Cresting Dunes and Orange "Safety"Flags

[fabr]

We all ,of course,do it one way or the other. Old days it was straight up,if you could make it,and over. Collisions occurred,usually at pretty low speeds. Today most people run near parallel to the lip and just transition over at pretty good speed. Lots more fun.Collisions occur usually at much greater speeds. MY question is ,has a dinky little orange flag ever helper you to see someone on the other side? I always see the other buggy/sxs/quad/bike and never ever see the flag first. How about you?

[big dave]

I agree, when your run hard and fast cutting the tops, its harder to see the flag. but I'm sure its saved me
 time or two.

[fastcorvairs]

Most times it's the people transitioning over the lip that I can see coming. The one's that come straight up and over are the one's I worry about.  LS is far worse to dune then Glamis or St ann.   

[dsrace]

Most times it's the people transitioning over the lip that I can see coming. The one's that come straight up and over are the one's I worry about.  LS is far worse to dune then Glamis or St ann.   

lol ya cause most won't go straight over the peaks at st a lol but you are correct ...people going straight up over are the biggest risk. years ago when i started going back in 03 or 04, i was told back then to always vear to the right when going over the tops so if the person on the other side does the same we both have a better chance at missing one another. i have never seen the quads or sxs people practice that method and most rails i see these days aren't going straight up and over except the tail draggers but then again there front ends stick up more than the flags 

[dsrace]

and to be honest the orange flags they require at ls blend in with the sand at many high sun times of the days for me but larger black flags stand out in contrast big time with my vision anyways. if i am on the dune tops looking for someone then fabr, jerry, fast etc etc are easy to find with the larger (contrasting to the sand) colored flags, hell the black dts flags really stand out but a little bigger would be a little better.

[fabr]

Most people in buggies roll the lip today. SxS's ususlly do also. Quads ,almost never. Rolling the lip is a much better way to run the dunes for sure. That's not what I was getting at though. Whether running straight up or rolling the lip we don't really have a clue what's on the other side and we run a LOT faster rolling the lip than guys running straight up.  I do agree with fast that we can usually see the other side before rolling the lip but I also know that many times we do not yet we still roll it. It's a true concern of mine and why I will not dune if not insured. The real point of this topic is how do we minimize the risk? LS IS worse than St.A and G for sure since the dunes are much shorter and we have pretty sharp lips with steeper faces many times compared to the usually rolling tops at the other areas.  The only way to minimize the risk is to scout the area first(doesn't happen) of just not run the lip-eff that    I guess I'm just a bit more leary since I had a friend killed in this basic scenario and it is always in the back of my mind every time we pretty much blindly roll the lip running up and over. Rolling over and down is not an issue,just up and over. I guess we just live with it and hope we never hit someone.

[dsrace]

at the top and at the moment it's time to go up and over.....that's always been and always will be a hale mary or leap of faith lol nothing will change that. for me i am to busy looking straight ahead to get the quickest glimpse of what i'm going to hit so no flag would ever stand out , at that very moment until it's too late.    number of years ago i was following a buddy ( allan) , he was on his bike. he went over the dune and i followed, luckily i was far enough off to the side i was able to swerve and just missed him. he buried his front tire or something that caused him to stall just over the lip.  every since then i have had troubles blasting over the peaks following people.  i am afraid they stalled or slowed and don't want to rear end them. depending on the section of the dunes i always swerve to one side or the other of there tracks as i go over hoping to miss them.

i do remember hearing of the accident your friend was in fabr......that was a horrible day!

[DeepBusch69]

Good topic fabr.  I am always nervous going up and over dunes with sharp lips.   As you said, going down is always a better view as you can ride the lip for a distance and see.  The two things I do to lessen the risk are:  run hard during the week (Monday thru early Thursday) when it is fairly quiet out there, and when rolling up a big dune, you can usually find a smoother, rolling area towards the center of the dune.  Much safer and better visibility. 
I do need a big and more visible flag though. 
So who is going to start running a flag up front?