climbermike
07-16-2002, 09:03 PM
:flipoff2:
CMCC = Coal Mine Cruiser Classic.
Dear wheeling journal,
Well just another awesome event put on by GCLC. Full of great weather, great trails, great food, great trucks and most importantly super people.
My event started by heading out Thursday morning. The plan was to drop my son off at my parents so my wife could pick him up later. I ended up spending several hours in the Poconos looking for a auto glass company that could replace my windshield. A truck in front of me (tractor trailer) threw a rock up that cracked the windshield during my trip out. What a way to start. Ended up just buying some crazy glue.
Truck was running hot the whole way to Hazelton. Not a good sign. I got to camp around 4:30 in the afternoon after following Steve and Dan for awhile. Seems as if a lot of folks showed up either right before or right after me. Shortly after I pulled in, I heard ZBigDog pull in and heard about Don slashing a sidewall. hmmm. This is all BEFORE the event.
Got the tent pitched real quick as I hassled Jason, OB and Nicole. Hey, I am Uncle Mike after all. Hung out for awhile greeting folks. Then a bright yellow 80 pulled in.... Christo is here. It was great to finally meet him after spending so much time in email or on the phone with him. Also, he brought Robbie with him. Robbie is the mechanic at his shop. Reality exceeded expectations. What great folks. Also, Christo's truck is really something to see. A whole crowd gathered to watch him elevate his truck with his adjustable spacers. Robbie seemed to spend the next 72 hours constantly working on my truck. I had blown my EGR actuator on the way up, so that got plugged with sticks and later he binded my fan clutch with twine to keep the fan engaged so I wouldn't overheat and blow.
Managed to sneak off at a reasonable time to sleep so I could get up on time to wheel on Friday. Friday's breakfast hit the spot. No diet coke though - good thing I only had like 800 bottles with me :-). Saw JJG at the staging area and had a few minutes to renew the friendship. That's one thing about wheeling. Everyone seems to see through all the differences because we all dig wheeling and when it gets down to it, EVERYONE in the club is really cool. Getting the arm bands at PAP and going through their crap was a pain, but hey who cares. We got on the trail quickly enough to have a full day of wheeling. I had promised JH not to run Rattler without him, but also warned that I'd follow Simmons and Christo wherever they went. Well, we went straight to Rattler :-). Karma prevailed though. Our run had Dave in a 40, Scott, Christo and me in 80's, Mike Stevens in a 40, Todd in his 70 and Ryan in the Great Pumpkin (foreskinner). Well, Simmons broke his birfield, I broke a siderail, Todd broke a siderail. Yup, karma. Rattler, like Mike S said, is a really cool trail. Definitely a step or two up from Whompum. Some mightly ledges and plenty offcamber. We were all relieved when Christo mentioned that he had a newfield in his truck! Robbie put on a clinic with Scott on how to get things running quickly and we were shortly on our way. Oh, of course we had plenty of entertainment from Ryan as he jumped back into his truck time after time to get more tubs of grease. Something about wheaties! You had to be there.
The second half of Rattler was even more entertaining. The last series of ledges were taken by several different routes. Someone made the mistake of telling me to keep it going in one fluid motion :-). Todd got some more damage as his swingarm on his bumper was playing 'round the world in 80 seconds. All in all a very fun trail. Lots of good pictures. Best ones of the day were Mike Stevens on the first part of Rattler and the Pumkinseed on the second half with a few wheels in the air.
Took off and went back to the camp site. Met up with Mike and Deb Swift and Chuck and Susie Sensinger (Chuck from OK). We of course all made fun of Don since he wasn't there! (sorry Don, it just never stops). Got to hang out with BS for awhile and got to know Mike Schroth and Dave McComsey better. What great guys (can't be too nice or folks will think I've turned over a new leaf). Hung out also with Christo and watched as Robbie fixed my truck yet again! Got 'some' sleep.
