DOM Desert Riders

This past weekend we joined a few friends for a ride to Dumont Dunes. This was not an official D.O.M. club ride, but just a gathering of some D.O.M. members and non-members. (The official ride for March is next weekend.)

Those in attendance this weekend were the Fitzjerrells, the Ingrams, the Murrays, the Warrens, and some people Laura and I didn't know. (Somebody knew them, maybe the Ingram's). Lets get to the pictures:

This was taken by Laura while we were on a ride to Sperry Wash. Yes, those are the Dumont Dunes. From this distance and with those mountains in the background, it's hard to tell just how big those sand dunes are.

Pictured here from l-to-r are: Joey, Nicole, Hailey, and Brady. For Brady these "rides" are social events; he enjoys hanging around with his friends, and only sees these friends on rides. Brady was disappointed on the last D.O.M. ride because Joey's family didn't go as planned.

Laura took this picture of the two of us when we went for a second ride to Sperry Wash. You can see here that my double chin is growing in nicely. The first ride to Sperry Wash was not as fun due to Nina being uncooperative. She complained shortly after we left camp about her thumb hurting. She hasn't built up a tolerance for the mild pain associated with thumbing the throttle. I ended up towing her most of the ride, which she still didn't like because we had to cross water several times. You can see the water in the picture below:
Yeah, I know. Not exactly a raging current, but you know how little girls are. In the next picture you can see me towing Nina. Laura stayed back far enough to capture us on this earthen dam/bridge. It's not really a dam, it just looks like one. It is some sort of a flood control thing, and it's really cool to ride across and look down from:

Oh, you noticed Nina is not wearing a helmet. In addition to her thumb hurting, her head was hurting because of the weight of the helmet, and the way she kept looking down instead of in front of her. Yes, it is illegal, and not safe, but you know how little girls are. It wasn't too bad though, because we were only going about 5 mph.
So I'll leave you with this beautiful picture of sunset taken this past Saturday from Dumont Dunes. We had a great time riding and spending time with good friends. If only we were able to stay longer.

The February D.O.M. ride was to Searless Station. Since I've written about this destination before I won't spend time describing it here. If you want to read about it click here.

This time the ride was held over Presidents' Day Weekend. It was just me and Brady on this trip. Laura and Nina had to stay back for opening day ceremonies of Nina's softball team. Laura is team mom. I'll post more about that on my other blog later in the season when we have pictures to share.

Brady and I had a great time. I helped to lead a group of 24 riders to Randsburg, and we made very good time. (Just over an hour). The weather was fine; it wasn't too cold and there was no rain. The drive there and back was ideal; no traffic or highway closures, and no trailer tire blow outs. The weekend could be summed up as good riding, good friends, good food, and good beer.