As October comes to a close, there is excitement in the air as a new dune season is just about to begin. Many club members have been working on off season projects, like Scott Cole’s new Mendeola and enhanced rear suspension, Walt Fisher’s revamping of his old car as he puts it up for sale, the Downsworths building a new Desert Dynamics LS1 powered car, and a number of other more minor off season projects which lead up to the return of the season we all enjoy so much. The first Glaims trip is Halloween weekend, and thanks to the new wash road we shouldn’t have any problem getting in to wash 6. The road actually continues all the way to Wash 25, and is on the dune side of the railroad fence. Read more about it in the BLM article on page 2. Of coarse the beginning of the season also means the club picnic, which was held October 3rd and attended by right at 50 club members. It was a great chance to catch up with friends and talk about our plans for the upcoming trips to the dunes. We also had some fun games, including a re-invention of lawn bowling with an old (and full size) bowling ball and water bottles used as bowling pins. We also had our fan belt toss, and all these games led to raffle tickets for the highlight of the picnic, the club’s annual raffle. This year we still had lots of great donations, despite the tough economy. Car Craft in Riverside, Kar Tek in Corona, and Wright Gear Box in Riverside all contributed items and gift certificates which club members competed to win. Over 500 tickets were sold, which helps support the club and the events through the sand season. We also had another drawing for a free annual membership among everyone who wrote articles for the newsletter. This year, this drawing was won by Walt, who had four entries for the four articles he wrote over the last year. I’d like to encourage everyone to write their own articles, especially since it could result in a free year of membership. With that, I guess all that’s left to write is: Let’s Go Dunin!
raiser for the club, and a great way It is time to dune! By the time you to start the sand season. get this the season will be underway with the first Glamis trip at Hallow- For those of you who weren’t able een, and then a long trip to Glamis to make it to the picnic, most memfollows shortly after for Thanksgivberships are up for renewal in Octoing. ber. If you aren’t sure that you’re current, ask PJ or Melissa and we The picnic was a success, and we’d can check the database for you. like to thank all of the members who We’d also like to thank the many attended as well as the sponsors who members who have already renewed donated raffle prizes for the event. for another year. This is the biggest annual fund
The Rooster
This article is reprinted from the BLM website at: www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro/recreation/ohvs/isdra/sandnews/washroad.html
and talks about the new wash road that is on the dune side of the railroad fence all the way to Wash 25.
Wash Road Update: November 11th: Club Meeting
following the sandy trail...
November 20th - 29th: Thanksgiving at Glamis, Wash 6. Some members will spend the entire week, allowing others to do back to back weekends. We will also have the annual pot luck Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, November 26th. December 9th: Club Meeting December 25th-January 3rd: New Years at Glamis. Plan on another long trip to the dunes to celebrate 2010.
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Building a road in the desert in the middle of the summer is a daunting task. Temperatures well above 100 degrees fuel scorching breezes, and relief can only be found in the air-conditioned cab of a dozer. Miles of empty sand beckon the horizon, and grueling work begins under a glaring sun. Construction of the "new" Wash Road began in July and continues today. This 24 ft. wide road is located directly west of the old one, and should be completed by the Halloween weekend. Funded with federal dollars, construction costs are held to a minimum by using volunteers, transferring BLM staff from other offices to temporarily help out, and hiring short-term workers from the local community to get the job done. Additionally, as much of the existing berm material next to the road is used in its construction to keep the costs down. While the road may gets its initial boost from federal funding, maintenance of it will come strictly through fee dollars. Because of this, OHVs will not be permitted to travel on it in an effort to reduce future maintenance costs and increase safety. The road is designed for wash access by primary vehicles only. When visiting the dunes prior to road completion, please respect construction efforts and stay away from the area. This increases safety for everyone, and helps ensure the project stays on track.
...to its Completion! Completion of the "new" Wash Road occurred on Friday, 10/2/09. Now open for primary vehicle traffic to Wash 25, the road provides camp access to the washes. "No OHVs on roadway" signs are posted along the length of the road, to remind visitors that the road is designed for primary vehicles only. This restriction will help keep maintenance costs down and increase safety. The road will be posted with 15 mph speed limit signs, except in those areas where people are likely to occur. A 5 mph speed limit will slow the traffic down near bathrooms, at the fee pad and around dumpsters. This slower speed limit will help keep the dust down, and of course, increase safety for everyone.
