AMA Outstanding Off-Road Rider Award
The 2019 AMA Outstanding Off-Road Rider Award, which recognizes the achievements of those who have contributed to the promotion of the motorcycle lifestyle and the protection of off-highway motorcycling, is presented to Lyon Payne.
Since retiring as a metal fabricator seven years ago, Payne has averaged more than 650 hours a year working on trails in Oregon's 364,000-acre Tillamook State Forest, where he has been riding dirt bikes since 1970.
With a chainsaw and grub hoe mounted to his trusty 1991 Kawasaki KDX that he calls "Kermit," Payne has almost single-handedly developed 26 miles of trail in the forest. Thanks to Payne, other volunteers and the staff of the state Department of Forestry, the 250 miles of available trails in the forest system are fast becoming one of the preeminent off-highway riding areas in the country.
"I am very humbled and can't say how much l appreciate this award," Payne said. "This is something [I do] that allows me to pay it back to all the others before me who created the trail systems that I've ridden and raced on for years. All this would not be possible if it wasn't for the assistance of the forest service personnel I am able to work with. The highlight of my day is hearing a rider exclaim, 'How fun that trail was,' and knowing I had a hand in putting it in."
