(Anthony Sprando | Photo courtesy of Adventure MOB)
Delivering exploratory opportunities on two wheels, Anthony Sprando’s Adventure Ministries of Bend (aka Adventure MOB) is prying people away from their cell phone and laptop screens for a mission out into the wilds of Oregon to roam outdoor trails leading to surprising discoveries.
Adventure MOB operates out of Tumalo and offers a variety of rent-to-ride off-road motorcycle services that can serve as an introduction to rewarding backcountry riding, whether as day trip rentals, customized excursions, easy group rides, activities coaching, training seminars, special event planning, and generally connecting people from all walks of life via a love of motorcycles.
“We started in 2020,” Sprang tells CBN. “I used to be a street bike rider, then realized when the traffic got too busy I got into riding motorcycles in the dirt. I live out here in Tumalo, so this area has quite a bit of trails in the reservoir area and different regions to explore. While I was doing that I was learning the trail systems and as I got to know those trails I met people on the way.”
Technically categorized as an outdoor activity organizer, Adventure MOB specializes in fun off-street motorcycling but can also aid in food service needs, provide discount gear, and host DIY clinics. Additionally, Sprando and his wife organize casual faith-based get-togethers like Fire Pit Meet-Ups. Weekly Friday after-work wilderness jaunts depart out of the Tumalo Country Store.
“Some of the people were just guys riding by themselves, or maybe they were going through a tough time in life. It turned out to be quite the community of people who really wanted to create a collective of motorcycle riders and be inspired and go out to ride together, which is safer.”
As time went on, Sprando closed his regular business, Sprando Audio Visual, and gave the company to the employees to run and he embarked on his motorcycle enterprise full time.
“I found there’s a whole other community of people on the motorcycle side and I’ve been in touch through Facebook groups, which turned my labor of love project in prior years to now a full-time endeavor. Now I have two main groups that I manage on Facebook Groove, Central Oregon OHV, which has 3,900 members, and another one, Central Oregon Dual Sport Riders. So that’s like 6,000 people total that I connect with. I started doing Friday after-work rides and that seemed to be a big hit and I continue to do that to date. And I also found people wanted to buy bikes and wanted to try before they buy, and maybe rent a bike for the weekend, so I launched a rental division and now own a fleet of motorcycles that I rent to these groups as well.”
A multitude of out-of-towners have found Sprando and Adventure MOB through his Google business page, website and word-of-mouth, including local partnerships he has cultivated over the years with dealers in town like Pro Caliber, Moto Shop, and Ace Motor Sports in Redmond.
“All those three have really been big cheerleaders for me because they don’t rent and don’t have anybody else to send them to,” he explains. “And since I’ve spent so much time on trails I’ve learned the systems and created routes. I coach people on how to ride off-road and what routes to take. Sometimes I’ll ride along, sometimes I’ll create a map, and sometimes I’ll create a GPS map for a route they can take on their own. We target customers who need help or need to borrow or rent and require a little training and education, or are just starting to get into it.
“For the bigger rides, I actually just completed two of them. One up to Pickett Butte. We reserve fire lookout cabins and we go up there. I have coastal rides happening every month through the fall. I go from Bend to the Oregon Coast, all off-road. And they’re on our website, if people go to the calendar of the events link they can check that out there.”
For Sprando, the most gratifying and most common aspect of the business are father-son rides.
“Dads want to go out and ride with their sons and their sons might need a bit of training,” he adds. “It’s always easier to have somebody else train them so it turns out to be a pretty good experience. Depending on how well it goes, we’ll all go on a ride and it becomes a rewarding coming-of-age moment. Lots of my Google reviews reflect that as well.
“Another great part of the business are my donation bins throughout Central Oregon. There’s tons of motorcycle gear that gets thrown in the dump because it wears out. I end up taking that stuff in and recycling it, fixing it, cleaning it and equipping people with the gear, boots and jackets. People don’t want to deal with selling it for pennies on the dollar. Helmets cannot be reused. They have a date stamp inside and are only good for three to five years. I’ve helped strip those out of the community and send them to locations that use them for art projects. They’ll make a helmet wall or carve it out for a mask and other interesting repurposing projects.”
advridemob.com • tony.sprando@gmail.com • 503-888-2515
