Death at the Imperial Sand Dunes

Every morning it's a habit to wake up pour a cup of coffee and read the morning paper. I was sadden by the news of a death at the Sand Dunes. Riding season officially doesn't begin until October 31st. It is always sad to hear that someone dies, especially when it comes to Off road vehicles. The worse part about it is that alcohol was involved. The Yuma Daily Sun doesn't give a lot of information regarding the accident. I have seen it, time and time again. People come to ride the Imperial Sand Dunes without really knowing or having an understanding of the terrain. There is always wind at the Sand Dunes, therefore the face of the dunes ALWAYS change. What might be there today will not be there tomorrow. I travel back and forth through Imperial County on business meetings I always glance at the dunes while I am passing through. Each time I do so it is so much different than before. If you have never been to the sand dunes it's important to know that what goes up must come down and sometimes it is way too quickly. What might seem like a nice hill from one side might be a huge drop off on the other.
The Yuma Sun reported he came down about 45 feet. Some of the bowls out there are pretty steep and deep. Get to know the riding area before going full speed off a dune. Alcohol inhibits your ability to react to a situation quickly and think clearly. ALCOHOL AND OFF ROAD VEHICLES DO NOT MIX! Never operate a vehicle of any kind while intoxicated. I wish the family lots of confort in this hard time. Please be careful the sand dunes can be fun but also dangerous .

2009 Riding Season

Hello,
I know it's been a long time since I wrote. During summer there is not much riding you can do in Yuma Arizona. It is so hot it is hard to even go out to the car. This year we started riding as soon as a cold breeze hit us! If you know me than you know that I have a passion for riding dirt bikes. I have been riding since I was 5. (I was actually 3 but my brother didn't know I took his dirt bike for a little ride down the street.) I got my Honda 450 ready pack-up my family and headed for one of the best riding places about 2 hours away from Yuma, Arizona. I went to Ocotillo Wells. When camping I always think the more people the better! We invited my sister-in-law and her family, as much as we had planned and gone through our check list we forgot several things. About 5 miles after the last sand dunes we were stopped at a U. S. Border Patrol and the line for the stop was surprisingly not long. We had to stop about 3 times (4 times if you count the Border Patrol stop) just to get to Westmoreland. As we got closer to our destination I yearned to get on my dirt bike and just take off. We saw about a mile long stream of lights. It was another Border Patrol stop. It seemed the more I wanted to get there the longer it was going to take me. I could visually see the landscape, I could literally smell the burning race fuel. We waited what seemed forever to get passed the Border Patrol Station. As we approached the long awaited Holy Land of Dirt bikes, I realized that it was so dark we couldn't see the road to get to Holmes Camp. A couple of times we thought we saw it but in reality it was just our eagerness that got the best of us. Finally we got there! It was early enough in the riding season that we found a spot at the camp site. It was Columbus Day weekend and several people are live just minutes away from dirt bike paradise that there were only a few spots left. It seemed like we just parked and had that those dirt bikes out so fast just to take my dirt bike down gave me rush. I wish I could have gone for a ride but it was so late we couldn't go anywhere. So we just had a quick dinner and I couldn't really sleep just wishing it was daylight to go riding. I woke up and it seemed like I just jumped right in to my riding gear. I didn't even want to wait for anyone else to get ready, I took off with my son the first chance I got. I don't even remember if I kissed my wife goodbye. I took off with my girl, my Honda. At last I roamed free at Ocotillo, It seemed like an eternity to get there. There was so much to show everyone that had never been there before I was excited to jump off Shell Reef. That is the first jump I hit whenever I go riding there. I jumped off the top and I love that feeling like I'm flying through the air. I have been riding for over 30 years, and It took me a while to work up to that hill. As soon as I got down I was looking for my brother-in-law and saw everyone staring up at the hill. He had driving his Banshee all the way to the top! That trail is very narrow and I have never seen a quad jump off shell reef. I rushed to the top to help him find a way down. Then before I knew it, there he went. He made it down a ways until he hit a cliff, and there he went and the quad rolled down with him. By the time he got down I was trying to round up the group but he jetted out of there. None of us saw were he went. I took the group back to camp and took off to look for him. It seemed like we looked for hours. Mean while the women at camp worried about having enough fire, and enough ice to last us another day and most of all where my brother-in-law went. We looked what seemed for hours. We went back and fourth and all the area around the camp. About an hour later my sister-in-law got a call. He was 9 miles away from the camp! Somehow he ended up on Pole Rd. They found him with a big scrape on his knee, broken light, broken fenders and out of gas. Luckily he ran into someone who had a phone. I thought he might be bad enough where we would have to go home. I finally get to ride and now it's all over. :( He said he was fine so we continued to ride until it got dark so we did the next best thing other than ride. Spend time with my family. It was nice to sit around a campfire with a light jacket and just talk around the fire. I was bummed out about the accident there was so much of Ocotillo that we didn't get to see like The Pumpkin Patch, Blow Sand Hill, Devil's Slide, Barrels Springs, and The Gas Domes. I am happy to say we are fortunate to be able to go back a different day. I saw some dirt bike riders, quad riders, big and small, people with rails, Rhinos, and Razors. It was heaven. I was so happy I got to ride. I was kinda bummed we had to leave even though it is only 2 hours away owning Jet Rent makes it hard to get away. When I want to ride all my customers seem to agree it's the best time. I enjoy riding so much that I made it my business and wish others enjoy it also. As for my brother-in-law he is doing fine and so is his Banshee. We will make sure he has a GPS, extra water, and make sure he stays away from Shell Reef next time. I hope you all have a safe riding season!

