Montana300
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I have raced the Desert 100 put on by the Washington club the Stumpjumpers but missed it this year, can anyone tell us about the new venue at Odessa, WA? Do tell!
Anyone attend the Desert 100 in Odessa WA?
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We didn't make it but a couple of our club members did and they sent me writeups for our newsletter. Here's what they had to say:
The 2003 Desert 100 was held on April 12th and 13th, in Odessa, Washington for the first time ever. The town people seemed to be very happy to have us here and were very friendly to everyone. I am sure, there were more people in staging area and camp than the whole town of Odessa. If you didn't't make it, you missed out on some great trails.
My son and I arrived there Friday afternoon and jumped on our bikes to explore a little bit. There was a small loop of about 4 miles or so, set up from camp that allowed everyone to do a little riding, and get a feel for the area. There was also a small track set up for the kids to play on. It had rained there Thursday evening, and again Saturday before we got up, so there was very little dust until Saturday afternoon.
The poker run began with a riders meeting at 8:30AM and offered two courses, the family loop and the Iron man loop, both shared a majority of the trails. The Stump Jumpers club did a great job of laying out the courses and giving us some good advice. I don't ride a lot of desert, so it was news to me to find out, in the rider's meeting that you can tell where rocky sections are by the sagebrush. They told us that is the brush is tall (2 feet) the ground is good, if small (6 inches) watch for rocks!
Approximately 80% of the loops were beautiful, new single track that allowed for some fast riding, weaving through the sagebrush. About 10% of the loops were rocky sections that caused many of us some flat tires, me included. We had a great time and topped it off with a 9th place trophy Saturday in the poker run, which made the flat tire not seem so bad. We hope to see you there next year!
And the second one:
I had a great time too, witnessing the largest off road motorcycle event of my life. The guy I was camping with stated that there were 2200 entrants in Saturday's poker run. I would have to guess that there were 4,000??? people in camp including wives, kids, and girlfriends.
Friday night we met some guys that live in Wenatchee who frequent Thumpertalk.com and chatted with them. Apparently Guy Perret (8 time ISDE medalist from Canada, in Terrafirma videos too) stopped by their camp after we met. Guy went on to take second in Sundays race.
The course was excellent on Saturday for the Ironman run. There were three medi-vacs on Saturday, not a good thing. I also saw a lot of pricks making dangerous passes, one knocking over a kid on a PW50. One time I slowed down for a lady in front of me and waited for a wide spot to pass. A 50 something year old guy on a clapped out 1985ish CR500 came bouncing along in the brush, hit a bump, and flew at least 20 feet cartwheeling in the
rocks. Karma???
Overall it was a spectacular experience and I hope to attend for as long as I continue to ride.
The 2003 Desert 100 was held on April 12th and 13th, in Odessa, Washington for the first time ever. The town people seemed to be very happy to have us here and were very friendly to everyone. I am sure, there were more people in staging area and camp than the whole town of Odessa. If you didn't't make it, you missed out on some great trails.
My son and I arrived there Friday afternoon and jumped on our bikes to explore a little bit. There was a small loop of about 4 miles or so, set up from camp that allowed everyone to do a little riding, and get a feel for the area. There was also a small track set up for the kids to play on. It had rained there Thursday evening, and again Saturday before we got up, so there was very little dust until Saturday afternoon.
The poker run began with a riders meeting at 8:30AM and offered two courses, the family loop and the Iron man loop, both shared a majority of the trails. The Stump Jumpers club did a great job of laying out the courses and giving us some good advice. I don't ride a lot of desert, so it was news to me to find out, in the rider's meeting that you can tell where rocky sections are by the sagebrush. They told us that is the brush is tall (2 feet) the ground is good, if small (6 inches) watch for rocks!
Approximately 80% of the loops were beautiful, new single track that allowed for some fast riding, weaving through the sagebrush. About 10% of the loops were rocky sections that caused many of us some flat tires, me included. We had a great time and topped it off with a 9th place trophy Saturday in the poker run, which made the flat tire not seem so bad. We hope to see you there next year!
And the second one:
I had a great time too, witnessing the largest off road motorcycle event of my life. The guy I was camping with stated that there were 2200 entrants in Saturday's poker run. I would have to guess that there were 4,000??? people in camp including wives, kids, and girlfriends.
Friday night we met some guys that live in Wenatchee who frequent Thumpertalk.com and chatted with them. Apparently Guy Perret (8 time ISDE medalist from Canada, in Terrafirma videos too) stopped by their camp after we met. Guy went on to take second in Sundays race.
The course was excellent on Saturday for the Ironman run. There were three medi-vacs on Saturday, not a good thing. I also saw a lot of pricks making dangerous passes, one knocking over a kid on a PW50. One time I slowed down for a lady in front of me and waited for a wide spot to pass. A 50 something year old guy on a clapped out 1985ish CR500 came bouncing along in the brush, hit a bump, and flew at least 20 feet cartwheeling in the
rocks. Karma???
Overall it was a spectacular experience and I hope to attend for as long as I continue to ride.
I made it too. We came out on Friday at about 5:00 and the gatekeeper told us more than a thousand rigs had come through. I think this place is much better than Vantage, an extra 1-2 hours to get there from the west but worth it. The camping was flatter, the rocks were nearly non-existent and the soil was more loamy for good traction.
We did the short 67 mile ironman and spent the next night. After watching the start of the Desert100, what a rush, we headed to the Moses Lake dunes for some more playing. It rained Saturday morning and Sunday morning but it worked out real well since by the time we were awake and moving the sky dried out.
Better location, better trails, great event. Crappy t-shirt for finishing the ironman. There has to be a better way to give awards at a poker run than calling out hands and waiting for people to respond.
Can't wait for next year, most of the fun for me is the desert terrain and the road trip.
We did the short 67 mile ironman and spent the next night. After watching the start of the Desert100, what a rush, we headed to the Moses Lake dunes for some more playing. It rained Saturday morning and Sunday morning but it worked out real well since by the time we were awake and moving the sky dried out.
Better location, better trails, great event. Crappy t-shirt for finishing the ironman. There has to be a better way to give awards at a poker run than calling out hands and waiting for people to respond.
Can't wait for next year, most of the fun for me is the desert terrain and the road trip.
Montana300
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- May 4, 2000
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Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like it was a fun event as usual and even better with the new location. Odessa is actually closer for us coming from Montana than Vantage was but our group headed to Moab for Spring Break this year rather than going west for the Desert 100. Next year we will certainly attend.
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Montana300
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Sorry to hear about your neighbor, I hope his recovery is quick and complete. That desert racing can sure get you, a friend of mine also broke his back there. I had a real tough get off too about 3 years ago, ripping my pants half off and blooded my leg real nice with the foot peg as I tumbled, but the adrenaline got me up and to the finish!