4th Annual Desert Dash - February 2007

[sandiegoland 0]

Let's see 'em

Do your worst

Spare no mercy

==============

xr650l bum tries the desert on for size.

...it fits, but it's hard to see through sometimes!

[sandiegoland 0]

The elusive unclecameron seen along the trail...

...on the hunt for a white Dakar?

[sandiegoland 0]

Super Sweep Team 1, Sub-Groups A & B (Saturday)

Not pictured: Toona, rwynant, Jeff, sandiegoland

Pictured: Ride-Orange, Barry, papaalex, and Chief Gunner

[unclecameron 0]

Tuning up the rear brakes, so I, uh, have some, and removing the auto rock-magnet I had installed on the left cylinder head. Making sure the throttle position sensor doesn't quit again, and also checking for fliggenfluggenhoffens that might have come dislodged.

Great to meet a lot of you, now back to the computer grind Once I get the beast tweaked and not brakeless, I'm gonna hit the dropoff, but not until then (insert grinning suggestions from people standing around campfire). Did anyone eat it really good? Need some good photo candidates for the front page rotation, also looking for a decent gallery software, ours wasn't really that good and didn't get used much, suggestions (PM me)?

[sandiegoland 0]

KTMrad and Carguy head out early Saturday to finish ribboning some ambiguous junctions along the course.

Somewhere not far east of Borrego Springs, Barry and Toona examine the debatable value of some locally acquired fix-a-flat product in Jeff's tube

Chief Gunner calls in for extraction 1/2 mile south of the Blu Inn.

Marbee40 answers the call and "flys in" by pick-up.

[sandiegoland 0]

...and removing the auto rock-magnet I had installed on the left cylinder head.

[KTMrad 508]

DAY 1

SDAR Mobile Command Center....Alpha Charlie Bravo Delta....ready to commence Operation DD4.

Saturday morning Registration in the Lounge at Butterfield Ranch.....Left to Right - John, Mrs. Ride-Orange, Marbee40, and Carguy

Outside Registration.....Desert Dash is an AMA Sanctioned Event

Husky rider on a silty trail

The Official SDAR ribboning & recovery vehicle.....Carguy's 1947 Willy's Jeep.....here we stopped to clear a blockage in the fuel line, and Cody Boy is relaxing in the shade.

Carguy's pride and joy........Willy is 60 years old and running strong !!

We stopped for a beverage, and Cody takes advantage of the shade.

DAY 2

Riders near Ella Wash and S22

Getting ready to hit the trail again, and our Mascot seems to enjoy photo opps

L to R....Courtney(official ribboning apprentice), Mrs. Ride-Orange (Debbie), and Marbee 40 (Jim), with our Mascot Cody, and new Mascot #2 - Tahoe

[Barry 0]

Toona, Unclecameron, & Jeff discussing the merits of ArmorAll on your seat and tires.

Randy W. coming down Chariot Canyon.

Jeff and Toona chasing Randy.

Unclecameron going up Jasper Trail.

Randy W. going up Jasper Trail.

Jeff and Toona chasing Randy W. again!

[KTMrad 508]

We stopped to try to get some action shots....rider setting up for a corner

More friendly riders

Today, Carguy was riding, so he let me use Willy to go out on the course, with Chief Gunner....here, we're stopped at Font's Point in the Borrego Badlands

Badlands at Font's Point

[Barry 0]

Jeff praying he is not going to get a flat today.

[KTMrad 508]

Me and Cody Boy

Chief Gunner and Marbee40

Jim and Aaron

Another view of the Badlands

I never get enough of my own photos on the Desert Dash !!

That's it for me........I'm enjoying everyone else's pics.

[rwynant 0]

This was my 2nd Dash, and I would like to thank a couple guys for sticking with me in areas I've never been before, and had no friggin idea where I was at....

Barry, stuck with me on Oriflamme....still learning that rocky stuff, he also stayed with me in the sandy parts near the dump, SHEEEIT that sand just ain't right! Thank you for the pics Barry, Great meeting you this weekend!

I am thinking Craig ( Sandiegoland ) was following me in the wash areas before we got to The Blue Inn...

Thanks Craig! I'll be seeing you on some of the local rides I am sure.

Thanks to Toona ( Shane ) Jeff and Brett for the verbal sand instruction....I practiced all that I could and for some reason or other, I didn't toss my Chit all over the desert.

Here's a couple pics I got.....I was having camera issues early on....

