Dakota Dual Sport Riders

General Discussions => ORA - Off-Road Riders Association => Topic started by: Lonesome Dave on March 26, 2015, 11:12:27 AM

Title: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: Lonesome Dave on March 26, 2015, 11:12:27 AM
Forgot to post this last night.  Tonight at 6pm (happy hour) and 7pm (meeting) the "ORA" http://www.offroadriders.org is have their monthly meeting at TREA building, 1981 Centre St. RCSD.

I've been wanting to check them out for awhile and believe we (DDSR), not as a club, but as individuals, should be more involved in preserving our trails.  Numbers of people seem to be the main influence on the Forest Service and many of their decisions.  Anyway, Dale Baity and I are going to be there for him to present is Black Hills Ghost Towns and Ghost Mines.
LD
Title: Re: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: Dr Psyko on March 26, 2015, 11:13:36 AM
Represent!
Title: Re: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: greatbuffalo on March 26, 2015, 03:21:14 PM
+1
Title: Re: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: Hank on March 26, 2015, 04:14:42 PM
Yes that's really cool.   We as a collective should do more to lobby for our current trails as well as future trail access in the BH and everywhere.

There is a big stink in Moab right now as the Sierra Club and other associated bunny huggers are trying to get more stuff shut down to OHVs.    Unfortunately the Mtn Bike crowd seems to really be selfish about a lot of this stuff too, thinking that only they are worthy and they have the backing of some pretty big money.

I find this particularly ridiculous in Moab where 50000 jeeps can roll through a trail and the only real sign is some tire marks that wash away in the rain.     Some sand and rocks get pushed around... its not exactly a delicate area.      The enviro-nuts were talking about the impact closing trails will have on the snow pack, and how we as OHV'rs should just realize that these changes are for our own good, along with other assorted geysers of bullshit.   Its pretty maddening.

I'll be writing some emails to let my voice be heard.    There is a good thread in the Rockies area on ADV about it.

Now, back to the ORA... how can I help?
Title: Re: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: Dr Psyko on March 26, 2015, 04:55:20 PM
We don't have a ton of time during the "spring fling", but I would be willing to do some trail maintenance. Maybe an organized troop activity?
Title: Re: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: Lonesome Dave on March 26, 2015, 05:28:35 PM
Thanks for the offer Doc, but I think its way too busy to do anything like that on that weekend.  In fact, that same weekend of our event, the BH ATV Rally at Nemo, http://www.blackhillsatvrally.com, United Side Car Rally and one more I just can't think of it are happening at the same time.  Hey, maybe will get some trail hacks to stop by! 

For you guys that live out of town, maybe the best support you can do is become a member of ORA.  I think its 20 bucks a year.  I will ask tonight and find out what that extra money might do for them.  I do know, that when they have a "call to arms" so to speak, 1000 people asking why is a lot better than 25.  I also know they question the forest service often.  Why this trail or area is closed, but more importantly, they try to give alternatives or solutions to different problems.  They also continue to lobby for hooking / connecting trails together so you can actually go from one area to another without highway or other problem type roads.

Title: Re: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: Lonesome Dave on April 07, 2015, 10:28:36 PM
Finally getting around to posting this info about the Off-road Riders Assocation (ORA) meeting last week.  They were happy to view Dale's software and books, and I believe he sold 8 copies that night.  And, will sell more in the future.  Many of them are aware of our group and were happy to see a DDSR member as well.
 
I told them about our little group, what we do, and that we were not an official anything with any meetings or voting, just a group of people with the common bond of motorcycling and trail riding and now have become friends.  And, we have a couple of rallies each year.
Almost thirty people attended Thursday's meeting, I was told as few as 5 or 6 people and sometimes fifty and more attend the monthly meeting, depending how mad people might be at the time.  Today they just discussed their normal business.

I also learned they have a lot of contacts in the off-road community, as well as the forest service.  Different members attend meetings or are on discussion panels for different off-road / trail issues.  They also do community work, promoting the sport and teaching good riding behavior.  They also sponsor poker runs to help raise money for different charities along with group/club rides.  I think that helps make friends!!

What did I learn?  Probably in a word or two, IT'S A NUMBERS GAME.  What I mean, is if you have hundreds of people concerned about an issue and they write letters, or maybe just one statement from a large group, it means a lot more.  Currently, they have members in 14 different states.  I believe they told me they have about 600 members.  I told them we have nearly 400 members, but emphasized that only 50 to 60 are really active.  They were very excited.  Why?  Again, the numbers. 

So why am I writing this?  As stated in an earlier post, I've thought I / we should be more active in supporting our trails and I've heard a lot of positive feedback from different members.  ORA told me the first thing I / we should do is get on Facebook and "like them."  And then have the rest of your family, friends, and neighbors "like them" too.  Again, the numbers!

The second thing to do is become an ORA member.  I told them we had individuals interested in becoming members that live out of town or out of state, and enjoy their time in the hills or at our rallies, who were willing to become members just to help and support ORA.  But, they will never show up for a meeting or attend a trail work day or anything.  They said fine, happy to have anyone join.  The annual dues for ORA ($20/yr) will be put towards future projects. 

The third thing we need to do is get on their mailing list.  You don't have to be a member of ORA to be on their email list.  I'm not sure exactly how we could do this, but I'm sure Hank could figure something out.

I've talked with Hank about this earlier, and believe we're going to make a new "board" for the ORA related subjects.  We can post their monthly newsletters or links there.  As a subscriber or member of ORA, you will get the newsletters, meeting updates, important announcements, and other events.

I think this would be a good move for our future of trail riding.  I didn't think of it at the time, but I thought maybe we should invite one or two of their representatives to our summer rally to answer any questions and to encourage new memberships.
Title: Re: ORA -- Off-Road Riders Association
Post by: greatbuffalo on April 08, 2015, 04:03:05 AM
I agree. I will sign up as soon as I get a few minutes. I'm sure it can be done on line. That will be 20 bucks well spent.

Thanks Dave, for following up on this.