10 Annual Desert Dash - SUCCESS!

[bikeslut 1]

Ok- to be totally fair, you did particularly well on that bike for the conditions- especially on Grapevine and in the dunes. I could see from your wake that it was a lot of work, but you kept it upright all day (ceptin this time)

I had a number of close calls myself, but was able to keep the 300# bike upright.

I found myself wondering IF I was on the KLR or Vstrom how it wouldve been. I don't think I wouldve fared as well, Paul...a sincere tip of the helmet to you (and to a leseer degree Strega and Mad Mike...they weren't exactly on two stroke KTMs either)

It was a great ride, and when we hit the street the DRZ shortcomings were obvious. In retrospect, if I wouldve put on the street gearing, the sand wouldve been easier too (but phantom II wouldve been even MORE impossible)

Two very different rides

[Strega 0]

First time on the bike in a while, and had a really good time. Knee was a little sore from a previous incident and didn't over do it too much. I REALLY enjoyed Grapvine, Jasper and Culp. Almost dumped the bike on Rodriguez and somehow saved it and even had a witness :)/>

Need to get some work done on the Valdez and I'll be ready for CORE 4 KIDS next month!

I didn't take many pics:

[kato 53]

Jeeze. I kicked ass all over the desert. Ripped up big sand traps, hopped over rocky sections, kept a lively pace the entire day with all the baby bikes.

And did anyone post a cool pic of any of that?

Oh, nooooooo.

Just the one little bobble.

No respect. Maybe Tracy will post something nice.

When I saw the pics earlier @ heart attack I thought about you and all other bigger bikes that must have been on the DD, did you make it down pinyon and up fairchild on the big bike?? or was there an alternate route?

[ADV Bum 205]

I think one of the the things I most enjoy about our annual club ride is the sense of family/camaraderie amongst the usual set of volunteers/participants.......I feel lucky to have so many moto friends/acquaintances........

I agree completely. Not getting to see many of the members through the year, it is always nice to see the awesome group who help out. You guys keep me laughing all the time. As always volunteers and riders alike were awesome.

[Crawdaddy 96]

Maybe Tracy will post something nice.

Hey, I'll help ya out.......I thought you & Mad Dog did a great job with the big beasts in the dunes out near the dump (same for Strega and Tracy on their 600+ cc rigs)......

Meanwhile, me and Bags were smiling ear to ear on our "Less is More" rigs

[Guest Crusty]

I got passed by a CRF 450X on the pavement going down the hill to Borrego,

but he missed the left turn and I never saw him again.

His bike sounded lean, because it would back fire every time he let off the gas.

[Guest Crusty]

And there is that can of worms! They are full of poop too

I had a LOT OF FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With Ben Taylor as my co pilot.

Great trails!!

[paulmbowers 236]

When I saw the pics earlier @ heart attack I thought about you and all other bigger bikes that must have been on the DD, did you make it down pinyon and up fairchild on the big bike?? or was there an alternate route?

I would have, but we didn't take the "official" ride route Saturday- it was a freelance job. So no Squeeze, Steps, Fairchild, etc.

I rode out, played in the sandbox, then rode home. A 265(ish) mile day.

[tlking6 0]

Maybe Tracy will post something nice.

Hey, I'll help ya out.......I thought you & Mad Dog did a great job with the big beasts in the dunes out near the dump (same for Strega and Tracy on their 600+ cc rigs)......

Meanwhile, me and Bags were smiling ear to ear on our "Less is More" rigs :coolio:/> :smile_anim:/>

Yeah I'll chime in! Paul was hauling the mail on the 990, even passed me at one point. I toyed with taking him back a few times but the big machine takes up a good chunk of the trail and didnt want to get hockey checked over the side.

Fun stuff. Great pace, perfect conditions and lots of laughs!

[paulmbowers 236]

Yeah I'll chime in! Paul was hauling the mail on the 990, even passed me at one point. I toyed with taking him back a few times but the big machine takes up a good chunk of the trail and didnt want to get hockey checked over the side.

