There is only one word to describe it out there today......epic.
wow...grab a chair because I am really gonna rub it in for those who couldn't make it.
Here's how the day went...
We met up around 3:30AM at the last gas station heading out of Vegas. Getting up at 2:45 am would normally be an impossible task for me, but after knowing and having experienced Dumont in the summertime when NOBODY is out there and there isn't one paddle tire track anywhere in sight.....getting up that early is like Christmas morning.
We rolled into Dumont around 5/ 5:30am. The entrance road was horrible and I loved every minute of it. The sun wasn't even up over the mountain yet. As we pulled into the camp area not a sole was out there except for LTR450 Pete. He was a trooper and came all the way from just outside Sand Diego to make the ride. He had to be in Barstow around 2PM today for a work thing so he made his trip worth while. Nice meeting you Pete!! Other than LTR450, it was just me, duniemonkie, wingnut, Captkllm & dunelover and some family, vegas style, and chris1223.
We unloaded and hit the dunes just after the sun started peaking out up over the mountain. It felt so badass just to be there. We started our first run like we usually do. I led a ride in the buggy and dropped in over the back right side of Banshee Hill. It was fairly difficult to negotiate the dunes at first because they were so smooth. The sand was slick and sliding and pitching the car around was no problem at all. We zig zagged a few times through the dunes towards the north pole. It was crazy how some of the turns and berms had to be cut short because the dunes were so sharp that the sand was just a wall.
When we got the north pole we were in shock. It looked like someone dug up the pole and transplanted it closer to the nearby finger dune. The dunes had since shifted so much that the north pole is now only about 15/20 feet from the closest finger dune. We chatted for a bit, took some pics, and then we were off again. We jammed back through the dunes the same way we came. Its always fun to follow your same exact line leaving as you came in on. That way we were able to step it up a notch heading back. The sun wasn't in our eyes and our safe, fast line was already picked out for us. :porn:
After cruising that dune ride we headed over to comp. The hill was soooo smooth. There were absolutely NO whoops at the bottom and rather a few kinda big ones at the top instead. It felt so wierd seeing the hill like that and also being the ONLY soles out there.
Shortly after some conversation at comp, we headed to the backside of Banshee again. I wanted to hit a sweet roller that we found during our last run. I felt it would be a sweet photo opportunity. Capt and I pulled a few wheelies and duneimonkie got some really good shots. Chris1223, vegas style and LTR450 pulled a few as well and played around that bowl for a bit. I couldn't stop. With no passenger in the the rail it is crazy how much lighter it feels. I was like a kid in a candy store. I had to have made about 10 hot laps just pushing the car harder and harder every "lap". It felt so good. Every ounce of bad luck I have had in the past with my rails and all the crap I have been through in general just felt like it was history at that point. What a relief! The car did amazing. The new rail feels so much more stabile and rigid. The front tires felt much more planted and it was just an overall better balanced feeling. Power didn't feel down at all either. With it being slightly heavier than my last car, I expected some power loss. Not even the case. It feels exactly the same on power as the blue car. Not sure if I could be much happier with it right now!
Anyways, I'll try and wrap this post up because I could go on for days about how much fun I had today.
So after those pics we took, we jammed over to the north pole again, then hit up the south pole, then to comp, then headed back to camp.
The temps weren't bad at all. It was in the 70's when we got there in the AM and I think it was about 95 when we split at about 9:00.
I gotta say I really felt "at home" today. I love that place so damn much. Anna said she saw the expression on my face during a dune run and said it was priceless. :shoot:
Thanks to all you guys for such an awesome trip today. It was great hanging out and duning together. When's the next ride???
Pics are on their way.....here's a teaser
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