* Trail Ride * BLACK trails @ Rausch Creek * Saturday, 14 April 2018 *

    • * Trail Ride * BLACK trails @ Rausch Creek * Saturday, 14 April 2018 *


      This is not the official DeJA Club Run for April.
      **The official club run for April is found here: **April Trail Ride @ AOAA & Ultra4 Qualifier April 13-16th '18**

      We intend to run mostly blacks, so please keep that in mind. DeJA club runs are open to all levels, but for this trip I am asking that you be prepared to run some of the more challenging stuff, i.e. please have some experience and at least one locker.

      We had hoped to run AOAA, but there is a race event there which may or may not interfere with wheeling, so Rausch it is.
      ~ JD
      * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

      The post was edited 3 times, last by altierior ().

    • A great day on the trails at Rausch Creek. We missed the races at Anthracite, but five of us (plus two passengers) decided we'd rather wheel than watch. It was @altierior in his Cherokee, @haugwild in his JKU, @daddanelena in his blue TJ, @DBollllllloYJ in his YJ on Swampers, and me in the CJ, plus Mike and Joe riding shotgun.

      The parking lot was a lot busier than we expected, with a couple of big trail rides scheduled, but we didn't have any problem with traffic once we got on the trails. We set out to do blacks, and boy did we. We went straight out to Beaver Creek (the new black trail parallel to Rock Creek) and did all of that, with the only mishap being to one of haugwild's new Mastercraft tires. We put on the spare and kept going, did 23 and 18A, including Pizza Rock and the hard black section. Everybody made it through this time--that's where my axle shaft broke last month, so I was glad to beat it.

      We then cut across to the other side of Rock Creek and did 13A, the blue-black trail that runs in the creek bed parallel to Rock Creek along the north side. daddanelena and haugwild headed home after that, but the rest of us went straight on 20 and did most of that trail, including the part at the far end where it doubles back along the creek. That turned out to be the hardest part--I had to winch off of a rock that was pressing against my passenger-side front leaf spring behind the axle. That section was a very high black and I only got through the rest of it thanks to Dave, "spotter extraordinaire," who is justly famous for spotting altierior through Yellow Jacket blindfolded in 2010--John was blindfolded, not Dave.

      By the time we got out of that tough spot it was 4:00, so we headed back to the parking lot. Overall, a great day with a lot of very fun black trails on the west side.

      I'll be out there embarrassing myself with Tonka and the big boys at the Rausch Creek Club Comp on April 28, if you want to come out and watch. Then we have the DeJA annual member ride on May 19 at Anthracite. If you're a member, the usual $30 daily access fee will be covered by the club, so come on out and wheel, even if it's been a while since your Jeep was off pavement. There will be different groups at different levels, if you don't want to do the hard stuff. Hope to see you there!

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Slowpoke ().