Saturday got off to an interesting start. As we headed out to PAP, Christo tells me to stop Don who is driving between us. Don blew his head gasket and we towed his truck to the truck stop. Since there wasn't much we could accomplish at that point, what better to do than to wheel? Of course, by this time, JH had called and said they were doing Voodoo. Voodoo? What the f? That's a red trail, guide only, expect body damage. Well, he was there with Simmons, Rene, Chuck, Ryan and a guide. Just as Christo and Robbie were about to follow Don and I (Don riding shotgun in the flamethrower), Alejandro pulled up in his Venezuelan spec 80 with his friend Jenn. Cool! We ripped out of the parking lot since were about at least 1 hour behind the others and baja'ed our way through the access roads in probably the worlds quickest approach to Voodoo ever. Well, the trail lives up to it's name. Within 100', I had to use my winch. Everyone had plenty of challenges on the trail. I even had a bit 'o air under my truck so that Don and Robbie quickly hopped on to my running boards as Christo took a few pics of my lovely expression (yes, I bought brown seat covers for a reason). Definitely had a chance to explore my previous limits though - they are now slightly expanded :-). Plenty of slider and locker useage - that's why we got them right? If you have a wagon, DO NOT do this trail without HEAVY DUTY sliders! Everyone had a few tires in the air at one point or another and everyone had rocks stacked for them! (don't believe them if they say no, I HAVE PICS!!!). Except for Ryan... the seed just kept going. It was definitely a challenge with different wheelbase trucks on such a challenging trail, and plenty of folks more than willing to spot. We all came through it though without major problems and had plenty of fun. Definitely learned a lot.
The Sat night was capped by the raffle. Wow, 2 years in a row a female won the $1k grand prize!! Next year, I'm wearing a skirt for the raffle! Didn't get to bed till around 2am Sat night. Was too busy hanging with all the great new/old friends.
Didn't do much on Sun. Packed. Hung out. Swapped BS with BS, and spread BS wherever I could :-). Didn't wheel, just headed out.
Monday's suck!
Tuesday's really suck!
Wednesdays? Well, I already have an appointment to get some 'repair' work done on my truck tomorrow :-).
So what was the best part? Well, the wheeling was great. Weather was great. Trails of course awesome. Best part was easily meeting folks though. Guys like Christo, Robbie, Bud, and others.... it just doesn't get any better.
Improvements for next year? Cybercast is mandatory! :-) That way we can bug the crap out of guys that can't go. Guys like Miranda and Chad :-)
Thanks to everyone for a SUPER weekend and event. The organizers did a super job, Randy and Gail did a great job with the food, and all the participants (who are the folks that really make this the ONE event not to miss) .... thanks everyone.
Uncle Mike
97 FZJ80
twine binding fan
sticks plugging vacumn lines
broken side rails
now has AC thanks to Robbie
hasn't been cleaned
Swampers still on
permanent smile
:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2:
CMCC = Coal Mine Cruiser Classic.
Dear wheeling journal,
Well just another awesome event put on by GCLC. Full of great weather, great trails, great food, great trucks and most importantly super people.
My event started by heading out Thursday morning. The plan was to drop my son off at my parents so my wife could pick him up later. I ended up spending several hours in the Poconos looking for a auto glass company that could replace my windshield. A truck in front of me (tractor trailer) threw a rock up that cracked the windshield during my trip out. What a way to start. Ended up just buying some crazy glue.
Truck was running hot the whole way to Hazelton. Not a good sign. I got to camp around 4:30 in the afternoon after following Steve and Dan for awhile. Seems as if a lot of folks showed up either right before or right after me. Shortly after I pulled in, I heard ZBigDog pull in and heard about Don slashing a sidewall. hmmm. This is all BEFORE the event.
Got the tent pitched real quick as I hassled Jason, OB and Nicole. Hey, I am Uncle Mike after all. Hung out for awhile greeting folks. Then a bright yellow 80 pulled in.... Christo is here. It was great to finally meet him after spending so much time in email or on the phone with him. Also, he brought Robbie with him. Robbie is the mechanic at his shop. Reality exceeded expectations. What great folks. Also, Christo's truck is really something to see. A whole crowd gathered to watch him elevate his truck with his adjustable spacers. Robbie seemed to spend the next 72 hours constantly working on my truck. I had blown my EGR actuator on the way up, so that got plugged with sticks and later he binded my fan clutch with twine to keep the fan engaged so I wouldn't overheat and blow.
