Adam @ GTP Off Road

I think after it all, Terry might be a little happy. cause now he gets new sheet metal, new paint. and the scratch on the back fixed. lol

i just bought my new truck, but was towing with a newer Escape for over a year. I still don't have a toy hauler or anyway to stay out at the dunes, not even a tent. I don't want to tent it really. Getting a Toy Hauler is an option, but I have to store it somewhere and make the payment. This year I paid off one of the quads, and am focusing on the other one and that will have to do for now. I don't spend money on much else. Like some others, i don't go out, don't spend money on coffee or smoking or drinking, we rarely eat out, and watch other expenses closely to make sure we don't waste money. I was lucky enough to make friends with someone willing to open his motorhome with a place for me to stay, and great food. Great acts of kindness from fellow duners will have to help me get through till i can finally get a toy hauler. If I have a good year, i may be able to do it by next season.

i got this video with the Go-pro Sunday. This is the accident i described in my trip report. I had to zoom the video in, so the quality isn't great. My view also shows a lof of sand.

There were a lot of crashes. i know another DDR member wrecked on his quad Saturday (i think). he got a little banged up but was ok. There was some wind to help smooth things out, but by Sunday afternoon it seemed pretty rough to me. Not after-thanksgiving rough, but still pretty rough. There were some nice smooth areas you could find though. I don't think it was too slick I can't make it this weekend since i have to work, but i'm sure people will be having some fun.

Terry seemed to realize we crashed while dangling from the seat belt, i realized we crashed when all i saw was sand. I think the one that was worse off was Ken. he was riding his quad behind us and saw the whole thing. he was more shaken then i was. he also rolled down the hill while tipping the car back up and hurt his ribs. I was good we weren't going any faster, and didn't roll any more. We also stayed in the sand which was nice and soft.

Here is the video! I saw the razor back coming, and didn't think we were gonna make it. I knew Terry was trying to turn, but i thought he gave up and was going to follow the razor back... WRONG. The back tire slid out, over the razor back catching the witches eye on the other side. This was enought to put the car on the side, then to the roof, then back down to the passenger side. somehow we ended up facing 180* from the direction we were going. The feeling was weird. i felt the back tire going over the razorback, and BANG it went a little slow motion in the car. I was on the Roof for a minute where i think it spun to face the other direction. All i really saw was sand, and more sand. i couldn't believe what just happened, CRAZY! Terry was dangling by the seat belt above me and we did the "are you good, yeah, You, Yeah, ok GET OUT" Since the Passenger side was in the sand i was a little buried with my right shoulder and pressed against the seat. nothing hurt and i had an arm protector thing on to keep my right arm in. Getting out wasn't too bad, just had to go through the driver's window. We had a crowd gathering pretty quick, including some fellow DDR folks, Thanks for helping. The car had a ways to drop down the dune to get back on it's wheels, but pushing it was pretty easy. Looked at the damage and the Roof was caved in, the rear air deflector (i guess) was munched, and the passenger side panel had a dent. Overall not bad. The car fired right back up, just smoked a little. All tires still had air, suspension, and frame all good. Drove the car back to camp. Terry drove it again on Saturday, but i stuck to my raptor.

