Stories from back in the day of dirt bike riding in the Bay Area

1. Testimonials:
Over the years, up until the early 1990’s there were dozens of places to go recreational trail riding in the Bay
Area and many along and even out into the Bay. There were many official tracks run by the Santa Clara County
Police Action League, clubs and others. There were local High School teams with competitions and there even
PE class credits earned for participating.
The mud flats and levees throughout the South Bay, East Bay and Peninsula were used for recreational
motorcycle riding and racing for many years.
There were at least three official motocross tracks within three miles of the water treatment plant itself
throughout the years as shown in this image:
Until 1989, the Santa Clara Police Activities League operated a popular motocross track on the west side of
Alviso in Santa Clara and another one in Sunnyvale. In the 80s and 90s Club Moto operated a track in
Sunnyvale on the site currently occupied by Twin Creeks Ball Parks. Five miles away Baylands Raceway in
Fremont operated motocross and flat tracks at its bay side location along with drag racing. There was also a
motocross club track in Hayward.
The San Jose-Alviso area has a long history of motor sports. According to the San Jose News, Aug 27, 1934,
Alviso was the official site of "San Jose's newest sporting enterprise- flat track cycle racing". See the article at:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3xciAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QqQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1400%2C4541222
There was also an Alviso Speedway until 1963 for auto racing. The clay track was built in 1954 and was under
the Western Auto Racing format. NASCAR's San Jose Speedway was its biggest rival.
Below are testimonials from three different local online forums. Members were recently reminiscing and
sharing stories of how this form of recreation was enjoyed around the bay area in the 1960s through the early
1990s. All of the tracks or riding places mentioned no longer exist.

2. I just wanted to wish all the fathers out there, and their fathers a Happy Father’s Day. I have had this picture
hanging in my office since 2003 when my dad passed away. It is from the1974 high-school race at PAL, so I am
reminded of that day, all of the time. I was just blessed to have a dad, as a lot of you are, that allowed me to
chase my dreams and to be able to compete as a motocross rider and have these wonderful memories with all of
you guys.

3. Sunnyvale PAL track once again…. (1970s)
Thought you guys might like to see a few photos of Sunnyvale PAL from May of 1974. This was a CMC race.
The PAL track was off of Caribbean Drive - pretty much where the (Twin Creeks) softball fields are now.

4. Great pic! Looks like 1975 or 1976. Here's me in 1974:
Sunnyvale PAL 1975

5. When I lived in a trailer park outside Alviso at my Mom's in the early 80's I would go out past the dumps and
out onto the levees on my little Honda 90 and cruise around enjoying the bay and birds out behind Moffett
Field. There was a cool little water crossing where one levee sank. I could usually make it through without
getting my butt wet. Now it's literally a federal offense if you try that. We’d ride on the old dump and in the
fields around town. There was also a MX track at Lafayette & 237 for years although I had never been in it.
In 83-87 I had a buddy that lived in a trailer park @ 237 & 1st. We used to ride our dirt bikes all over. As far
north as the edge of Hwy 84. There was some really cool stuff out in those mud flats.
I grew up in Fremont and in the early 70's you could ride pretty much anywhere. There was a drainage ditch
behind our house and it had a couple tracks setup in it and on a weekend it wouldn't be unusual to have 20 guys
riding there. We would ride to the gravel pits and there were probably 75 to a 100 guys riding there. In the early
70's I rode a TT at the Alviso track. Back then you could race flat track on Wednesday at Fremont and ride Lodi
on Friday and either Hayward or Fremont on Saturday. Usually there was a race somewhere on Sunday. I still
try and ride as much as I can you. Now you have to plan to ride, back then you just started up your bike and
rode.
Those were the days (riding along the Bay). Before Marine World, Oracle and all the houses, there was Pete's
Harbor. Always good for a sammich after a day riding
I road Sunnyvale PAL MX track back then and they were CMC races Continental motosport club" in the early
70s corner of Crossman & Caribbean and now is the Sunnyvale dump I would get bored and ride the levee to
237 and get on the freeway with my 1974 Cr125 Elsinore to the Santa Clara PAL track and then ride for couple
hours and ride back to Sunnyvale PAL were my parents would pick me and take me home. That is where i
learned to ride at.
Santa Clara P.A.L. track (police activities league) Closed down in 1989. I used to ride and race there regularly.
Palm/3com or whatever it's called now sits on top of where the track was. I am told there was another track near
there before that one, but it was before my time.
The wind can't be any worse in Alviso than it was at the Altamont Raceway MX track. That place was
frightening while in the air.
I used to ride the PAL track in Santa Clara when I lived in there.
I remember watching a HS buddy race PAL circa 1983. The races went on till past midnight on a Friday night I
think it was.
Thanks for the memories. I might be on that starting line. Those were the days.
I raced there many times. First on my 74 Yamaha gt80 then 72 cz250 and 76 Maico 400 My first race though
was at SC PAL raced a lot there.
I used to ride at the end of San Antonio Road in the bay land. The levees were fun to jump.
I raced at all 3 tracks (near Alviso). Great times! Some days it was windy - no problem. This was before stupid
supercross jumps anyway.
There was also a small asphalt track for 1/4 midgets or micro midgets at Sunnyvale.
Thanks for the memories. I used to race both the Sunnyvale and Santa Clara PAL tracks around 1972/73. I was

