert racing season this year! He was in Chile for the ISDE last winter as well. It would be great to hear about these riders who RIDE in places where the rest of us like to ride as well.Thanks for letting me spew, I hope I was concise, and even if I was criticizing, I wanted to include what I think is a resolution to my perceived lack of info on your mag. If you want me to provide an article about Idaho to get the tire rolling, you just give me a shout! I'll be on it as fast as my KX450F fires up and we'll be heading out to some wicked sand wash canyons to show you the way.
Steve Silva
Wilder Idaho
Thanks for the letter. You see a lot of mechanical stories because that is what the majority of our readers buy Dirt Rider for. There is a reason we are the largest off-road motorcycle magazine and it is because we satisfy a wide variety of viewers. As to the point of doing a "where to ride" section. Sure it would be easy for a few months but uncovering new areas is a very time consuming and expensive proposition. To do it the Dirt Rider way and to a high level it would take a staffer or a great contributor to go out and research the areas and get good photos. We don't have the budget or the time to do it right. And experience shows that we can not get consistent content on this subject from contributors, clubs or individuals about spots all over the country aside from a lot of, "come ride at our place, the mud hills, it's rad!" Supplied with a blurry photo of a guy on a clapped out XR400. Secondly, and on a more personal level, I would not want some magazine to go telling everyone about my favorite area because, and trust me on this, it would get trampled. I enjoy the searching out of good riding areas on my own and relish in the accomplishment of finding new places. Through this I meet new riding friends as well.
It would be the same in trying to get info and especially good photos on clubs. We have to think about these stories on a national magazine level and sometimes what happens in Idaho is as important as what happens in Southern California. And to a guy in Michigan, neither of those places is too important. The majority of our readers do ride and they ride a lot. But we suspect most of them would rather focus on something that is more central to what they do, which is ride, more than something abstract such as riding someplace that is likely out of reach.
Truthfully there are plenty of online resources to satisfy the need to go riding in places you are not familiar with and they do a better job, in real time and with specific information about where you are looking to travel than we could ever do. If I were king, our web site would have an area for this but our site continues to suck. If you wanted to give up your favorite place, then send in the story and I'll put it up online to see if it floats. And ask some of your riding buddies who help out with trail maintenance and keeping riding areas open to help you out with the article.
Regards,
Jimmy Lewis