Event Report: Doin' It In the Dunes, Waynoka OK, May 13-15 2016.
Friday morning kicked off the arrival of the Midwestern UTV crew to The Little Sahara State Park, the only dunes in the midwest to speak of. One of the only off road areas around here period for that matter... So it was a pretty big deal to say the least.
The weekend's events promised a vendor row, group night rides, the first UTV sand drags ever held in this multi-state area, a show and shine, a raffle for an RZR 1000 XP Turbo from the organizers at Stillwater Power Sports, and the one everyone was waiting for... The BIG AIR contest.
Day 1: Arrival, set up the Flight Offroad booth alongside the Kicker full show rig (also a Stillwater Oklahoma based company, buy American electronics!) and the party was off and rolling.
Organizer Ryan Nichols from Stillwater Power Sports told the story of how it all started "We wanted to have a customer appreciation party and a get together for friends.... the first year we had 200 people and there was 6" of snow on the ground, people were sledding behind their UTV's. It just grew from there. This year there were 2500-3000 people".
The campers settled in the various campsites located around the park, some government operated, some private. The party was in the private campgrounds and those seeking quiet in the state campgrounds. The first night ride went down and all had a good time getting to know the place better and see old friends.
Day 2: Saturday was here and the big day at hand. Sand Drags were first with stretched, blown, stroked, monsters laying it down. Fast times, loud motors, and good crowds got the drivers pumped for the big air which was next. A natural terrain jump was established and a GPS pin dropped for the crowd and it was on. There was no official distances marked, just bragging rights, but it was close to 100' for the winners.
Things wound down with the Show and Shine where Flight Offroad's own Kyle Helm won top UTV prize. For me personally, I really enjoyed seeing the Turbo RZR raffle go off and find some lucky new owner AND raised almost 10K for the local Waynoka EMS department (presumably a regular at the Little Sahara).
The trash was picked up, tents and RV's loaded up, UTV's trailered and it was back to work getting home on Sunday. Too bad, everyone just wanted to stay and keep riding a little longer.