Fun stuff. Great pace, perfect conditions and lots of laughs!

See?

[Bagstr 287]

Two Tourists, seen in the Dez Saturday

Along with Mike's new ride.

[Guest Crusty]

My kid was wondering who that jerk on the honda was going so slow and putting his feet down in the wash. I said I think it was Crusty.

I was nice to you 2, I waited till you stopped.

Before some long hill, to pass.

You and your son were doing GREAT,

I only passed a couple more after you 2,

and I think they rode the pavement to Salton Sea.

Bikes were way too clean.

[Afry 1]

A few more pics from DD 2013. I rode with Afry and BillP on Saturday, BillP on Sunday.

Great pictures, that is me in the far back getting the clutch fixed. I do not know the name of the person in your group(or if he was with you )that was riding the DR but I would love to thank him and get his lever back to him. Please pass it on, he came along at the right time !!

BillP is your man on the Dr350 which he rides very well I might add!

[SCHWINN 0]

I'd be interested in seeing bike demographics by manufacturer. Percentage of KTM, Honda, etc.

I passed LOL.

3 Honda

4 Husky

2 Suzuki

and about 20 KTM

Before the lunch stop at 9:40am.

Then it was clear sailing.

Its always EASY to pass riders when they are taking in the scenery or taking pictures and did not know they were being raced

[Guest Crusty]

I'd be interested in seeing bike demographics by manufacturer. Percentage of KTM, Honda, etc.

I passed LOL.

3 Honda

4 Husky

2 Suzuki

and about 20 KTM

Before the lunch stop at 9:40am.

Then it was clear sailing.

Its always EASY to pass riders when they are taking in the scenery or taking pictures and did not know they were being raced

I wasn't racing!

Just out having a fun ride, at a good pace!

TRYING TO GET BACK TO THE RANCH SO I COULD HANG WITH MY WIFE, and YOUR WIFE.

Just recalling the brands of bikes I saw, DUDE.LOL.

On a funny note!!!!

About 5 years ago at a DD. SCHWINNY stopped to help me with a flat,

and his phone rang, HE TOLD THE PERSON HE WAS IN A RACE......LOL

[bruceh 0]

Had a great time again (third time). Did just the Saturday tracks, but did all of the GPS only sections in Superstition and Mud Caves. Put 227 miles on the odometer in just under 9 hours of riding. Slow paced, but I never fell down. Couple of sloppy saves in the sandy washes. Feeling a bit sore the next day in the shoulders. Too much crap weighing me down in my backpack. Weather was great, but coming back to Butterfield at dusk was cold and windy.

I didn't stop to take as many pictures as I have in years past. My photo album is here.

Thanks to Randy and all of the volunteers for putting on such a fun event!

[dsfox 0]

I'd be interested in seeing bike demographics by manufacturer. Percentage of KTM, Honda, etc.

randy may have that for this year.....but for the few years in the past when I typed up the rosters....the bikes were typically about 60+% KTM's.......next greatest % ( of fairly equal amounts) : honda, yamaha, suzuki.......lesser amounts of husky, kawasaki, bmw, and lesser still / a few others....ie aprillia, beta, husaberg, etc.......

[KLXBEN 0]

Bikes were way too clean.

They stay pretty clean when your barely on the ground for 200 miles

[tntmo 887]

I'd be interested in seeing bike demographics by manufacturer. Percentage of KTM, Honda, etc.

randy may have that for this year.....but for the few years in the past when I typed up the rosters....the bikes were typically about 60+% KTM's.......next greatest % ( of fairly equal amounts) : honda, yamaha, suzuki.......lesser amounts of husky, kawasaki, bmw, and lesser still / a few others....ie aprillia, beta, husaberg, etc.......

That's about what I figured. It's interesting to me, KTM is a small company compared to the Big Four but seems to have figured out it's niche in the market and it shows at events like this.

As for passing a bunch of riders....I remember riding sweep a few years ago and a guy seemed to think the DD was a race. He was hauling and made a bunch of questionable passes on the entire sweep team. At a stop later, one of the sweep riders mentioned to him that he was riding a bit over zealous for an organized ride. The guy just basically shrugged it off. Later that day, the sweep team had to save him with a swamped bike south of Ocotillo Wells. It's called karma, and sometimes it catches up with you.

Thanks for all the write ups so far, I hate missing the dash but happy to see all the fun everyone had. Glad to have loaned a bike also, two people got to ride the dash who otherwise wouldn't have.

[dstss 27]

I spent a good part of my 3 hour drive home this morning thinking about what an awesome weekend this was. My second dash and once again I go away knowing if I did just one ride in a year, it would be the DD. My son and I had a great time sweeping on Sunday. Thanks to everyone who rode on Sunday for apparently being safe, making our lives and ride very easy. A special call out to Danrider who swept on Saturday and came back to camp with a black and blue wrist. But there he was on Sunday, sweeping with us all the way to Borrego until the pain got to bad. Thanks Randy for being the driving force that brings so many people together to enjoy this. Got some video of the ride including the snowy areas and the drop off that I will post later. Great time everyone.

[dsfox 0]

Great weekend, Awesome weather and amazing friends, old and new...

I also agree with the others: by far my best memories are the " family" times , especially with the other volunteers and getting to spend time, cook, clean, work, and socialize over dinner and camp fires....getting to put faces and characters with the user names I don't get to hang out or ride with often....

HERE'S A FEW PICS..

First camping trip for a new family vehicle....(love the hemi for towing!)

First dash (but about 8th camping trip) for my Awesome Aliner trailer!!! I highly recommend them!

The great Cooks for our Volunteer Dinner.. /> ...and these "dash neighbors" never cease to supply plenty of entertainment too!!!

The Usual Suspects, and a few new ones....also High entertainment value:

Saturday (I was EMT driver).....luckily very few incidents....

no CV collars, splints, slings, 4x4 rescues, ambulances and medivac helicopters ....like last years' saturday.......

Big Thanks to Jim H from NC YAMAHA and the Salton City Fire dept for hosting a great lunch saturday....

we arrived quite early because mimi's truck clock was on arizona time, an hour ahead..... />

[dsfox 0]

SUNDAY,

tracy and I made huevos rancheros for the volunteers that were hanging out, then headed out with crawdaddy....a bit late after our morning duties....

We made a fairly deliberate run up rodriquez , grapevine/jasper/culp, hoping to get to lunch BEFORE all the riders were coming DOWN the same way..... /> ....we made it...

Great lunch and visiting at Christmas Circle, Thanks to schwinn for the food and joliet for the service with a smile....

FUN CRUISE back....down through Cactus valley via Old Borrego road.....chris and I swapped bikes for a little bit....

I'm considering a 350 if I get a newer KTM......sorry, I didn't have time to bleed my brakes chris...shouldv'e warned you.....At least you weren't on pinyon.... />

we also enjoyed Blair valley loop, a great spot along the S2........

The near full moon always makes a great addition to any camping trip..........Til Next Trip.....

[FuzzyNugs 0]

My second go at the Desert Dash was a great success. Thanks to those who volunteer to put this event together, it is good fun and covers a wide area of the desert. I made the trek out late Friday and camped in my 4Runner for the weekend. Saturday morning I unloaded my DR650 and Wekert finished prep on his KLR650. We then loaded our roll charts and set out around 8:30.

I haven't ridden Anza extensively, but Oriflamme definitely seemed much more bouldery than in the past. Once we hit that wet dirt though I was having a blast around corners.

Loved riding through the bits of snow too. Variety in a ride never hurts.

Where can't a KLR go?

I think it's Jasper trail with the somewhat difficult boulder climb..well I was doing well until the person in front of me stopped and then I got stuck. Lot's of wheel spinning, bike dragging, spin, drag, add rocks under tire..bingo. I made it all the way to the top only to veer into the right side bank. Oh well, I'll take that as a first and only spill for the day.

Wekert struggled and fell just as much, but we both made it to the top. Time for a break.

We passed a family of riders back and forth and saw one of the girls picking her bike up with oil spilling out. I pulled over to let her know and we layed the bike on the opposite side. Shifter had punched a small hole in the case, but fortunately I had just purchased some Quicksteel putty the day before.

I read the directions while Wekert made some fine artwork.

All fixed, and she was able to ride through Sunday I believe. Highly recommend this for your toolkit. After lunch we kept going with a few bouts of mismatch between the roll chart and gps. We stuck to the gps and just corrected at the next reset. At S-2/I-8 junction, we decided to slab it to Canyon Sin Nombre to catch the end of things before dark.

We stayed on trail 274 after Seeley until pavement..think we missed a turn, but it worked out.

From Canyon Sin Nombre, we decided to check out the little hiking trail mentioned on the roll chart. It was worth the 30 minute in/out canyon tour.

I thought our shadows looked cool.

At the end of the cut, we were able to crawl up top to get a view looking back over everything.

Made it back for a great dinner, a few brews, and then crashed to get up for Sunday(I slept in last year and missed out). Calnub joined us Sunday on his KTM Adventure to make 3 big bikes. All we wanted was an easy ride...little did we know what we were in for. The squeeze..no problem. Steps were very intimidating at first, but after watching a few other bikes we all made it up. Now Heart-attack Hill or whatever it's called was new to me. This whole section was in fact. I went first after watching a guy and was able to break, slide, and slalom my way down. Not that bad, but there was no turning back now.

BMW guy's massive cajones must weigh the bike down for increased traction.

After the worst section of sand all weekend, we came to our next obstacle which I think is Fairchild. None of us thought we could or even should attempt to make it up lest we begin destroying bikes and breaking bodies. Sweep had just gone by and we told them we would turn around to take the wash back out. Well we did that only to find a fence and the realization that we were stuck and had to make it up the hill. Back we went and I decided to take the first run up.

I made it most of the way up the initial steep climb, but either lost momentum or bounced wrong because my bike came crashing down on it's side with me halfway under it. Glad the bike stayed and didn't want to slide all the way back down. Worst part was that I smashed the hell out of my stock tank and shifter on the rock. I's a spare beater tank I bought, but still hate to smash things up this bad. Calnub helped me get my bike righted and I got up the rest of it. Wekert and Calnub made the wise decision to walk the bikes up with gas on the side.

Randy, my only suggestion is to have a bit of a big bike/noob warning for this section of trail. None of us had ridden it and would have bypassed it had we understood the challenge.

Who knows the best way to pop dents back out?

Once past all the traps, the rest of the trail was enjoyable. I had been down Split Mountain once before and remembered it being very cool. Seems like a painting or Wyle Coyote cartoon at some points. From here we slabbed it to lunch, got some gas and called it a day.

Hopefully I'll be around next year to do this ride again.

[TrophyHunter 15]

Kris - good on you guys for getting the big bikes through. Nicely done! Agreed on the Quiksteel or any similar product. Saved our ride in N. AZ a few years ago on a popped radiator. Amazing stuff if it can hold back hot, slippery pressurized liquid.

Side note - I've been debating on the new Acerbis tank for my DR and would make you a reasonable deal on my white IMS if you want. Text or PM me.

[Crawdaddy 96]

BMW guy's massive cajones must way the bike down for increased traction.

Nice write up/pics!

That's Mad Dog Mike on his 800......nicely done

Don't let Fairchild get in your head......steady on the throttle/left of center tapering right......and you're up.....done it many times on the 620 ADV pig with too much gas up front (heavy)......it just takes vision/commitment (ask Kato)....see it/charge it/clean it