6. thinking I might recognize someone’s truck in the parking lot, but no.
I used to ride the PAL track in Santa Clara. And I used to ride the Friday Night Motocross at Baylands. I guess
that makes me old.
Sunnyvale PAL track……Had a lot of fun racing there back in the mid-seventies…
I also teamed up for a Santa Clara Fairgrounds marathon (must be where 408MX is now) with a guy named Tim
Oliver on a Penton.
Did any of you guys race the High School Motocross race at Sunnyvale PAL? It was February of 1974. The
schools were: Awalt High (my school - now it is called Mountain View High), Los Altos High, Homestead
High, Sunnyvale High and Fremont High. There was a big turnout - like a regular CMC race, with lots of
spectators. It was pretty neat.
There was a guy from Los Altos High School named Phil Evard that I raced against at Sunnyvale and Santa
Clara PAL, and I am sure he was at the High School Motocross. I think he was running that Los Altos riding
club.
I can remember being at the Milpitas PAL (track) in the 70's
Never raced at Sunnyvale but spent many a night at Santa Clara PAL.
It's all fun but there was something really magical back in the early seventies. Borrowing someone's dad's truck,
tying down with rope, riding in jeans and whatever you had for boots.... Yup, those were the days. I was flying
high in my secondhand Fullbore boots and Hercules leathers.
Thanks for the memories. I might be on that starting line. Those were the days.
It is really cool to see some old pictures of the PAL track and hear all of the guys that have raced there. I
remember eating your dust all day in the High school race!!
WOW! Was that really that long ago? I raced in that high school race for Fremont. And yes the scoring was
based more on how many riders you had. But it was still a lot of fun. My family ran the CMC races back then.
Many many good times. I'm still racing those old bikes in the AHRMA series today. But a little older and wiser.
I graduated in '73 and was a bit miffed that all the cool stuff was happening after I left. The Los Altos Dirt
Bikers grew out of the things that went on in those days. As I recall in the MVLAHS District guys were going
riding and getting PE credits for it. Man I wish I was a couple of years younger.
A Mt View police officer named Sid Storm started a dirt bike club at Awalt. We went on rides to Hollister and
Cycle Hills, but I don't think we got any PE credit for it. It was still going strong several years after I graduated
in 1974.
My oldest brother Harry and I both raced on that Santa Clara track back in the mid-70's. I still have a picture of
me on my 250 Husky off one of the many jumps there floating around my house. It was really bad when it
rained or they over watered it, slick as can be, just like Sand Hill. At least it was close by, but alas, like all good
things it's gone.
Those were the days. Before Marine World, Oracle and all the houses, there was Pete's Harbor. Always good
for a sammich after a day riding

7. I grew up in the Oakland hills so we dirt biked all over up there back then, one favorite place was where Merit
College is , it use to be an old quarry we use to ride all over there and down redwood road going towards Castro
valley in the 60's there use to be a dirt bike park called redwood hill climbs then it became rutted up so bad we
called it rutwood hill climbs then they closed it in the early 70's it was run by the east bay regional park district,
I bet not to many people remember that place.
When I was a kid in Martinez (late eighties) I used to ride in the hills off Morello Rd. I also used to ride the area
across Hwy 4 from the Solano Drive-In. There were some great jumps that were just big terraces for future
buildings. Damn that was fun. I think I weighed about 120 pounds and was unbreakable.
Here's a list of tracks that I raced at from 72-75: Sunnyvale PAL, Santa Clara PAL, Sand Hill Ranch, Carnegie
Lower track (next to road), Carnegie Upper track (in the back), Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds (Watsonville),
Altamont Speedway, Pescadero, Hangtown (Plymouth), Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.
I grew up racing flat track at Fremont baylands, San Jose indoors on cement, oakdale pioneer arena. Started out
on a 1972 yamaha 60. We used to practice on the salt flats next to the San Mateo Bridge.
There were so many places to ride like old quarries. Hadn't thought about those days in a long time.
I rode the hill climbs on Redwood once or twice, I used to ride in the hills above Mission Boulevard down by
the motorcycle shops in Hayward, out at the end of University Ave in Berkeley near the Marina, and also a few
times out at 3rd Avenue in Foster City near the San Mateo Bridge. Last time I was at Fremont Raceway
(Baylands) I dragged my FZ600, I think it was shortly before it closed in the late `80's?
We also had great riding around the Monterey Peninsula. We knew all the trails in Fort Ord, and also had the
beaches to ride on.
What pissed me off was they said they wanted to close Baylands to build the Auto Mall. So, it closes and sits
empty for years. Then they finally build the Auto Mall about a mile WEST of Baylands. Could have kept it
open all that time.
Anyone ever race MX at Altamont? Damn, it was windy out there!
Always scary getting any kind of air (even my pathetic little air ) off the jumps there. I got pushed completely
sideways on my CR80 once.
I learned to ride at the Hayward salt flats off Depot Rd at 5 years old.
Many good memories of jumping levees, and doing power slides forever.
Nothing out there but smooth land, and some home made jumps.
We also used to ride to Coyote Hills before it was a controlled park. We'd take Tennyson to Ruus Rd ,down to
Whipple which was a two lane road. There was nothing but farm land and fields out there. Union City Blvd to
Coyote hills and ride the outside trails.
I lived in Sunnyvale/ Cupertino in the early 70's. I had a bunch of Bonanza and Rupp minibikes. One had a
Hodaka motor. We would ride thru orchards, along creeks and railroad tracks to fire roads in the Santa Cruz
mountians. We had a great track at "Maryknoll" at 280 and Foothill expressway, and a fantastic rope swing.
Then they built a pet cemetery. Now there are homes. And kitty ghosts.
Lots of memories also racing at Sandhill Ranch (first broken bone), Hollister (first series championship), Santa
Clara PAL (first double jump) and (Sunnyvale) Club Moto (first really BIG double jump...).

