Mugshot and Environmental Portrait

Alex Clarke has been riding motorcycles since he was 5 years old on his grandfather's property in eastern Oregon on a little 50cc pull-start mini bike that his grandpa had built from spare parts. He got his first “street legal” bike, a 2005 Honda CBR600RR, that he bought for himself when he was 19. 

He started racing in 2018 by participating in New Racer School on track days with Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association (OMRRA). These races are held at Portland International Raceway or the Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington. The classes were for fun, not competition, but riders were grouped by skill level to practice and learn. Now he teaches New Racer School to help pay for his entry fees. Alex laughed when asked how much he spends on racing. “I prefer not to say.” 

He is also sponsored by Gray Area KTM located in Eugene, Hot and Hazardous Performance in Newberg, and the Gore Electric Company in Beaverton, Oregon. Depending on the level of sponsorship, he gets parts at discounted prices or at cost. “They also feed me while I'm at the track,” he said, “which is really nice.”

He recently participated in the 50th anniversary race of the Stumpjumper Desert 100, an off-road dirt bike endurance race that occurs in Odessa, Washington. He was one of 963 riders to attempt the 100 mile race, and he placed 364. 

When he isn’t riding, Alex works as a CAD/BIM Designer at Devco Engineering. He graduated from LBCC in 2017 with an Associate of Applied Science, Automotive Technology and an Associate of Applied Science, Computer Aided Drafting & Design (CADD) Technology. He also enjoys working on computers. His race number is 404, which he chose because he says he is a nerd. It is the error code for a webpage that can’t be found. In the last 8 years, he has ridden 35,000 miles, and he can’t wait to ride thousands more.