Eating dust

[MilkJuGGz]

Hey everyone,

I ride in the desert, and while trying to pass others I've had problems with dust. It's hard to see the trail and pick lines, especially to avoid the large rocks that casually lurk about. And if I've never run the route before, it's even more unnerving.

I can just follow the general line that the person ahead of me has taken, but I'm worried of running over large rocks at high speed that will cause a crash or wheel/tube damage.

Thankfully, not all of the desert is too dusty so I can pass in other places. But what can I do to become more competitive when the visibility starts to suck?

I usually ride off to one side of the trail on my own line in these situations, which seems like the safer alternative. Somtimes it's so bad that I fall back and wait for better conditions. Maybe infra red goggles will help? :-)

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[96717]

i know how u feel when your behind someone on a dusty trail. nice thinking taking different lines. also the wind use it to ur advantage, make sure ur not on the side that the winds blowing all the dust towards u. and wat also works good is to stay as close as u can to rider in front of u, (not so close that u dont feel comfortable(sp?) looking as far ahead of the rider as u can. <<<so u can find a place to pass/read terrain and DONT pay attenion to the riders rear tire. lol i learned that the hard way by slowing down and getting dusted out!! hope i helped some later

 

[JPIVEY]

I run the desert also and there really isn't much more you can do than what you're doing now, you either trust the guy ahead of you and follow his line until you can over take or try to stay up wind and make the best of your own line. When I get swollowed up in the dust and the above options just aren't happening, I'll drop back and try to make it up in another area, sometimes I do,most times I don't, but also,I know there's 50 other guys fighting the same problem


One other thing is wear one of those paper partical masks, you won't inhale as much dust, which will help towards the end of the race and after.

 

[MilkJuGGz]

Great advice guys, thanks a lot.

What kind of paper mask are you talking about? The type that doctors wear or something similar to what a carpenter would wear when cutting wood? Thanks!

~JuGGz

 

[TransAm77]

I don't ride in the destert, but I do ride in the dunes and on really sandy trails. Normaly I follow behind a Kx500 and a Cr480, so I get alot of roost blown at me. I made a cloth mask that hooks to my goggles and onto my helmet. Basicly it covers the parts that the goggles/helmet don't. Works pretty good.

 

[JPIVEY]

Hey JuGGz,

The kind like a carpenter would use, really anything that can filter out the dust will be better than nothing at all. I'm looking forward to this year with the rain and all, good traction and very little dust. :yeehaw: