Northwest Riders 2007 Summer Clinic Tour - Madras, OR Recap

“NORTHWEST RIDERS SUMMER CLINIC TOUR : Madras, OR - Recap”

By Greg Young

I know that it’s been awhile since I last wrote, and it’s not because we’ve been sitting around doing nothing worthy of writing about. The Northwest Riders Clinic Tour is still in full effect (I’m actually writing this article as we make the long drive across Montana), in fact it seems that we’ve been busier than ever. We just wrapped up our trip thru Eastern Oregon, stopping at Lake Billy Chinook to visit our friends at Madras Marine for a few days of clinics.

For some reason our crew has had a history of arriving in Madras really, really late the night before the clinics, and consequently had to find a last minute camping spot in the dark. The first year we were there, we tried to sleep in the boat in the boat launch parking lot at one thirty in the morning, only to have the sprinkler system attack the inside of the car as we unpacked. Last year, Brent and I tried sleeping in the boat on the side of the road, only to have the friendly park ranger wake us up and tell us to move. We gambled that she wouldn’t come back again so we stayed put and about an hour later, lost the bet. She was pissed and forced us to move. We found another pullout a few miles up the road and sleepily set up camp again. We must have been pretty tired because it wasn’t until the next morning that we realized that we were precariously perched on the very edge of a five hundred foot cliff. This year, we made a pact to leave early and get into town with enough time to find a legit and comfortable place to sleep.

A week before we left, Brent actually purchased a sweet new camper for the back of his truck, putting an end to our days of sleeping in the boat or someone’s living room floor. We left Brent’s house near Olympia at noon, figuring that we’d pull into the Lake at about 5 o’clock. Long story short, we had to rewire the truck, take the camper off of the truck to replace the battery, and make three separate trips to Schucks and Napa to get everything working properly. We ended up arriving at our campground at about ten thirty, a lot later than we thought but by far our earliest arrival in the last three years.

The best thing about sleeping in a camper besides the lack of bugs is a hot pot of coffee greeting you as you wake up. Brent and I drained a pot and were at the dock at seven getting ready for a long day in the sun. Our first riders arrived promptly at eight, and we got right out on the water. If you haven’t been to Lake Billy Chinook, you really need to plan a trip (but plan to get out on the water early because it gets rough). The water was glassy until lunch and all of the riders got plenty of time behind the ’07 Wakesetter. Brent rode three times and I got to take a few “instructional” surf sets, which was almost necessary as the temperature was hovering right around 100 degrees. Madras Marine has a perfect attendance record for the clinics, we had two full or more than full days on the lake pulling riders from beginner to advanced. Everyone had a great time and were more than generous with how much they let Brent and I ride. At one point I even got to hop in the water and take a kid out for a doubles set on the surfboard. Brent hopped in after that and after a few attempts we got up on the big board for a doubles set of our own. Pretty fun, despite a painful collision between Brent and a sting-crazy hornet.

By the time we pulled into Brent’s driveway at about one in the morning after the second day of clinics, we had gotten to camp for two nights, drive for about 800 miles, spent two days in the sun pulling over 25 riders, and had still managed to get in six sets each. It was an action packed few days, but we had an awesome time and are already looking forward to heading back next year. Many thanks to David and the whole staff at Madras Marine for all of their help, as well as to all of the friendly folks that showed up to ride and hang out.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors who allow us to have the most fun jobs any of us could imagine. Thanks to Malibu Boats for our beautiful Wakesetter, Extreme Trailers for a great way to tow it, Titan Wake Accessories for some rocking Alpha 1 speakers and the super-handy swivel board racks, Westwinds Tower Accessories for our ultra bright aimable tower lights, Slingshot & Hyperlite for a truckload of demo gear, Bill Baker and the Staff at Bakes Marine, BFY Productions, DieCutStickers.com, Northwest Riders Clothing, and of course Wakeboardnorthwest.com for following the action.

To Read Previous NWR Clinic Tour Recaps Click On the Links Below:

Northwes Riders Summer Clinic Tour - “Take 1″

Northwest Riders Summer Clinic Tour - “Take 2″

NORTHWEST RIDERS SUMMER CLINIC TOUR SCHEDULE
(These dates are the remaining NWR Tour stops for the ‘07 Summer.)

AUGUST

14-15: NWR Summer Tour (Wake) - Great Falls, MT
17: NWR Summer Tour (Wake) - Kalispell, MT

Northwest Riders 2007 Summer Clinic Tour is Sponsored by : Malibu Boats, BAKES Board & Ski, Northwest Riders Clothing, Hyperlite, Westwinds, Titan, BFY Productions, DiecutStickers.com, Slingshot, WakeboardNorthwest.com

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