California Dunes Riding in the 1960s

[Photos: Bill Greene]

We’re grateful to Bill Greene for allowing us to publish these amazing family photos. Bill’s father and friends seemed to have a pretty grand time riding around desert and dunes in California during the 1960s and ’70s, competing in races, spectating at races, or just having fun with the family in the outback. These photos were taken with a humble Kodak Instamatic camera.

The location of the black-and-white shots is Kelso Dunes, in December 1963, and the slanting midwinter light makes for particularly dramatic shots. Kelso dunes is one of three places in the US which has ‘singing sands’, or more appropriately, ‘booming dunes’. When large masses of sand are shifted down a slope (as from a motorcycle wheel, or a kick from the peak), the movement produces a loud rumble which sounds like a turboprop plane or low-flying B29. This phenomenon has been described for over a thousand years in Arabian and Chinese literature.

The dunes in this area rise to over 200m (620′), with the tallest reaching 700′, and are part of the Mojave National Preserve, a 1.5 million acre area straddling CA and Nevada; the dunes area was closed to motor vehicles in 1973, so these photos can never be repeated.

The color shots were taken with a Pentax SLR with slide film, mostly at Oceano Dunes (formerly Pismo Beach), and are still accessible to motor vehicles.  Most were taken in the mid-1960s. The motorcycles are mostly Triumph unit-construction 500cc TR5 models, with little or no modifications from stock. Riding gear consists of light leather jackets, Levi’s blue jeans, work boots, and work gloves (0r no gloves), and open face Bell or Buco helmets – classic stuff. Enjoy!