i posted this in the southwest forum, but i want ya'll's opinion.

i posted on the jawbone thread that i want to go ride tomorrow. because i do really want to go!!! its not raining - finally!!!

got a couple of nice invitations to meet up.

told my best friend i was going to get to go.

she said - what? with people you've never met? to the desert? and you'll be the only girl? are you crazy?

am i crazy?

i don't know! how else am i supposed to go ride? i don't have a boyfriend or husband to take me, i do have one girl friend that rides (with her husband) but she broke her kneecap at the track. so....

should i stay or should i go (tomorrow)?

You should go only if you bring a friend that doesn't mind hanging out at the truck for you to come back. Make sure you have a cell phone and get their contact information and call it before you go in order to make sure that it is true information. It has been my luck that people I have met up with from "TT" have been good natured and trustworthy. Good luck.

Dan

Are any of the guys married? If so meet at the guys house, meet his wife. If the wife dosen't know your going or doesn't approve don't go.

If you do go alone, just make sure you tell more than one person exactly what area you're going to be in...and rely on gut instincts.

that is really good advice, everyone!!

meeting a wife would make ME feel lots better.

the only un-doable part is taking someone to wait at the truck for me. i can't get my best friend to go when we take the cushy trailer, let alone, just the truck...

and gut instinct is good - but i think i'm pretty trusting when it comes to people who like to ride in the desert. i just think they're "good people."

DAN! can you go ride tomorrow? dove springs?

texdez said:

Wow, that's a tough choice. I ride alone quite often but of course my circumstances are quite different.

My main concern about riding with a group of strangers in a strange place would be getting disconnected by a crash or a broken bike. Will they come look for you or not? Will they tell anyone or just assume that you made it out OK? Will they even know who to call?

I think you have some good advice on hooking up with a strange group and who knows, maybe this will expand your list of friends to ride with for the future.

My only recommendation would be to carry a cell phone if there is any chance of coverage AND a hand held GPS. Get one that can accept different background maps for the display and load a Topo style background map. I always carry one with me.

This way, if you get lost, hurt or heaven forbid, need to get away from a bad situation, you have a better chance of calling for help and are able to give them your exact coordinates for the quickest possible recovery. You also give yourself a chance to find your way back with the least amount of going the wrong direction.

And in case it's someone else that needs the help, you will be able to mark their location, call it in or go get help.

A good place to start looking for information about one is from Tom Myer at Cycoactive....

Click Here

Tom probably knows as much or more about GPS and using them on bikes than anyone.. Plus he personally tests everything about them on his many Dual Sport Rides.. That's him on the home page photo. He is also an awesome rider and a great person!

Good luck! I hope your ride turns out to be a great one with new contacts.

Oh, almost forgot! You can also use your GPS to get you to and from any spot while driving *AND* you can use it on any vacation anywhere in the world even without a background map to mark your hotel, airport or any favorite spot you found along the way. You can tell if that foreign Taxi Driver is running you around the long way to up your bill... I caught one in China trying to do that to me. I popped the GPS up on to the dash and said.. "That Way!" He looked at the GPS and then said Ohhhh.. with a sheepish grin, pointed toward the sky, I nodded and he turned toward my hotel.. After that, he was having fun watching our moves on the GPS screen.

I totally understand--same here, single gal who wants to ride, no boyfriend/hubby to take me along. I have ridden with people I don't know TONS of times and it always turned out ok. Maybe I was tempting fate--like you, I had friends who called me crazy--but I always felt ok going. Heck, I drove all the way from Washington to Oklahoma on a dirt bike road trip with a Canadian guy I'd never met and had barely spoken to through email!!!! He was cool though, we still ride together now and then.
Anyway. I say, meet a wife if you can, but I wouldn't cancel the trip just based on disapproval. If she has a problem with you, then it's hers, and somebody else's marital troubles shouldn't affect your riding. I have a few friends whose wives weren't sure of me and I just did my best to be friendly to them and talk about "girly stuff" after the ride or over phone or email so they knew I wasn't just trying to lure their man out into the woods to seduce him.

Anyway, definitely tell someone where you're going. I usually hesitate to tell my friends when I'll be back, since we might stop for food and/or beer afterward, and if I don't roll in until 10 p.m., why cause them unnecessary worry?

