The Need for Speed

Just for the record, I'm NOT talking pharmaceuticals here, OK?

We were out and about this weekend, checking out what folks do for fun in these parts. Heading west along The River, we passed up previously checked out spots like the petroglyphs at a State Park, numerous Lewis and Clark Historical markers, Maryhill Winery and the Stonehenge war memorial. We headed towards Goldendale. What a quaint sounding name. Not much to report about Goldendale. It was golden, all right. Just a big volcanic tableland with lots of ranches, not a lot of trees, a town bigger than we thought it would be, and The Festival of Wheels and Music going on downtown. There had been a classic car parade earlier, and the results were being announced as we passed through. Folks looked like they were having fun. We moved along, and checked 'See Goldendale' off of our to do list.

The BIG action was just a few miles outside of town, on Maryhill Loop Rd, where the Maryhill Festival of Speed was being held. The Maryhill Loop Rd, according to the festival website, was the first paved road in Washington, built in 1913 and used as a highway by those vintage Model T's we saw in Goldendale until 1947, when a bypass was built. Take a look at the road to see why a bypass was necessary. The Loop Rd fell into disrepair, until the Maryhill Museum funded a rebuilding of 2.2 miles of the road, reopening to pedestrian and bicycle traffic in 1998. Since then, it's become a favorite of 'gravity racers' worldwide. These 'gravity racers', including downhill skateboarders, street lugers, classic lugers, gravity bikers, and inline skaters roll down this course with 17 very sharp turns at speeds topping 55 mph. Who knew?

We pulled into a 'scenic overlook' packed with cars. A festive group of people, including families, bikers, and local cruisers looking for something fun to do, sat in anticipation of the next heat of skateboarders. They were way off schedule, we heard. The lugers were supposed to start at 2:30. The skateboarders weren't done until after 4. We watched a few heats, but could never see who won as they disappeared behind the 13^th curve. So we drove down to the place where Maryhill Loop Rd comes into the highway, and found the spectator parking lot. We hiked in about a quarter mile to the finish line, haystacks on either side in case of crashes. There were tents, canopies, announcers, contestants who were out of the competition, families and friends of the racers, and the patient lugers waiting their turn to ride up the hill with their sleds in the back of a U Haul. We actually got to see the ultimate winner urge his board past the leader right at the finish line. You'd have thought he won the Olympics! He ripped off his helmet, unleashing a mop of curly green…VERY GREEN…hair. We watched him as he was interviewed by the media. Such enthusiasm for his sport. And to think, we didn't even know it existed until today!