Weekend Wheeling
This past weekend I went to my first Land Rover Rally, SCARR 2. I missed last year because the accident happened just before I was to go and I sure couldn’t go in a jacked-up truck.
I woke up early on Friday morning for the 5 hour drive to Barnwell. I had to be to the rest area on the north side of Austin by 7:30 to meet up with the crew from San Antonio. They showed up on time short one Land Rover. Brett had to go by the Ausitn dealer to get something looked at. The 5 of us hit the road around 8:30.
On the other side of Waco we pulled off for gas, as we slowed down I noticed by temp gauge red-lining. Dang. Fluid looked a bit low so we topped it off and let it cool down. Everything looked fine, so off we went. We got in to Barnwell around 1pm. We took an hour or so to sweat-up set-up camp and then hit the trails.
First up was Greenlanes. A fairly easy 3 diamond course we all made it through with no problem. We did a couple more runs and I started overheating again. Topped off the fluid out on the trail, again. I then split from the group and headed into town to try to find a place to flush the radiator on a Friday evening. I found a guy who did it for me after I tempted him with a few extra bucks to stay late. He was nice enough to let me drink a couple of his beers while he finished it up for me. If you’re in Gilmer and need a quick repair, go see Randy. He’s on the outskirts north of town on the other road that doesn’t lead to Barnwell across from a minimart. I had no problem with overheating the rest of the weekend.
I got back before dark just as the guys got back from their runs. We ate some dinner then headed out for a night run. We picked what looked to be a decent 3 diamond trail, The Polititian. We should have known by the name alone that it was a liar. On the last pitch of the trail Ed bent a rear radius arm nearly 90 degrees. We heard the tire rubbing on the slider but he made it to the top of the hill. After some field repairs we got it to where we could tow it without doing more damage and I towed him back in to camp with my D-90. In camp he got it back mostly straight and was ready for the morning.
In the morning I split with the group and went on a guided run. The trail leader got some nice pin-striping going down Clyde’s Ravine. After seeing that, most folks decided the bypass was the way to go. I followed him through, shunning the bypass, with no problems. At the end of our run we got to wait for about 45 minutes while two broken trucks were removed from the trail ahead of us.
After lunch I linked back up with the San Antonio guys for some afternoon runs. Coming up out of Greenlanes into camp there’s a challenging little pitch. I powered through it without much problem with Max in his little 88 right behind. I went to watch Adam in his H&H Rangie give it a shot as I knew he might have a spot of problem. About halfway up the hill I hear a pop like a rifle shot. Adam powered it to the top of the hill to clapping of the on-lookers. I walked around his truck hoping to see a blown tire but saw what I didn’t want to see, his right-rear corner was sunk to the bump stops and the left-rear was slowly lowering. He’d blown an airspring. He limped into camp on the bumpstops. Jack came by in his Tomcat and said he could fix it. After some wrestling it was back in place and aired up, just in time for the evening raffle.
At the raffle I won a heater vent scoop for my Defender. Isaw it and knew what it was so grabbed it. My heater blower is dead and this will at least give me some ram-air action for heat in the winter. Brett a.k.a “BQ” won a DVD copy of Bill Burke’s Bypass Basics. Someone else won an Optima Redtop.
Time for the evening runs again. The 5 of us went out and did Pipeline and Solihull back up Pipeline with ‘BQ’ in the lead. Along the way we picked up a few people. We then headed toward the back of the park. Somehow I ended up in the front. Someone near the back told us some good trails so I headed towards those. Once they’d say it’s a decent trail I’d go without question. On one trail I shot over the edge and started down hill. Oops, looks like I started in second gear instead of first on a rather steep pitch. Bounce, bounce, bounce. All I’m seeing is sky, tree, sky, rock, rock, tree, sky, rock. I make it to the bottom in one piece somehow. My not questioning the trail and this little run earns me the nickname “Trigger”. We hit a few more trails then stop for a quick bladder break at the top of a hill. Truck after truck continue to crest the hill. I was pulling a train of about 20 Rovers it seems. On the way down the next trail I ran into a group of guys in Toyotas headed up. I got out to talk to them and said I’ve got like 20 trucks behind me. They were cool and decided backing up was easier on them than us. We made it back to camp in one piece.
Most guys passed out in their tents after the long day while a few hung around the bonfire.
In the morning we decided not to risk breaking our trucks an hour before driving them home so we packed camp and made a leisurely drive home. My truck started the overheating bit again and did so a couple times on the way back. I made it home after spliting up with the guys north of Austin.
I had a great time and look forward to next year. Maybe next year I’ll head up Thursday night so I can get a full day of wheeling in on Friday.