The dunes at Little Sahara- Oklahoma

[MikeOK]

mx547, myself and a couple other riders spent the weekend at the dunes, was my first trip there. I have wanted to ride there for a long time. I always knew it would be a good ride, but it was even more fun than I imagined. We got in the campgound way after bedtime on friday night and set up camp in freezing rain and sleet (bummer). Saturday morning it cleared up though, and turned out to be a fantastic day. Cool enough to be comfortable but warm enough to work up a good sweat. I picked up the dune riding quickly except for the jumps. I watched the other guys easily do 70-80' + jumps while I stayed a lot more conservative. I just couldn't seem to get the feel for the faces of the jumps. I can tell you that you haven't lived until you powerslide up and around the tops of some of those huge dunes tapped out in 5th- wow it was a blast. Sunday was a little colder and windier but was still fun. I caught some good air several times on sunday, and also found out that the soft sand ain't so soft when you slap yourself into it at 50 mph+. I thought I was gonna die!!

This was one of the best trips I've ever been on. I'm usually not much for camping but we stayed in one of the guy's pop-up campers and I was very comfortable and slept like a rock. I can't wait until the next trip, especially after I heal up and get all the worn out and sand-blasted parts replaced on my bike hehehe. A word of advice, don't go to the dunes with an aluminum sprocket and works chain on your bike. Sand loves to dig into places and do evil things to your machine. I will be more prepared next time and have even more fun if that's possible...

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by MikeOK
was my first trip there.

i love taking rookies to the dunes. after about two minutes, they learn their first lesson-do not ride directly behind someone with a paddle tire (sand roost hurts your face). after the first few dunes, they learn their second lesson-do not stop before getting to the top of a dune (you will bury it). mike was probably the most enthused newbie i have ever been around. i would guess that he said "let's ride" about fifty times over the weekend. he isn't quite as old as me and david and doesn't realize that we need our rest. we would ride for 2-3 hours straight, take a break, sit down in a lawn chair and within about two minutes mike would be saying "let's ride". i was thinking more like "let's nap".:o david said something to the effect of "if we're not too pumped up about this, it's because we've done it before". it was all new for mike and he was excited (it showed). nothing wrong with that.
i'm always a little concerned when i take someone new. i feel somewhat responsible for them. i hate to be a bad influence:p but by sunday afternoon, mike was doing fifth gear dune jumps. he handled them quite well. he looked like a dune veteran. then he got initiated. we were jumping one dune where we would start at the top of a big dune, use it to get up to speed, then hit a small dune tapped in fifth and jump about 80 feet to the downside. mike got a little squirrelly on the landing, rode the tank awhile, then crashed. somehow he managed to land kidney first and found out the sand wasn't so forgiving after all (of course even water hurts at 50 mph). he walked around in circles for a few minutes, moaning, then toughed it out and rode some more. i was impressed.

we took an atv kid with us. his name is matt hayden. he is a pro flat track quad racer and he is nicky hayden's (the road racer) cousin. he rode a stock honda 300 without paddles but didn't have much problem keeping up with us. although he didn't have enough suspension to do much big jumping. he must have felt out of place with us older guys. he probably didn't say 20 words the whole time. i think he was actually kinda scared of mikeok, he's pretty mean looking;)

david, on his xr400, put on a show saturday but managed to shear a few teeth off his rear sprocket and didn't ride much sunday. that didn't stop him from doing a few big jumps though. if there is an audience, he's gonna ride. his story-telling alone is worth the trip. for the most part they are true (i grew up with him). this guy has lived eight of his nine lives.

i didn't get to do any of my trademark hydroplane runs. all the ponds were dry. that was the first time i had ever been there and there was no water. i was kinda disappointed but the water would have been really cold anyway. but everything else was great, as usual. the rest of the heartland spodes were m.i.a. with unexcused absences. tx246 has ridden there many times with us and he can attest to great amount of fun resulting from dune riding and camping (including the excellent buffalo chili we had saturday nite). they just don't realize what they are missing.

mike, i won't tell anyone that your chain wore faster because you had the wheel alignment marks off by one notch, okay?:D

 

[wfocrusty]

Hey mx547!

How's it goin'? Looks like you guys had a prime dune trip! Nothing like setting up camp in freezing rain.:(

The last time we went, I took a newbie also. I suggested that he duct tape his pants in the back because they were loose and riding low. He was really tall and his jersey kept popping out. He thought I was joking.....needless to say, when we sat down to eat our steak dinner that nite, he had to stand up 'cause his butt crack was raw meat. It had been sandpapered so bad that it looked bloody!:eek: He had to sit with a pillow under his but..... after he was able to sit down.

I've got a great pick somwhere of my buddy "hydroing" a BIG lake on the first trip we took. He has his ass back and you can see chunks of water firing out from the paddle. What the pic doesn't tell you is that he let off soon after that and took a big bath. Took us 30 minutes to dry his bike out. If I can find it I'll try to post it.

I told Wade I'd try to set up a trip there for the spring since alot of the guys that rode with us at White Rock had never been there (lottsa newbies!). I think you and Sawblade had already left when we were discussing it on Sunday. Maybe we can get together for another ride!

:) :) :)

 

[justql]

I know, I know, I missed another good ride. My oldest was baptised Sunday, I hated to go all that way and change tire and spend all that time cleaning the sand out for one day. I'll get there someday.

I am looking forward to seeing mx547 doing some dune jumping.:eek:

 

[Sawblade]

I'm up for a ride in the sand once the temps warm up. Sounds like a a lot of fun. By the way, were is the Dunes? I know its in the west part of the state. Can someone give me a landmark?

 

[justql]

Waynoka(sp??) north west OK

 

[BSWIFT]

4 hours west of Tulsa on highway 412. Then 5 miles north to Waynoka. It is near BFE.

 

[justql]

It's near BFE, like bswift said. Heck you can actually see BFE from there.

 

[mx547]

Originally posted by justql
I am looking forward to seeing mx547 doing some dune jumping.:eek:

don't expect much. i never said that i was good at it, just that i like it.

wfocrusty, the freezing rain was weird. it warmed up some during the night. when we got up, it was dry and there wasn't any ice anywhere (we got lucky). the day turned out to be real nice. the raw butt crack story is hilarious. i could see that happening to someone. did he ever go back?:) i've got a pic of me hydroplaning the big lake on the members gallery. did you try hydroplaning? it is one of the funnest things to do on a dirt bike. i haven't crashed (yet). once you're on the water, you absolutely cannot let off. you have to just hold it wide open and hope you make it. hopefully we can get the white rock guys to come ride dunes. it's quite an experience. they'll either love it or hate it. there is no in-between.

 

[MikeOK]

I planned an engine re-build after this trip and I'm down to nothing but frame and engine now. I couldn't believe how much sand and crud was hiding in my bike, even after a pressure wash.

Don't let mx547 lie to you either, these old geezers are fast. It took everything me and the 426 could do to keep up with these guys... I was sorta glad the water holes were dry, the dunes alone are enough of a challenge for a first time duner. Another week or two and I might be able to sleep on my left side again hehehe. It really wasn't that bad of a crash, for the first day or so after we got back I only hurt when I breathed or blinked my eyes.