So go ahead, have fun, and listen to your instincts if you start to feel creeped out by more than one of the guys.
Who knows, there might be a cute single one or two worth riding with again!!!

You are welcome to join our crowd sometime, just a bunch of firemen and wives, but the wives ride and are kick ass fun chicks!!

Firecracker said:

Firecracker said:

Yep, that is what we are really up to..... Especially with the "Moto-Look"
I know exactly where you are coming from on that one. I ride with my other half and his friends... we split up quite often because some of the guys are really fast and I ride with the "slower" boys....if you want to call it slower...... Some of the terrain is nasty up here and some of the guys are not fond of the terrain my other half loves so much........so I ride with them and yeah, their significant others were a little unsure..I was told that I don't look like a girl who should be riding dirt bikes..... What are we supposed to look like!!!!!!

Firecracker said:

I agree with all of the above. I'd only add, keep it in a group if at all possible... like I said in the SW forum, the chances of EVERYONE in the group being a wacko is pretty slim, and the 'good' ones will help keep the goofier ones in line! I've also carpooled with people I've never met, and its turned out ok, but its probably really best if you take your own vehicle...

texdez said:

Oh heck, just come ride with my daughter and I, I'll keep the crazies at bay...oh wait...it's only supposed to get to about 35 degrees tomorrow...after almost 70 today...of course had to WORK today.....
Well, that and you are in California and I'm in South Dakota......sheesh, does NOTHING work out for me? LOL LOL

lots of good advice - thanks a bunch.

and yeah, i'd take my own vehicle....

so, who wants to go ride tomorrow?? hahahaa! just kiddin'. i think i'm gonna go ahead and go - and just give more than one person all the info about who and where and when, etc.



~joy

Firecracker said:

And then here's me riding alone for the most part of 16 years wishing something like that would happen... I guess I should consider myself lucky that at least a bear didn't have that same plan.

I used to go riding with people I didn't know all the time. Now I have lots of riding buddies. What I did is trust my gut instinct. I'd talk to the guys and make sure that they take care of there own. Ask them if they wait at the turns, see what kind of ride they plan on doing, ect. There is never too many questions. I haven't met anyone who's done me wrong yet in the dirt biking world.


Brenda

i've gone riding with girls i don't know. somehow that never even seemed weird. i have met lots of great people!

i talked to my best friend this afternoon and she said - so you're going tomorrow, right? and i said - after you freaked me out??? i don't know!!

but yeah - i just really, really, really want to go ride. so i think i shall!!

If you're comforatble with one, I'd take an "equalizer". If you're not and think you might like to ride with strangers as the only lady again, I'd get comfortable with one and keep it close just in case.

Short story, mostly unrelated, but one I love to tell. The wife and I are sitting on the porch (country, everybody around owns an acre anyway) about 10pm when we hear what sounds like a scream coming from the neighbor's house (woman with 2 teenage daughters). Wife and I look at each other, silent, but both concerned. Another scream, so I take off towards their house and pound on their door. Mom answers, I'm basically ignoring her and looking around for anything wrong while asking if everything is alright in a heightened tone. Her youngest daughter steps out from a doorway behind her, laughing - Mom explains they were having a "tickling contest". We all have a good laugh about it and I walk home - and I find my wife standing just inside our doorway with her loaded .22 rifle in a ready but safe position and she asks ME if everything is alright

Nice to have backup, and I think I might trust responsible women with guns more than men

well, i am from texas. so naturally, yes, i do own something of that nature. its a little larger...uh...caliber. hmmmmm....

mike, if you're reading this....you'd better mind your p's and q's tomorrow!!

and i'm bringin' my dawg, too!!

~j

texdez said:

Sounds like he better, or else. That's really cool, I think a cool-headed woman with a firearm can defuse a lot situations before they get really out of hand too. I'd also rather face a Marine fighting for Corps/Country than a woman fighting for someone she loves.

BTW, the Mrs .22LR has a 40X scope and she's pretty deadly to beercans at 100' - not that that's anything incredible, but I wouldn't want her getting ticked off at me if I was within 300'

sigint said:

WAIT A COTTON PICKIN' MINUTE.....are those beer cans FULL or EMPTY?????



LOL