Good Effort Folks

[Crawdaddy 96]

Didn't take a head count but we must've had 15+ SDAR folks show up for the Duncan Hunter meeting this morning ....luckily, Congressman Hunter is a strong advocate for the off-road community and challenged members of BLM mgmt who were also present at the meeting to come up with better ideas/creative solutions in a few areas (example - why should race organizations have to pay archeologists/geologists $1100/mile to survey areas that are ALREADY OPEN to riding?!?!?! ). The BLM responded that the proposed race routes needed to be further surveyed to look for "cremation areas".....huh?!?! .....to which Duncan Hunter said, "I'm sorry, but I don't see much of a difference between a convoy of jeeps running through an approved area (without conducting any surveys) and a race in an approved area" (Right - good point ). Hunter also stressed his philosophy, which I share, which is that that opening a wider area to the off road community would actually cause LESS impact to the environment since the intrusion to sensitive habitats would be lessoned due to the reduction of people riding in small/conjested areas (Right again ).

I personally thought the meeting was good and hopefully the BLM will act on some of the recommendations/hold some add'l meetings......the only downside of the meeting (IMHO) was that we lost focus a few times because the meeting got hijacked a bit by folks concerned about the proposed closing of a portion of Johnson Valley due to a possible/proposed land grab by the Marines......important topic/beautiful & unique area.....but hey, that's not what this meeting was supposed to be focused on!!!.....heck, that area isn't even in Congressman Hunter's District!!! The discussion of the Johnson Valley issue merits a stand alone meeting centered in that district with Congressman Jerry Lewis (IMHO). It was nice that everyone in attendance at this meeting signed a petition to keep the area open....it's a VERY important topic/area....I just thought that discussion hijacked our local mission/topic areas a bit....

As we stood around BS'ing in the parking lot after the meeting, Don Amador from the BlueRibbon Coalition came over to me and said, "Hey - are you folks part of some organized group?" I happily stated that we were all members of SDAR and gave him the website info......he snapped a group photo that he'll be including in his write-up/report for the BlueRibbon Colition News Letter and I'm sure he'll also throw in a plug for our club - Again, job well done by everyone to make an effort to attend and represent SDAR in force

I snapped a couple of photos in the parking lot then Kathy and I took off for parts south, east and north on the Super Chicken......a nice/rural/scenic road ride up to Julian for lunch before dropping back down to Ramona.....

[Paul 0]

Good Job Guys - I am busy today keeping the electricity flowing. Nice pair of Red Street bikes! Whose 98-01 VFR?

[SnailDarter 0]

Was going to show on the Pig, but the better half was sick enough she needed to go in to get a professional medical opinion. Well the soar throat is tied to the plugged ears and tied to the congested lungs, and oh yeah -- you're pretty sick.....

Glad you had a good turn out -- good job to all who made it!!.

/Fred

[Spyder 2]

Had to leave early and could'nt go on the ride after either.

Nice Variety of bikes.

Kinda dry for my taste for the first hour or so. Did it get interesting at all later ?

Spyder

[Crawdaddy 96]

Good Job Guys - I am busy today keeping the electricity flowing. Nice pair of Red Street bikes! Whose 98-01 VFR?

I asked the same question......pretty sure the VFR belonged to a non SDAR guy.....

[husky4me 0]

It was my first meeting I attend. It was a good experience, and it made me more aware of how we should get more involved. The room was almost full, but not all the way. Now I can see why just showing up and filling up a room give's the big impression that we, offroaders, do care and want changes. There's something about having a full room of people that have an agenda. I would imagine how frustrating it must be for people who volunteer their time to support the cause, and then meetings take place and very little people show up.

It is also interesting to see the issues, opinions, and different perspectives. For one thing, it appears that issues get polarized (all or nothing, white or black). I beleive in having more riding areas, conserving the areas that we already have. Also, I believe in protecting the environment, and making sure that we don't trash the trails and areas we have. It is always frusrtrating for me when I see people leave garbage all over the place on our trails, do not respect the routes, and are rude to other people who share the area (non of these people are SDAR members). That's why this organization "SDAR" is special, because it supports responsable trail riding, and education. I'm still not sure how we can better help other off-roaders to become more responsible, as to not give all a bad name, then giving fuel to our opponents (including the so called environmentalists).

It was nice to see familiar faces like Randy, John (carguy), and others.

Martin

[Joliet 0]

As we stood around BS'ing in the parking lot after the meeting a guy came over to me and said, "Hey - are you folks part of some organized group?" I happily stated that we were all members of SDAR and gave him the website info......he snapped a group photo that he'll be including in his write-up/report for both CORVA/SDORC and I'm sure he'll also throw in a plug for our club - Again, job well done by everyone to make an effort to attend and represent SDAR in force ;)

That was Don Amador of the Blue Ribbon Coalition. Ken

[Ride-Orange 2]

Nice work indeed. Glad to see those who turned out.

Had a great lunch with some of the fellas afterward and a cool solo ride to Ramona. Julian, Boulder Creek ( I won't elaborate on what happened at the #@%! creek crossing) then home.

HERE'S the link for the OHV plates that Assemblyman Anderson is proposing, please take a second to go ign it...

[dirt dame 561]

Had a great lunch with some of the fellas afterward and a cool solo ride to Ramona. Julian, Boulder Creek ( I won't elaborate on what happened at the #@%! creek crossing) then home.

Well alrighty, as long as you didn't get any algae on your butt or bend anything on your bike....

[carguy 1]

I did like how Congressman Hunter supported us!

The big issue would be how easy the focus from local issues can be swayed by speakers from other districts.

Doncha love politics?

[sandiegoland 0]

I did like how Congressman Hunter supported us!

The big issue would be how easy the focus from local issues can be swayed by speakers from other districts.

Doncha love politics?

I agree. The Johnson Valley issue was a good FYI... but it was beating a dead horse after about 20 minutes for me.

In regards to the BLM, we are unrepresented in San Diego County and I thought this would've been a good time to hear more about our County resources. Granted most organized users go to the desert properties, but the focus on their issues also tend to shove attention of the little properties to the back burner, and hence we stand to lose them.

Fortunately, the Dulzura closure was brought to their attention. Keep us posted on any follow-up you hear folks!

[Gery XT-225 0]

I did like how Congressman Hunter supported us!

The big issue would be how easy the focus from local issues can be swayed by speakers from other districts.

Doncha love politics?

I agree. The Johnson Valley issue was a good FYI... but it was beating a dead horse after about 20 minutes for me.

In regards to the BLM, we are unrepresented in San Diego County and I thought this would've been a good time to hear more about our County resources. Granted most organized users go to the desert properties, but the focus on their issues also tend to shove attention of the little properties to the back burner, and hence we stand to lose them.

Fortunately, the Dulzura closure was brought to their attention. Keep us posted on any follow-up you hear folks!

I hear you all folks... we should stand all together to keep our playground wide open and safe to everyone of us. Speak now before we loose it...

Nice to meet all of you first time in personal at the meeting and first time opportunity to ride with SDAR.

Ride safe,

Gery

[husky4me 0]

Hey ride-orange, that water stuff on Boulder Creek Rd also took me by surprise a few weeks ago! My shoulder is still hurting; hope you are fine....

Today I was a Otay Wilderness Area riding with my son, and this Border Patrol guy stopped us and told us the whole area is closed for Off-Roading, and we should go back. I guess this is part of the Dulzura area mentioned in the meeting. We pointed out to the officer about the signs that say you can enter and do off-roading (limited area), and his answer was that the City of Chula Vista did not want us there, and they were going to remove those signs??? What does the City of C.V. has to do with this??? Was he just BS in us? We really need to defend our right to ride, this is getting ridiculous! Here's a picture of the sign we pointed out to the Border Patrol.

[Metal Twister 0]

Hey ride-orange, that water stuff on Boulder Creek Rd also took me by surprise a few weeks ago! My shoulder is still hurting; hope you are fine....

Today I was a Otay Wilderness Area riding with my son, and this Border Patrol guy stopped us and told us the whole area is closed for Off-Roading, and we should go back. I guess this is part of the Dulzura area mentioned in the meeting. We pointed out to the officer about the signs that say you can enter and do off-roading (limited area), and his answer was that the City of Chula Vista did not want us there, and they were going to remove those signs??? What does the City of C.V. has to do with this??? Was he just BS in us? We really need to defend our right to ride, this is getting ridiculous! Here's a picture of the sign we pointed out to the Border Patrol.

Last time I rode up there I was pulled over by the the Sheriff just inside the gate near Barrett Junction. The Sheriff was starting to give us all a bunch of crap about it not being legal to be in there. As we were talking a BLM truck pulled up and the BLM officer came over to join the conversation. After just a few minutes the BLM officer basically told the sheriff to pound sand!!! My new best frend, BLM officer "Clay" was very specific in telling Mr. Sheriff that we had every right to be there, In fact we had more of a right to be there than Mr. Sheriff. As long as we were street legal and obeying the laws it was cool. Needless to say Mr. Sheriff was pissed, but did suck it up and left! After a little more conversation Clay mentioned some more trails on the north side of 94 that were also available to us. I had no clue those roads even existed. I guess the cool thing is now I know, and I wont ever fall for those bluffs again.

[sandiegoland 0]

Today I was a Otay Wilderness Area riding with my son, and this Border Patrol guy stopped us...

Let's take this here for further clarification. Thanks.

[KTMrad 516]

What a good turnout from SDAR........thank you all for coming. Hope you realize now the importance of showing our support in numbers !!

Hope some of you, who weren't familiar with some of the issues we're facing, realize how important it is to stay informed, stay involved, and support the Off-Road Groups.

Having the meeting room close to full showed that OHV'ers care about what's happening to our ever decreasing riding opportunities.

Please continue to show your support !!

Support your off-road groups !!

Again, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ATTEND THE MEETING.