So as many know I have been a day tripper for a little while and finally had a chance to get out a group for a stay. Terry was kind enough to open his motorhome up and was a great host. FOOD WAS AWESOME!! NOTE: Sit back with a beer or something this might be pretty long. Thursday 1.26 Got to the dunes about 3pm i think. Got unloaded and asked Terry, "So do you guys ride the first day or just set-up." i guess he took the hint i was read to go. Terry jumped in his RZR-S, His friend Ken was on a YFZ450, and i was on my Raptor 700. Now keep in mind i have limited time on the dunes and never been on a ride with experienced duners. Terry goes running up the dunes straight for a nice sharp razor. THANKS TERRY. I am grabbing gears holding on and was keeping up good enough. Ken is an older guy but HOLLY CRAP that guy can RIDE. Seriously. Got in a short ride and back to camp. Time for a nice steak. and some gas on the fire. Friday 1.27 This was a very interesting day. Never riden in any sand car before, and Terry's is (was..lol) pretty nice. So morning ride was in the passenger seat. Nice run around, and man that thing is FAST. headed to North Pole, grab a water, Back in the car to head back for lunch. We made it about 5 minutes before Terry decided to test the ROLL CAGE on the Alumicraft. I do have a video but I am currently transfering to my desktop so look for the video in a seperate thread with more details. I do wish I had put the second Go-Pro on the car. After lunch we go for another ride, this time i decided to take my chances on my own, on the Raptor. Terry lead in the RZR with Ken along as well. Another fast run, and those damn Razorbacks getting me. I was getting used to it though. It was getting a little windy as well. I also have to say i was then realizing what people were talking about when they say a fast run and was starting to like them. I was missing not hitting any jumps though. That was the last run, back to camp to wait for Terry's Family to get in. Saturday 1.28 Since i was missing jumping i decided to head out solo and mess with my Go-pro before eveyone else was ready. Found out my Go-pro doesn't like working on other spots on the bike and would freeze up. Got in some good jumps so back to camp. Nothing much else just some runs, back to camp to wait for Mark to show up. Sunday 1.29 Today, wow, lots of stuff today. Up and ready and going for a ride. Got a little group of quads and went on a run. Terry's Grandson is a great young rider and led part of a good run. Found a little jump to play on for a bit. Others saw a couple of the sand trucks they wanted to check out so we headed out to find them. Saw them sitting at North Pole. they went out to head back with a pretty big group, 2 trucks, 1 car, several RZRs and we followed. As we are riding along i came around a dune to see a RZR from the group on it's side. I was at the tail so our other 2 quads stopped and one rzr behind the wreck stopped. the rest of the group never came back. wow. they took a pretty good hit, (i have it on video but need to zoom it in) Looked like he just slipped the back end going up a little hill with a bit of a lip, and that was enough to roll it. First land was on the drivers side roll cage and it was pretty tweeked. Roof was off, shattered half windshield, and cracked the hood. Along with the drivers head. The RZR ended up on the passenger side, (something i was familar with). Passenger got out, and we tipped the RZR back to the wheels with the driver inside. Not really sure why he was bleeding could have been the roll cage or the plastic windscreen. If you have one, I would seriously consider taking it off cause wow, might as well have been razor blades. Got the driver taken care of, the passenger was very good at handling the situation. the RZR was drivable with just a flat for mechanical damage. those stock roll cages SUCK. if you are duning with the stock cage, i hope you are looking at changing that out. Seriously. Once they take off, we do as well, crest a couple of dunes to find the 2 sand trucks sitting on a flat by Talladega. Another RZR was there and apparently had rolled as well. must have been with in a minute of the one we were at. The second RZR had a custom roll cage and only had a flat right rear tire, driver was walking around and seemed ok. we told them about the other accident as they didn't know. One of the guys jumped in his truck and went to find them. We also took off as well. That is crazy though, 2 accidents from the same group within minutes. We had one last ride after some lunch, loaded and back to reality. overall it was a great weekend, i met several other guys from this site as well. All were great, couple went on one of our rides. Looking forward to the next time out. I am hooked more then ever. some videos to come once this transfer is done and i can use the editing porgram.

I saw a RZR XP roll today. IF YOU HAVE A SIDE x SIDE GET A CAGE!!! NOW!!!! I have it on video but its far away, i will try to zoom it in.

nobody attends those meetings. Only when there is major press worthy info does anyone even here about the meetings really. it's the wave of the future... the Tsunami wave

CLEAR!!

i wouldn't thank anyone for the jobs created. It didn't employ actual Americans anyway.

are you watching them with Windows media player? try using quicktime. When i recorded in 720 - 60fps my laptop and using WMP would stutter. The Class 4 is probly not fast enough for the 1080p. I haven't tried using my PS3 directly to play. I always load the files as is and edit them in Sony Vegas Pro 9. I render them as a WMV file. This gets me 720 and will do 1080. (i have the previous version Gopro) output and plays easily on the PS3 and computers. They load up to youtube easily as well. I wouldn't use an .AVI file. that is an uncompressed file (like wav for music). so you are taking a compressed file and forcing it larger which just makes for the HUGE file you are seeing and not helping the quality, IMO. better get a couple big external hard drives if you are going to go .AVI files.