8. Wow, thanks for the pics and videos, brings back many memories. I raced both tracks a lot on my Maico 400
with other Fremont friends. What a great time that was with the rubberband starts, little to no gear, no shading
easy ups in the "pits" and no fear.
We used to ride behind what is now the Fremont BART station. I remember my dad unloading a brand new CZ
400 there
I wish our kids could enjoy getting outdoors and having fun like this like we did.
When I was growing up in Half Moon Bay in the 70' my friends and I would ride all up and down the coast on
the cliffs and beach and in the redwood forests in the hills. I would get up early and ride out to the beach and
back before school. It started when my stepdad and mom got my brother and I minibikes and took us out to the
cliff trails. Mom was worried but we were so excited! I put on my brand new stars and stripes bell helmet and
got on my new minibike. Stepdad showed me how to pull start it and here we go! I immediately went full
throttle and flew through a culvert and up in the air with my legs flying out behind me. I think I wiped out but
don't remember that part I was HOOKED! A couple of our friends had mini-bikes too. We would ride them all
up and down the cliff trails and along the beach, dodging waves. We would go up Higgens Canyon road in the
hills behind town. The last steep, winding mile to the top of the mountain was gravel back then and has big
steep cliffs to fall down if you went off the road. It was exciting sliding around the corners. On the other side of
the hill we'd go into the redwood forest on Purisima Creek Trail and ride the trails all through there. This was
before the jogging craze and there were hardly any people around at all except weekends. We didn't "tear up the
land", we stayed on the dirt trails that were there from probably before mankind arrived. They paved some of
our dirt trails on the cliffs for "multi-use". Those were our trails, dammit!
When I was a kid, a whole bunch of kids in our neighborhood had minibikes. It was a good time to grow up, our
parents were pretty much all pro-minibike. Fort Ord had a minibike club and races, Coast Counties had a
Minibike club and races, there was open riding out there, plus, the beach was legal to ride on, we had wilderness
areas like Big Sur, Clear Creek, etc., races at the Monterey Fairgrounds (short track), Salinas Airport (rough
scrambles), Bolado Park in Hollister (short track and TT), Watsonville (Motocross and scrambles), King City
(flat track), Paso (short track), and I know I'm missing a bunch of races that we used to have around there.
Yep, yep, yep. It was definitely a good time to be introduced to the motorized recreation lifestyle. I don't
envision kids today getting the same riding opportunities that we did, I mean, I rode my minibike every day.
Unless you live out in the boonies or desert, I don't see kids today being able to do that. .....sigh
I've been saying this for years. Thanks for sharing. You can't just put your kid on a mini-bike and let them go
play in a field anymore in the Bay Area. They're all fenced off or the cops will show up pronto. You need to
pack up a truck and drive for miles to sometimes overcrowded parks. It was so cool to be out in nature by
ourselves exploring and having Fun. We were out every day all day.
The new VR craze kinda makes me ill. It's bad enough having my kids sitting in front of the damn computer all
day. Now the kids will be sightless zombies bumping into the walls and stuck in their rooms. You couldn’t get
me in the house unless it involved food.
Yep that's what we called it Devils punch bowl, there use to be a bunch of cars dumped in there then they filled
it in and put merit college there! Damn, very cool hearing from people who were from my area then.
The best spot was the Corte Madera side of Tiburon hill. Now hugely developed, it was all mudflat, chaparral
and trails leading up to the ridge.
So, it used to be a helluva lot more fun 'round here.