Roost Fest 2001

Roostfest, as it's called, started when a few friends from the ATV Connection chat room decided it was time for the "'East to meet the West". The chat room has been a great place to meet people from all over the country and even the world for the past several years. Every year there are a few chatter gatherings in different parts of the country. The East coast folks usually meet at Silver Lake sand dunes in Michigan and the West coast folks get together at one of the many fine duning area's the west has to offer, usually on the Oregon coast or at the sand dune capitol of the world, Glamis. This year they decided to meet in a more centralized dune area and the only logical choice was Little Sahara State Park in Waynoka, OK.

On Sunday, September 9th, four of the west coast chatters all convened in Las Vegas and loaded up the truck for the early morning departure. Monday, O-dark-early they headed east across the Hoover Dam and arrived 16 hours later in Waynoka,OK.

Tuesday morning after watching the terrible news from New York they decided they needed to take their minds off of the happenings and headed to the dunes for there first ever ride at Little Sahara. On the way they stopped at Millers Café for a fine breakfast and met Donnie Miller who filled them in on some of the local gossip.

Once on the dunes they found that the dune area was not huge (they are spoiled from the Glamis dunes) but definitely adequate for a good time! The dunes were very predictable with almost no hidden holes or drop-offs. The dunes resembled a large saw blade laid flat on the earth- a good sized hill/razor back then flat ground, then the same basically in a straight line. Predictable dunes with no hidden hazards make for easy 5th gear pinned dune rides! The West Coast guys were carving the dunes “California Style”; riding across the face of one dune, down to the bottom then up the face of another dune in a continuos “S” shaped pattern. As the week wore on they noticed people stopping to watch this apparently unique to California riding style in amazement. Later they found out that most of the riders at Little Sahara ride in an almost straight line. What fun is that? Guess they like it, because everyone had huge dune smiles on their faces.  

Some of the twisty sand trails were also explored that border the main dune area. They are fun to test your riding skills twisting and turning through the sandy woods. Most of the trails were very rough with plenty of whoops! One good thing the dunes has is trees! Trees can be a good thing on a hot day when you need a break. Nothing like a dune break in the shade!

After a good ride back at camp, listening to the news, they met a few other chatters that had pulled in the day before.

Tuesday was an early night as the lack of sleep the day before and the events heard on the TV turned out to be very draining.

The rest of the week made for some great duning along with interesting conversation with fellow chatters. Friday there was a big group ride through the dunes with a few picture stops at some good jumps. The ride ended at the sand drags near the exit of the dunes to watch some racing and settle long time "who’s faster" disputes.     

Saturday was hectic in the dunes, people going every which way, it was crazy! Some of the locals said they had never seen so many people at one time in the dunes. That night there was a party behind the Oasis store. At the party was a live band, tug-o-war contest and even a wet tee shirt contest! There were also prizes that were donated by a few companies, shirts, stickers, billet aluminum parts and even a set of lights from Ricky Stator. The shirts and stickers were tossed into the crowd and the aluminum parts along with the lights were auctioned off to the highest bidders. The proceeds, about $300.00, were sent to the Fireman’s Association in New York. “Duners will roost all terrorism!”

RoostFest turned out to be a huge success with about 30 chatters with one chatter all the way from Belgium! Total people at Little Sahara that weekend totaled approximately 3600, which is double the amount of people that would be there on a normal weekend. It’s amazing how the word spread about RoostFest from a few chatters to 3600 people!

Overall the locals were very happy to see all the duners there and were extremely friendly. The chatters are already planning the next RoostFest but as of now are not sure where it will be held.

For more pictures and info about RoostFest see:

www.roostfest.com

On a side note, the only (majorly) enforced law at Little Sahara is no alcohol in the dunes. Other than that you can ride 2 on a quad fully naked if you choose. This is all-fine and dandy but what about safety, AKA, helmet? I saw countless people ranging from the age of 12 to 70 NOT wearing helmets! Do you honestly believe you will never crash? Helmets are cheap $50-$600 compared to the price of a new face. Please ask yourself: "How much is my head worth?"