I can only ride one bike at a time, but with the issue I seem to always have i figure having a spare might be good. lol Towing with just one bike on the trailer works but bounces with not enough weight. I have spent so much money lately i better not buy a ramp, or i might not have a fiance anymore. tatooedwhtboy, Sounds good to me. My best riding buddy lives in Oregon and the commute is brutal. Other riding buddy hasn't ridden in probly a year, he's fun to ride with but once a year isn't quit enough for me. The guy I have been with the last few time just loves Comp and doesn't follow very well on runs. I hate that. My Fiance is the same way cause she is still scared and basically stays on the flats.

Guess what!!! as of now, i don't have any event scheduled for that weekend... looks like i may have to make it down. Should i bring both quads, or try and find a ramp and just load the Raptor int he truck?

I wouldn't consider myself slow, and i guess it all depends. Ihave been out there several times now, so i am fairly comfortable. I don't usually go out on "runs" I go cruise around looking for spots to jump and just play. The riding style difference is one thing that makes me nervous about going out solo to meet a group I haven't riden with. That mix in riding styles can make it hard to just have fun. Like my buddy that LOVES going up comp. I can do it 4 or 5 times and i'm bored. but i can hit the same jump 30 times trying to get my nerve up to go faster. then when I wear that spot out, cruise around for another spot. my groups have been small and family, so they know I jump and we stay away from each other, or they ride off and leave me, then I have to go find them. It's hard to get my friends to go on weekends cause they work weekend or have family stuff all the time. This last weekend would have been perfect for me to just go solo, but i won't miss it next time. I want to have some fun and hang out, instead of this digital crap.

If you get a vibration, try going faster till it goes away. if that doesn't work, find a good spot to jump as high as you can, if that doesn't work... see if something is wrong with the bike... I should have waited and just went down this weekend to meet some people. Since I went Thursday with my buddy i opted out of a second trip, but I don't usually get a free weekend when others are there so I just didn't think about it enough. I also had made the plans for Thursday before I really knew. Going solo and riding with people i don't know also feels weird to me. with different riding styles and all... Alright enough excuses, I know everyone is cool, as long as I have time to hit some jumps it will be all good. I can't go for the 4th cause of gigs, and i won't go presidents day, but soon. Glad the wind swept it smooth..

i was at 35psi. I don't really have a pump to air back up. I was just trying to have some fun, and get some photos. stickers would be good.

It is really needed. On my last trip i couldn't believe how much trash and crap was out in the dunes.

Got a couple photos, still working on the video.

Pawn Stars is filmed by Left Field production out of New York. I was actually on a reality show called " Happily Ever Faster" produced by this same company. I saw them faking scenes, and making chit up while i was there. They also totally lied to me, and screwed me. I got about .5 seconds of air time for Djing a wedding for free. I was PISSED. but i do get to say I DJed for a reality show that did air on TLC so that is something. I think pretty much everyone knows that these reality shows, have nothing to do with reality.

I made it today to the sand! had some fun out and nothing broke or went flat. Got some videos to edit, and got some photos of the new truck. i unhooked it from the trailer and tested it out on one of the fingers. I need new tires for sure! Didn't get stuck though. my buddy has the photos so they are to come to... i know bunch of crap no photos or video.. be patient. Road in was pretty good, sand was fairly smooth. There was some traffic but not too bad. Looked like lots of people heading in as we were leaving. I need to get a DDR sign, or flag or something when I'm out there. Might put a photo of my truck and bikes so people have an idea of what my chit looks like.

As of now I am planning on a day trip Thursday the 13th with a budy of mine. I can't stay cause I have to work Friday night. I may plan a trip back Saturday, maybe Sunday if the Dunes are too tore up.

Terry i have haven't forgotten your offer, just looking for the right weekend. this might be a good one. I have a gig on the 13th, but be out after that. You have been going on the busy weekends, and now for the borken record, I just don't want to be out on a busy weekend. i like smooth dunes, and less stress, and less dumb people/drunks. Do you have a cell out there? I think there would be room to sleep solo in the back of my new truck, it's the 4 door super crew F150... hmmm.

The dunes were so ripped up when we were there after Turkey day we really couldn't even ride. Combined with the battery dying, IMO from being bounced to death, and it was overall a wasted trip for me. Since i day trip, i go simply to ride. I don't want to be around for the busy times as I just don't feel safe and that makes it harder to just have fun. one of these days i will be coming down and crash a camp for a weekend though.