This is a pic of Barry, checking out Jeff's rear, while Jeff is taking his rear apart to fix his 2nd flat in 40 minutes

Left to Right: Barry, Jeff, Cameron, and Shane in the back....bottom of Oriflamme

A shot of the accomodations...I'd do it again.....very comfy

Yours truely on top of Jasper Trail, with the Faster Hair doo....fun section!

Thanks to Randy Lazar for putting on another great ride, with an excellent venue!!!!!

[Crawdaddy 96]

Hey - I had a blast on the ride this Saturday - Thanks for organizing the event Randy!

Unfortunately we got knocked out of Sunday's ride since the engine on my yz400 seized (kickstarter is frozen in place.....glad my buddy Sean was able to make it back to camp).....need to repair that pronto to get ready for the Death Valley 350 in a month.....I hope to head out on Sunday the 11th from Ramona and ride Oriflame/Grape Vine/Jasper with my son.....need to put in a ~100 mile day ride locally to make sure his knee is ready for the Death Valley ride (he had knee surgery in December which is why he wasn't on the ride this weekend)

Snapshot highlights from memory:

- Nice campground.....never "hooked up to power" with my toybox before (I generally park remotely in BFE)

- Could the conditions/weather have been any better?.....what a great combo - heavy rain followed by sunshine made for less plummy sand washes/better visibility than usual.....

- I'd never ridden Rodriguez or Grape Vine in that direction.....I think I prefer the direction we went this year (I'd rather climb the rocks than go down through'em).....that was one of Sat's highlights for me.....really enjoyed the Rodriguez/Grapevine/Jasper sections....

- Somewhere along 5B? (I think) there were three channel washes side by side.......and there were three of us riding together (Sean Tompkins, John Turk and me)......so it was nice to be able to pin it side by side in our own private washes and not eat one anothers dust.....

- The final couple of sections after lunch along the railroad tracks and Sin Nombre wash were really nice/scenic....though we F&*^ up reading the roll chart in the last part of Arroyo wash (see below)

- Good grub......the pork/chilli was tasty

- nice to mingle with some of the boys and put a face to the names/handles on this site

- A new 606 rear tire in the raffle....sweet - perfect timing as I'll need a new rear tire beore the Death Valley 350

Snapshot lowlights memory:

- San Felipe wash was a bit long and boring after the great start ......30 miles of.....nothing....leading over to Blu Inn.....I'd prefer more hardpack/trail riding.....

- ran into a bit of difficulty with the roll chart at a few points.....(1) wasn't sure where to proceed from the Kiosk at the end of 5A or B (can't remember which one).....(2) got all screwed up before lunch and lost track of where I was on the roll chart (zoomed out on GPS to get bearings and headed down any wash leading towards the 8fwy with Joliet)....then cut over on the surface road to the lunch stop in Ocotillo......(3) blew by the "BL" at mile 6.9 on the last leg of the roll chart in Arroyo wash.....at about mile 11.2 realized there was no way this wash was leading to S2.....zoomed out on GPS and saw we'd missed the "BL" at 6.9.......I'm thinking that "BL" was a "L"?........then again, with 150+ miles under our belt at that point we may not have been thinking too clearly......but lot's of other guys missed that turn too.......there were lot's of confused folks deep in Arroyo wash.....but hey, the wash beyond 6.9 was actually pretty cool......lot's of folks camped out back there......but I was a bit burnt out at that point and just wanted to get back on S2/grab a cold beer at camp....

- Sean flying into camp with engine racing on YZ (unresponsive to throttle input at that point....stuck throttle slide?.....then kickstarter froze as we tried to revive the bike after it cooled down.....but VERY thankful he was able to make it back rather than breaking down waaay back in one of the washes)

- Missed out on Day 2.....but will return with the roll chart

All in all the positives outweigh the negatives by FAR......bummer the YZ crapped out but sh*t happens.....

Thanks again Randy.....will upload the few photo's I snapped on Sat. sometime this week....

[Toona 0]

Rad put on a great event, I took about 2 hours of video that unclecameron and I will try to get cleaned up and get a linked to the site.

Maybe we can do another ride there(unofficial) in March? I will post something later as a invite.

Toona

[Barry 0]

I want to thank Randy Lazar for putting on a great ride. I’ve been coming to the Ocotillo Wells ORV Park for years and never new such fun areas existed out side of the Park. I can’t wait to go back and explore more of the area. Thanks for the great MSR jacket I won at the raffle.

I rode with a great group of guys. Some I meet for the first time and some three weeks ago. Sandiegoland, Ride-Orange, Chief Gunner, Papaalex, rwynant, Toona, UncleCameron, and Jeff THANKS.

UncleCameron I don’t know how you rode that big BMW. It would have killed me.