The Rooster
Olivia Tidball 11/4 Hannah Rhodes 11/11 Rebecca Martine 11/12
The 2009-2010 Glamis Season passes are available! You can get them from the ASA for $90 (the same price as last year) and the ASA gets 10%. Be aware that if you wait and purchase your permit at the dunes, it will cost more. The annual permits are $120 on site, and a week is $40, so if you plan to go more than two weekends, the annual is probably worth it. You can order them directly from the ASA website at: www.americansandassociation.org/
Shel Berger 11/14 Linda Trantham 11/16 Dylan Schellinger 11/16 Fred Nass 11/19
The Rooster
As many of you know, for many years Dean Carver and John Cole have worked on buggies on Tuesday or Wednesday nights at Fontana High School. This tradition actually started 25 years ago after Melissa was born and John wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Now, many cars have been built from scratch at the school, including John’s, Dean’s, Jim’s, P.J.’s, Scott’s, Dave Medlin’s, Barry’s, and the front half of Walt’s. With Dean’s retirement, we began to be more concerned about future access to the shop. Our access was preserved by Dean teaching a night school class, but this summer Dean was informed that the class would not be continued. Faced with bringing this tradition to an end, we decided to take the “high school” on the road. We have met at Brandy Tidball’s machine shop and more recently at the Executive Elevator shop. The tradition of working on buggies and just about anything else interesting in the middle of the week has continued on strong, and thanks to a variety of personal tool collections we still have the ability to bend and weld tubing. Scott Cole has been working on putting a Mendeola transmission in his car, and he re-worked the rear suspension for more travel and a stronger design in the process. DeanCarver still comes every week, and still does a lot of welding. To commemorate the 25 years of buggy nights, many of the Tuesday night regulars got together and bought Dean a watch with a Buggy Night logo on it. The school might not have given him a retirement watch, but we did. (Continued on page 5)
The Rooster (Continued from page 4)
We have also done some significant transmission work at the elevator shop. We replaced the reverse gear in Dean’s Mendeola, which was a learning experience since they do require some heat to get them apart. Once inside though, the reverse gear is identical to that in a stock 40 horsepower type 1 transmission. That is really something to think about before trying to back out of a hole… We also worked on Walt’s Megasand, and are building a bus transmission for Matthew Cole’s car to hopefully increase reliability. Besides, Scott had his three spares laying around. Sometimes, the most interesting nights are the ones where we work on something totally different. One of those night happened a few weeks ago when Scott showed up with a locked safe. To make a long story shorter, he had procured it from a restaurant owner who didn’t want to pay to have it opened or removed, so Scott took it for free. John wanted it, but first they had to figure out how to
get it open. With a few exploratory holes being drilled and careful use of the forklift to flip it over and drop it a few times (and the use of Brandy’s awesome boroscope) John and Scott provided the entertainment for the evening. By the end of the night though they had it open, and they distributed all the loot found inside it. Even though the loot consisted of a few boxes of staples and some empty money bags, it was quite entertaining for all involved. Since that night John has welded up and painted the safe and taken it home. These guys really can do any-
thing. Time will tell what the next buggy night project will be. Currently we are working on Allison’s first jeep, which will be remote controlled Power Wheels electric jeep with steering made from elevator parts. There will also eventually be a car stretching project in order to fit in a third seat in my car, but I think the Grandpas will enjoy that one. So, to stay up to speed with the latest buggy night projects check out the club web page or stop by on a Tuesday night and see what we’re up to. -P.J.
The Rooster
The Hagens have three for sale ads this month: Karissa’s 2005 Honda 250 EX: 5 speed automatic clutch with reverse, stock engine and exhaust, plastic and seat in excellent condition, original owners manual, 4 knobby tires, Green Sticker good for 2010 $2,000
P.J. and Melissa have a Yamaha Golf Cart For Sale: 1996 G14 Gas golf cart with lift. Floor sits 24 inches above the ground. Stock motor, runs well. $2000 obo Contact P.J. Kastle: (951) 285-8459 pkastle@msn.com
1994 Monaco Dynasty, 300 HP Turbo Cummins, Allison 6sp, Pac Brake, 6.5kw Genset, 2kw Inverter, 130 gal Don and Shirley have their fuel, 295/ Fiberglass Dune Buggy For Sale: R75/22.5 tires, 1600cc dual port engine, street Alcoa rims, legal, beautiful paint job, must see HWH levelers, full body paint, awnings on all winto appreciate. dows, 3 way fridge, 2 way heater, 2 ACs. $30,000 $6500 Contact Don or Shirley Ford: Two child’s helmets for (928) 680-0657 Home sale: (928) 846-2304 Cell Both were purchased at Chaparral, 3 years ago. Walt has his Shortstar Sandrail For Both are full face with Sale: visors. Exterior is in Megasand Transaxle (To Be Installed) good shape, minor scratches. Inside is in 18 inches of travel front and rear, 1.25 perfect shape, foam intact, no tears. Black inch Chromoly tubing, Aluminum side one is a child Small and the Yellow one is panels and wing trunk, Tube Frame a child Medium. $50 each Suspension Seats, 1300 lbs complete $20,000 Call Walt: (909)641-3045
Contact Pete Hagen at: (760) 451-0845 for more details
This month we would like to thank Sharon Porter for sending the BLM road info and everyone who came to the picnic for making it a fun event. With some of the biggest dune trips of the year right around the corner we can’t wait to see everybody in the dunes. - P.J. and Melissa Kastle
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Business Phone: __________________________ As with any organization there are guidelines we operate within. Please read and abide by the following: 1. NO FIREWORKS ALLOWED WITHIN CAMP BOUNDRIES 2. DOGS MUST BE KEPT UNDER CONTROL AT ALL TIMES (BLM law) 3. ON A RIDE, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE VEHICLE AHEAD OF YOU AND THE VEHICLE BEHIND YOU. If they stop, you stop and wait for the group to return to you. This prevents separation and in this manner we never leave a member in the dunes. Remember, it’s easier to find you if you stay still: “a moving target is harder to hit” 4. PLEASE OBSERVE THE “RIDE RATINGS” ON THE CLUB BOARD AND SELECT THOSE RIDES YOU WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN. If you wish to lead a ride, put the time and type of ride you want to lead on the board and then stick to that time. No passing on rides (except #6 rides). You can always change your place in line at a break or if you are waved on by the driver ahead of you. 5. REMEMBER, WE ARE A GROUP OF FRIENDS who share a common interest in riding in the desert. Always keep in mind how your actions affect the other members.
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