ASA Night Ride Group - Camp Location

[Woodglue]

Related to the discussions about where to camp in the ~~aSa's 2010 Off Season Night Ride Trips~~ thread, the Night Ride Group is considering changing our camp location from Under the Radio tower to another place.

I'd like to see votes from the Night Ride Group Members (i.e. anyone who joins these trips). Each bbs user can cast three votes. Revoting is allowed (i.e. users can change their votes). This poll ends on Su:Mar07,2010.

The reason for looking elsewhere is that the Radio Tower location is pretty far from the Big Dunes, and the train horn keeps waking up the sleepers.

The reason for not including Osborn Outlook in the poll is due to the high visibility of our camp from the hwy leading to a lack of security, and difficulty to tow broken toys back up to camp.

The reason that Wash 4 is not included in the poll is due to the fact that it too (like the Radio Tower) is pretty far from the Big Dunes.

=D> Game on!!

[the_fog]

Mike, I really don't need to vote because I know where I'm camping. Either with you or with me.LSG

[Woodglue]

LSG

[GlamisSandDuner]

LSG

for all the rest of us idiots, what is LSG?

[GoofyDuner]

I vote gecko...Itys just off the big bowls,its right in line with olds,and there is a road to park on....just my thoughts...what the hell is LSG

[Woodglue]

There are two "Gecko" locations Justin, Pad 03/04 and RoadRunner Campground.

Pad 03/04 would be camped with / near the Glamis Dunes.com group as Clay had suggusted.
RoadRunner would be camped almost certainly by ourselves, like we have in years past.
Little Smiley Guys are not used too often by Clay.

[the_fog]

It's actually pads 3-5, I dont know where #4 is, funny but it's not between them.

[the_fog]

I vote gecko...Itys just off the big bowls,its right in line with olds,and there is a road to park on....just my thoughts...what the hell is LSG

Sorry Justin prolly not what you were thinkin.LSG

[gelwell]

I guess we wont find out what LSG is Although I think it means "little smilie guy"

[Woodglue]

It's actually pads 3-5, I dont know where #4 is, funny but it's not between them.

OK, I updated this in the poll.

Gene, go back and read my earlier post... the answer for LSG is right there.

At present, the group is leaning to camp with / near the Glamis Dunes.com Night Ride Group.
Game on, keep the votes coming! =D>

[GoofyDuner]

Mike ,,Glamis dunes .com will be camping with or near the ASA nightride group..get with the program......

[Woodglue]

Mike ,,Glamis dunes .com will be camping with or near the ASA nightride group..get with the program......

I think that would be up to their group, not our group.
In another thread, it was originally proposed that "the ASA Group circle up with or near the Glamis Dunes group".

While this is not how I personally voted, I'm starting to think it would be pretty cool! This way, someone else can coordinate our trips on the Glamis Dunes.com bbs and we don’t have to have a ASA Night Ride Group anymore. =D>

[ChuckZilla]

A "no ASA Night Ride Group" solution will not work for me Mike, because the I feel that the ASA group rides a perfect schedule of riding and resting that the Glamis Dunes guys apparently don't mimic, as both times that I was present when we ventured to the other side of the dunes we found sleeping duners. I have no special wish, either for against, camping near the Glamis Dunes folk, but would trade the sound of the train for a bike or buggy any day, assuming it's not "tune up night" for a guy with open exhaust! I always thought that just moving to the flats west of Vendors would be great, and I would still like to go there but it wasn't an option of the poll. My vote is for the flats west of Vendors if we change anything, and that's the only thing I would change, the group and schedule is perfect otherwise.

[Sandcock]

Anywhere past 2.5 on Gecko is good to go with me. Roadrunner is about 6 miles south of 78. Pad 4 is less than a mile north of Roadrunner and has a lot of hard pack. There is also a small set of dunes across the street from Pad 4 that are really fun to run. From Pad 4/Keyhole/Roadrunner you can use the interior out of bounds markers to make over to the big bowls or shoot southeast to run to China Wall. At 3-5 you need to run the valleys north or south around the interior closed off area to make it over to the big bowls/olds. Its all good

[GlamisSandDuner]

Anywhere past 2.5 on Gecko is good to go with me. Roadrunner is about 6 miles south of 78. Pad 4 is less than a mile north of Roadrunner and has a lot of hard pack. There is also a small set of dunes across the street from Pad 4 that are really fun to run. From Pad 4/Keyhole/Roadrunner you can use the interior out of bounds markers to make over to the big bowls or shoot southeast to run to China Wall. At 3-5 you need to run the valleys north or south around the interior closed off area to make it over to the big bowls/olds. Its all good