Shane, Jeff, and I took off after the trestle and did not pay any attention to our roll charts. We got off course. Due to their vast knowledge of the desert, they were able to find every whoop and silt-bed in Imperial County. Shane showed me the proper way to dismount in 24 inches of silt. Glad you were all right.

Randy W. and Shane thanks for coming and picking Jeff and I up stranded out on S2.

Randy (rwynant), next year we need some bigger logs for the fire.

CAN’T WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR

[sandiegoland 0]

husky4me emerges from the notorious silt surprise in Section 6.

[husky4me 0]

Randy, thanks for this great opportunity! It was a lot of fun!!

I usually have lots of pictures and for the first time I forgot my camara in my RV... This was my first organized event, and I did not see the roll chart holders for sale, so I did not use one, and decided to follow my body Pyro and others in my group. I also had a chance to meet Joaquin who had a GPS with topo and a roll chart, so that was helpful.. Our group got lost in the a.m. ending up in some amazing trails that ended up in nothing, but gave us opportunity for fun... After lunch we got lost again, ending up in a little canyon we could not get out off so easily... then SDLand found us and got us to help out removing the ribbons on the way back to camp.. that was a relief, finally someone knew how to get us out..

This is what I learned: a) buy myself a roll chart holder and become familiar with the map prior to the ride

don't rely on following others, be self sufficient

c) pair up with someone at your riding skill level so they don't have to wait for me

(Pyro is a great buddy, but he is much faster than me, so he had to wait a lot)

d) I need to do more riding and build my strenght.. I'm still sore just from Sat ride

e) this is a lot of fun!! I love it!! Challenges makes me alive!!

On Sunday I took my jeep following the initial ride roll chart to get some practice.. once again I made some mistakes, but did learn to read it better... it was fun!! In sum, this was a great ride; I had opportunity to make new friends and meet people... the food was great!! Randy, thanks again for organizing this ride, I know it's a lot of work... Thanks to all in my group, it was fun, and we made it!!

[carguy 1]

Was this ride GREAT or what?

Randy, Cody & I stopping to ad a jacket at scizzors crossing

Riders finding the silt

Riders stopping so I can bum some wire to clean the fuel line out, Thanks Guys!

Stopping to have some refreshments at the trestle.

It is too bad people have to deface everything they see, it's childish.

More pictures. I did not stop anyone to ask names.

Riders stopping to thank Randy for such a awesome ride. I belive from the crawdaddy clan.

More later

[Ride-Orange 2]

I usually have lots of pictures and for the first time I forgot my camara in my RV...

I can help you Martin...

This was our first Desert Dash, and I must say- What a GREAT group of guys. Special thanks from the Ride-Orange family go out Marbee40. Jim was the hero of my wife and daughter this weekend for hanging with them and piloting the Chase Ranger around the desert, showing them a great time and keeping them from being bored to tears back at camp. Fair Winds and Following Seas Jim!

Special thanks also to Rad, whose tireless efforts, in spite of a broken foot, allowed (undisclosed number) of riders to participate in some of the best riding available in our county. GOOD SHOW RANDY!

Here are some pics I took:

The first thing we spotted when we headed out Friday afternoon to ribbon was this advertising baloon which was turned loose by some inconsiderate developer.

Could someone please forward this photo to all those environmental extremeists out there. Note that this is a desert motorcycle recreationist who is wrestling the ballon in order to save the desert! (In a last ditch effort to save itself, the nefarious baloon joined forces with the 30 mph winds and tried repeatedly to drag me into the awaiting cacti. It's efforts were ultimately thwarted thanks to the help of my trusty folding Spiderco helper)

Here's our supreme leader with his Desert Dash apprentice placing one of the many ribbons that guided our path.

Craig geting ready to go break his cooling fan.

Pyro and Hammer discussing the idea of Hammer riding his wife's 150 on Saturday in order to give someone else a chance to "win".

This one proves I was there

Here's part of Sweep Team 1 at the bottom of Jasper Trail.

Here's Guns showing some fine riding form

Here's crazy10toes on Sunday morning, returning to the correct route (which proves that Sweep Team 2 did serve a purpose on day 2)

My Sweep Team 2 riding partner, carguy, coming through The Squeeze. I commented to him that I thought The Squeeze was over-rated, and he reminded me "...not if you're in a full size truck!" Good point!

I considered crashing at The Drop by launching off the center section, then decided it might hurt less to go down the left trail and crash near the bottom. It worked.

But I let this guy go ahead of me so that I could see what it was going to be like to crash. He is starting to loose it here, and stayed up until just after I snapped this shot.

Mad Mike followed and showed John and I how it's done.

We came across Julie Angell and her band of three riding buddies at several points along Fish Creek. Everytime we stopped to chat with them, her pals were giving her $#!% about something, what a patient gal. Anyway, when we reached this spot she offered to take our picture. She informed us that this formation on the cliffside is called an "Anti-cline". Thus endeth the geology lesson...

Thanks to yours truely, some of the Sweep on day 2 got missed. Sorry to anybody that got left behind, and I hope you've made it home by now. If not, I plan on going back to this area REAL SOON because it was so much fun. SEE YOU THEN...

[sandiegoland 0]

Craig geting ready to go break his cooling fan.

Can't say I was anticipating that happening!

Cool photos everyone! It was a long day of serious riding, and none of us got as many chances to shoot all the pics we normally like to, but together we're collecting up some good ones!

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In lieu of more photos, some mindless verbiage of Saturday...

Getting into the groove didn’t come quickly for me Saturday. I hadn’t gotten in the practice I needed over the past month due to repairs and other incidents. I added fresh rubber and some more preload to my rear spring, so I was a bit skittish about my traction bobbling up Oreflame.

Grapevine Canyon made the day. Conditions after recent rains made the climb one of the best sections by far.

The Dump. As far as sand goes, I remain an embarrassment to the motorcycling community. The stuff near the dump felt like it was up to my neck. I didn’t want anyone near me (to witness or get hit). I was wallowing and using every bit of the track I could. The Trakmaster II rear and the MT21 front were great though. I never lost traction or dug in, and managed to stay upright all morning.

Whoops. I got some pointers from Ride-Orange on how to skip over every other whoop. Once we got into the wide open wash I was able to give it a go and it really worked! Well, let’s say it worked a lot. Being a bit undersprung for my weight, and landing short now and then I managed to blow a fork-seal before the end of the day.

More on the "Lost Patrol" a bit later...

[Joliet 0]

What a great time, thanks to Randy and everyone else that helped make this such a fantastic ride. So I guess it was me and 7 other people that didn't used to be professional or semi-professional motocross riders. Dang I hav'nt ever seen so many fast riders in my life. I have to admit I didn't get passed very often, because I was usually lost and no where near the trails I was supposed to be on. Next time I will deffinately find a way to mount my roll chart holder. Riding in a group was fine until we got seperated.

I had a blast and just may have found my true calling, either a safety gear tester, or converting DRZ's into farming implements. If all my falls were in one area, I could have tilled an entire garden.

I would also like to thank my DRZ for putting up with my lack of riding skill and getting me home safe and sound, well not totally safe, and not completely sound, just for getting me home. Ken

[sandiegoland 0]

...just may have found my true calling, either a safety gear tester, or converting DRZ's into farming implements.

Between your tech days and repair work I've become dependent on your knowledge to keep mine running. Thanks for helping me get back up and running for Sunday.

Keep "testing" or whatever you call it!!

[Guest Hammerin Hammon]

What a great event. I havnt had that much fun in a long time. I wish it wasnt over.Thanks SDAR and everyone who came to this event. Hats off to pyro (troy) who rode there with camping gear from O.B. and rode both days. Its to bad he dosnt surf he could add a surfboard to his bike and cruse Mex with us. My only regret was only bringing one bottle of Yegar Miester we would still be at the fire. Cief Gunner cracked me up with some old stories. I am sad its over I hope some of you guys ride Adventures of Cool Rad Bro. Cool Rad Bro is a cartoon character in a comic book I saw in a bicycle shop in Marin County. No one will be left behind its more of an exploration ride.

[crazy10toes 0]

Thank you Randy L. and company for a great event & course layout. I Had only 2 minor mishaps because i was being a tard. First I kept knocking my gps off the mount by the front brake line and second I kept adding more air in my tire thinking it was flat... by the end of day one I had 30psi in my rear tire. Anyway here are some pics to add.

Tom (tntmo) and Chris on sec. 1

Here's someone I thought had the coolest setup (vintage gear/bike), and I forgot to get his name.

Chris picking up his bike at the hard right on Jasper Trail.

Some action shots of me on trail 194.

Day two... I took a picture of Ride-Orange taking a picture of unknown rider on the Pinon Mtn. Trail.

Tom and Steve taking a break in Fish Creek Wash.

I wish I could of taken more pictures, but I had too much fun riding.

[sandiegoland 0]

Hats off to pyro (troy) who rode there with camping gear from O.B. and rode both days.

You said it! Pyro did it dual-sport all the way from his front porch!!