Jet Rent ATV Rentals

I have not been blogging for a while as you can see, I have been sick. I was also very busy with events in Yuma Az. The Silver Spur Rodeo Parade was an awesome event this past weekend. Jet Rent ATV rentals was happy to participate in that event. We had so much fun. Since it was our first parade participation, we really had no clue what to expect. Foothills in Yuma, will have a parade this coming weekend and hopefully we can participate in it. There are lots of events planned this year, tours, and clinics planned for the Yuma Arizona community and any visitors we might have. We are in the process of putting up a new website and blogs videos etc so please stay tuned.

Trail riding and tours

We constantly get asked about trail riding in Yuma Arizona. We are working on getting that put together for our customers and Yuma locals there are tons of places to see and ride at. I will keep you posted on the latest updates. The tour will be at the end of March. I'll keep you posted.

Law enforcement at Imperial Sand Dunes out of control?

I read the paper this morning to hear about an unfortunate story. I have heard recently several stories regarding abuse of power. One person told me about how a law enforcement officer at the Imperial Sand Dunes gave everyone at thier camp tickets for this that and the other. They justified it by saying they had to meet thier quota. The article in The Sun (Yuma Newspaper) talked about a couple that has invested over $70,000 in a rail to drive from Canada to ride the Imperial Sand Dunes. One argument was the leos at the sand dunes were too agressive with the people going over to the Southern California Dunes. Some arugued the stiffer control by the leos was due to people's carelessness. Personally my thoughts on this is, there is always three sides to a story. Side A side B and the truth. Some people might say the Law enforcement is out of control but if they are you can always visit their office and talk to someone about the Leo abuse. I had at one point received a citation by the highway patrol for not having the insurance information for the vehicle I was driving. It was not mine and I was borrowed. I couldn't find the information so I told the officer " I don't know where the insurance is." Out of frustration (I hope) the officer reached in the car opened my glove compartment and started to look through the paperwork in the vehicle. I was scared at that point. He should have never reached in my car to get anything unless I was acting weird or gave him a reason to search my vehicle. If he had probable cause he could search it but there was no probable cause no search warrant. He opened my back pack and was asking my why I had so many cameras. I explained to him it was because I was a photographer and was on my way to the college course. He gave me a ticket and sent me on my way. I called his supervisor and told him what happened. I obtained a lawyer to fight the traffic ticket in court. A few days later the ticket was dismissed by the highway patrol. Some issues can be resolved when you speak to the supervisors. If you have witnesses it always helps to have a written statement of what happened. Be careful at the dunes! I have personally witness people drinking and driving out there. I scared me enough to where I don't drive at night at the sand dunes. For the article in the Yuma sun check out http://www.yumasun.com/news/_47364___article.html/_.html

Bored Riders?

There are lots to do in Yuma Arizona. I will bring you more information about riding in Yuma soon, in the mean time Yuma has its annual Lettuce Days Festival. If you didn't know Yum is the lettuce capital of the world. Over 90 percent of the winter vegetable crops are grown in this area. When I arrived there was so many people one could hardly even walk. There was so much going on, food venders, such as Ice cream, chocolate covered strawberries, little donuts to yummy organic candles, little girls dresses. There was so much to see and enjoy there. The Yuma Lettuce Festival is every year. Thier attractions and events include the southwest longest salad bar, tour of the agriculture, belly dancers, music and muppets, square dancing to name a few. There was a few rides for the kids, and plenty of tasty treats. I tried to take as my photographs of stuff as I could, I will post them up for you so you can enjoy them. Tomorrow is that last day to enjoy or purchase items at the festival. It will be going on from 10 untill 3:00pm. So if you happen to be in the surrounding areas stop by, you will have a blast.
For more information on the festival check out, http://yumalettucedays.com

MX Riding Places in Yuma AZ

I apologize for not blogging for the past days. I have been busy with new upcoming events that I will blog about later in the future. I have mostly focused on atvs, and Imperial Sand Dunes but there is a little hidden treasure in Yuma Arizona that I have not told you about. For those of you that are interested in Motorcross there are some places that you can go and ride in Yuma, there is a Motorcross in Yuma Arizona! The track is located on County 13th st and east canal. Take Ave B to get there and go on 13th st all the way to the canal bank. The owner of the track is Chris Strebe, he maintains and runs the track. The track is open Saturday nights from 5:00pm to 10:00pm. Adult riders cost is only $20.00 minor riders is $15.00. Spectators cost is only $2.00. For more information check out http://happytrack.com.

If you are out of Yuma Arizona and are looking for a place to ride your dirtbike check out http://wheretomx.com. There is nothing like the feeling of flying in the air with your dirtbike. Hope you enjoy those websites :)