It sounds like Scotty has a firm grasp of camping out on Gecko and sounds like Pad 4 looks promising. I have only camped out on Gecko a few times and it was about 10 years ago. My big issue with where we camp now is that it takes way to long to get to good dunes, and this is what I want to change, everything else is great and I would hate to see the ASA night ride group dissolve into another group. I think that wash 10 would also be a great solution. A hand full of us store our trailers at Glamis Dunes storage which would make a trip to wash 10 a lot easier for them instead of going all the way out to Gecko. A nice smaller dune set runs all the way from olds straight into wash 10, this would give the duners with less ability a fun ride through the smaller dunes if they wanted to go to olds. Plus at night you can just follow the blinking red radio towers that are on the distant mountain range and alway find your way back to wash 10. I threw out the Osborne Overlook idea due to too much traffic driving up there to look around. The down side to Gecko is that there is no visual markers at night that are really obvious. Having a pit toilet close by would be nice for any new location

[Woodglue]

You guys all have good points.
George, I see your point about Wash 10 because all the trailers are across the Hwy. I forgot that the trailers were there. RoadRunner or Pad 4 would be cool, but for this reason, I have isolated my vote to Wash10.
For the same reason as Osborn, I don't like the Vendor Flats. Heck, even under the Radio Tower I was worried about my stuff when we left the camp.
I believe that camping with Glamis Dunes.com will dissolve our group into theirs and I personally already have plans if that occurs.

[GoofyDuner]

Mike..lets all talk about this over the weekend..just about everyone that goes on the summer rides,will be in our camp this weekend..we also can take a ride over to pad 3.5 an look at it..the dunes over should be pretty nice......thats just my thought..

[gelwell]

Personally it all dont matter to me since I am not a regular, maybe this year but we'll see. My only beef is the dag gum train horns in the middle of the night.

[alyshka]

I vote

MAY---- In Wash 10

JUNE-------Under the Radio Tower


JULY-------At Gecko Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group)

AUG----- In Roadrunner Camp Ground

SEPT -------- Wash 10

[ChuckZilla]

I vote

MAY---- In Wash 10

JUNE-------Under the Radio Tower


JULY-------At Gecko Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group)

AUG----- In Roadrunner Camp Ground

SEPT -------- Wash 10

=D>

[GlamisSandDuner]

I vote

MAY---- In Wash 10

JUNE-------Under the Radio Tower


JULY-------At Gecko Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group)

AUG----- In Roadrunner Camp Ground

SEPT -------- Wash 10

=D>

Sounds good except for June, I don't want to spend my birthday weekend listening to train horns all night.

[gelwell]

What Geo said

[Woodglue]

Reminder guys, the Poll closes in less than 3 days. This poll will choose where the ASA Night Ride Group is to camp in the 2010 Off Season.
At present, the majority vote is to camp at "At Gecko Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group)".

So, get your votes in!

[Glamisbound]

I don't do the night rides but I voted anyway

If I was to go on a night ride trip, I'd prefer the pads as they are closer.

[Woodglue]

Oh man, you're killing me!

[the_fog]

I'll talk Loren into a night ride, he just needs some buggys to go.

[Woodglue]

With the vote having a serious lean to it, I'm starting to think about the logistics.
From another thread:

I liked Gecko pads 3 and 5 when I was with the Glamis Dunes.com guys, they're usually there the same weekends as us, but they do two nights. They are a good bunch of people, and have different caliber rides going out all the time.

Clay, are you proposing that we circle up with the Glamis Dunes group, or just near them?

Yes Mike, I think thats a good idea, they dont really circle up, they are spread all over those two pads, by the way pads 3 and 5 are across the street from each other. They go on some nice rides.

Clay, I guess I've been assuming that Glamis Dunes.com guys will be out there on our same schedule. Is this the case? Following is our schedule:
Sa:May22~Su:May23, 2010
Sa:Jun26~Su:Jun27, 2010
Sa:Jul24~Su:Jul25, 2010
Sa:Aug21~Su:Aug22, 2010
Sa:Sep25~Su:Sep26, 2010

Also, are these guys expecting us?
If you are not attending the May22 Night Ride, and we pull in without knowing anyone... are they going to be surprised to have us in their 'camp'?

[GoofyDuner]

Mike we will have our own pad..theres lots of space from 3 to 5..might be nice to have others to talk with,and hang out..this is still a ASA Night ride group..I dont think anyone want to change that..Just changeing where we ride from...just my 2 cents...

[Woodglue]

I hear ya Justin, and I agree. The ASA Night Ride Group will camp wherever the majority votes to camp at. No problem.
That said, there are some logistics to consider in the process of camping with / near another group. Like are we camping with them or near them? If this is stuff that we shouldn't worry about just let me know and I'll stop trying to coordinate it. You wont have to ask me twice.

[the_fog]

Mike, we could camp with them and never talk to them, it's a big group, they're not expecting us, but it's nice to have the option to ride with them. For some of the guys in our group that ride faster than others, we might appreciate it. no offense guys.

[Glamisbound]

I'll talk Loren into a night ride, he just needs some buggys to go.

[Woodglue]

The poll is closed.
The ASA Night Ride Group has voted to camp "At Gecko Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group)".

I have updated the ~~aSa's 2010 Off Season Night Ride Trips~~ accordingly.

It has been edited to read:

We will circle the wagons at Gecko Road's Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group).

In terms of directing people where you will be, it's a little vauge for my taste. Are you at Pad 3, or Pad 5, are you 'with' or 'near' them?
I suppose someone should fly a flag or something so that new people who learn about the ASA NRG from the 2010 ASA calendar can find you in the Glamis Dunes.com group.

[Woodglue]

The ASA Night Ride Group has voted to camp "At Gecko Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group)".

Been there, did that.
Last Saturday night, the ASA NRG circled wagons on the West side Gecko Road, near (what we presumed to be) the Glamis Dunes.com group for the May 2010 Night Ride Trip.
Shortly after pulling into camp at 7:30pm, we saw a few of the Glamis Dunes.com guys come back from a ride. We didn’t know them, and they weren’t expecting us, so camping “near” them was as close as it got. We didn’t see any life in their camp until about 8:00am on Sunday. Clearly, they were there for the weekend, and we were probably waking them up every time we came in and out of camp.
The nearest restroom is down on Gecko Rd, probably about half a mile away.
The dunes are difficult to access. The closure keeps you from riding to the west, and going either north or south requires a ride around the central closure.
And, finally, the WIND! We got blasted on Gecko Road all night long. Just guessing we had a consistent 15mph wind with gusts at 25~30mph. On Sunday morning, we ran into Jerry (redrider) at China Wall. He was camped in Wash4, with minimal wind noting that they even had a camp fire! Absolutely sick of the wind, we had to laugh at our chosen camp location!

While we didn’t hear a single train horn, I certainly didn’t like camping “At Gecko Pad 3 & 5 (with / near Glamis Dunes.com group)”.
The ASA NRG has voted to stay there, and so they shall. But, I will not be joining the ASA NRG to that location anymore.
I will be out there on the same dates, under the guise of the Full Moon Crew, organized on facebook.

If you can blend with these group definitions, you’re welcome to join the group. If not, you’re welcome to keep on truckin'.

Don’t bring an ill-tuned machine!
Don't get drunk if you want to ride with the group!
The pace and technicality of ride is ‘advanced’. Riders who are inexperienced with advanced duning at night should not attend these trips.

It was fun guys, thank you. =D>
-Mike.

[sandfan69]

I'm with you Mike...When I pulled up behind Robert I couldn't believe the wind. We briefly unloaded and after constantly getting literally sandblasted we loaded up and headed to the other side. Way different!!! There's no way I'm spending my hard earned $$ and driving that far to get put in a sandblaster and try and call it fun....not even for an hour or a minute. You know we don't have to stay that close to the RR tracks. We could go a little deeper from the access road and it's not as noisy.

[gelwell]

So far we are having a very mild May and the wind is still a factor at the dunes. However as summer progresses the wind is less of a factor and may in fact be welcomed to help keep the temps down. Further camping at Gecko puts you close to the canal for those cool downs. So I would still keep an open mind about the location with the temps getting hotter. Just a thought

[Woodglue]

If I were the ASA, I would have a problem with the ASA Night Ride Group partaking in the illegal activity of swimming in the canal, if I were the ASA.

[GlamisSandDuner]

Not being very familiar with that side of the dunes, I do not wish to familiarize myself with them anymore than I did during the off season May night ride. That being said I don't see myself camping on Gecko for the night rides anytime soon . At least I can say I tried it out.