Entry #4 Is Glamis A Safe Place To Ride?

     

Glamis, CA for side by sides is the equivalent of Sturgis, SD for Motorcycles. Glamis is the Mecca. Anybody that owns a SxS, will at some point in their owning career, go to this renown place. Many Generations have spent family trips at this sand filled, high octane wonderland. But, Everybody who’s been there will tell you to “keep your head on a swivel”. In fact, every single person I told that I was going, told me to be careful because it’s dangerous. After my first trip, I know why they say that.

    For starters, there are thousands of SxS there. Not only SxS, but 4 wheelers and dirt bikes too. Even Sand-rails (custom built, super light cars with huge engines) and trophy trucks (trucks that have been completely customized for jumping). I saw Sand-rails doing wheelies at 100mph+. One of the craziest things that is mind boggling to me is that there is a drag strip out there and people park their SxS all along the sides of the “track”. There’s No barriers at all, so if one of the racing cars looses control, they are barreling into dozens of people and SxS. Furthermore, People that park along the sides will randomly decide to pull out onto the “track”. There is so much sand and dust flying everywhere that it’s so hard to see in front of you. It felt like Driving through brown fog at 80mph, but you know there’s anywhere from 10 to 20 other SxS, Sand-rails, 4 wheelers, trophy trucks and dirt bikes all around you. No matter how fast you are, there’s always someone faster.

    The drag strip track is far from hard pack sand and it’s definitely not flat. The track is relatively flat, but I saw a Ford Raptor get 2ft in the air without trying. I watched a dirt bike rider get the death wobbles after inadvertently catching air and he fell off. Thank goodness he was already in the back of pack so he didn’t get run over. I saw several vehicles nearly loose control after getting airborne and not being ready for it. 

    On busy weekends, eg. Holiday weekends, There are so many people out riding the dunes that it becomes unsafe. If you’ve never ridden in the dunes, the reason it’s unsafe is because when you transition from one dune to the next, you can’t really see what’s on the other side of that dune, so you could run into or over someone very easily. Another bad part is that because there are so many people out there, there are all kinds of driver experience levels. Some people just park their SxS on one. Side of a dune, which is a big no no because you’re basically stopping around a blind corner.

    So after experiencing a Holiday weekend, I. Would say that everyone that says “it’s extremely dangerous” is right. I personally had more than one close call while dunning and several other people in my riding group also had near misses. I watched a SxS literally jump over another SxS that was going from right to left in front of it. So if you decide to take a trip out to beautiful sandy California, be very careful. Look both AND behind you before turning in any direction. It is a fun place to be, but alcohol and motor vehicles don’t mix well.