Managed to sneak off at a reasonable time to sleep so I could get up on time to wheel on Friday. Friday's breakfast hit the spot. No diet coke though - good thing I only had like 800 bottles with me :-). Saw JJG at the staging area and had a few minutes to renew the friendship. That's one thing about wheeling. Everyone seems to see through all the differences because we all dig wheeling and when it gets down to it, EVERYONE in the club is really cool. Getting the arm bands at PAP and going through their crap was a pain, but hey who cares. We got on the trail quickly enough to have a full day of wheeling. I had promised JH not to run Rattler without him, but also warned that I'd follow Simmons and Christo wherever they went. Well, we went straight to Rattler :-). Karma prevailed though. Our run had Dave in a 40, Scott, Christo and me in 80's, Mike Stevens in a 40, Todd in his 70 and Ryan in the Great Pumpkin (foreskinner). Well, Simmons broke his birfield, I broke a siderail, Todd broke a siderail. Yup, karma. Rattler, like Mike S said, is a really cool trail. Definitely a step or two up from Whompum. Some mightly ledges and plenty offcamber. We were all relieved when Christo mentioned that he had a newfield in his truck! Robbie put on a clinic with Scott on how to get things running quickly and we were shortly on our way. Oh, of course we had plenty of entertainment from Ryan as he jumped back into his truck time after time to get more tubs of grease. Something about wheaties! You had to be there.
The second half of Rattler was even more entertaining. The last series of ledges were taken by several different routes. Someone made the mistake of telling me to keep it going in one fluid motion :-). Todd got some more damage as his swingarm on his bumper was playing 'round the world in 80 seconds. All in all a very fun trail. Lots of good pictures. Best ones of the day were Mike Stevens on the first part of Rattler and the Pumkinseed on the second half with a few wheels in the air.
Took off and went back to the camp site. Met up with Mike and Deb Swift and Chuck and Susie Sensinger (Chuck from OK). We of course all made fun of Don since he wasn't there! (sorry Don, it just never stops). Got to hang out with BS for awhile and got to know Mike Schroth and Dave McComsey better. What great guys (can't be too nice or folks will think I've turned over a new leaf). Hung out also with Christo and watched as Robbie fixed my truck yet again! Got 'some' sleep.
Saturday got off to an interesting start. As we headed out to PAP, Christo tells me to stop Don who is driving between us. Don blew his head gasket and we towed his truck to the truck stop. Since there wasn't much we could accomplish at that point, what better to do than to wheel? Of course, by this time, JH had called and said they were doing Voodoo. Voodoo? What the f? That's a red trail, guide only, expect body damage. Well, he was there with Simmons, Rene, Chuck, Ryan and a guide. Just as Christo and Robbie were about to follow Don and I (Don riding shotgun in the flamethrower), Alejandro pulled up in his Venezuelan spec 80 with his friend Jenn. Cool! We ripped out of the parking lot since were about at least 1 hour behind the others and baja'ed our way through the access roads in probably the worlds quickest approach to Voodoo ever. Well, the trail lives up to it's name. Within 100', I had to use my winch. Everyone had plenty of challenges on the trail. I even had a bit 'o air under my truck so that Don and Robbie quickly hopped on to my running boards as Christo took a few pics of my lovely expression (yes, I bought brown seat covers for a reason). Definitely had a chance to explore my previous limits though - they are now slightly expanded :-). Plenty of slider and locker useage - that's why we got them right? If you have a wagon, DO NOT do this trail without HEAVY DUTY sliders! Everyone had a few tires in the air at one point or another and everyone had rocks stacked for them! (don't believe them if they say no, I HAVE PICS!!!). Except for Ryan... the seed just kept going. It was definitely a challenge with different wheelbase trucks on such a challenging trail, and plenty of folks more than willing to spot. We all came through it though without major problems and had plenty of fun. Definitely learned a lot.
The Sat night was capped by the raffle. Wow, 2 years in a row a female won the $1k grand prize!! Next year, I'm wearing a skirt for the raffle! Didn't get to bed till around 2am Sat night. Was too busy hanging with all the great new/old friends.
Didn't do much on Sun. Packed. Hung out. Swapped BS with BS, and spread BS wherever I could :-). Didn't wheel, just headed out.
Monday's suck!
Tuesday's really suck!
Wednesdays? Well, I already have an appointment to get some 'repair' work done on my truck tomorrow :-).
So what was the best part? Well, the wheeling was great. Weather was great. Trails of course awesome. Best part was easily meeting folks though. Guys like Christo, Robbie, Bud, and others.... it just doesn't get any better.
Improvements for next year? Cybercast is mandatory! :-) That way we can bug the crap out of guys that can't go. Guys like Miranda and Chad :-)
Thanks to everyone for a SUPER weekend and event. The organizers did a super job, Randy and Gail did a great job with the food, and all the participants (who are the folks that really make this the ONE event not to miss) .... thanks everyone.
Uncle Mike
97 FZJ80
twine binding fan
sticks plugging vacumn lines
broken side rails
now has AC thanks to Robbie
hasn't been cleaned
Swampers still on
permanent smile
:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: