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Article and Photos by: Kimber Rau
Edited by: Randy Wheeler

Puttin' Your Rig Where Your Mouth Is
 

Many off-roaders pay lip service to the dreaded trail closers and what should be done to prevent the behaviors of a few that are leading to them. Few actually do anything about it other than buying a sticker or t-shirt. But on July 4, 2002 four clubs, URJB, Sierra Rock Crawlers, Pirates of the Rubicon, and the Tin Benders, heeded the call to arms by Rich Klein and put their rigs where their mouths are, to benefit Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR), a cause worthy of those who honor the famed Rubicon Trail, and all it stands for.

This year, Rich Klein and the CalRocs organization hosted the "Carnage For The Con" event. All proceeds from the event are going towards helping FOTR, a coalition of "partners working towards the same goal: Keep the Rubicon open and useable". Del Albright, of Blue Ribbon Coalition fame, is the organizer of this group of County Agencies, USFS, businesses, and other recreation/land management agencies or clubs. FOTR advocates what we all want, responsible trail use by compliance with etiquette, rules, and laws. Magazines have long been heralding the Rubicon as one of the toughest trails Mother Nature put forth for us to play on. But the years, and countless trail abusers, have taken away the some of the luster of the trail. FOTR is working to reverse this and help re-establish the prestige and luster of the Rubicon Trail.

When I met up with Rich during the tech inspections, he told me that the day was about fun and easy rock crawling. The three courses had not been seen, or driven, before by anyone of the contenders. In fact, they had been established just the night before by a group of volunteers that included Mike Lyster, Mike Gaftman, Al Hartmen, Lil Rich, Big Rich, Tim Hardy, Nick, JJ Abercrombie - all of whom are off-road veterans in their own right- that walked it out and deemed it pretty mellow for the caliber of Rockcrawlers that were entered to claim the title the California Hard Core Champions for their respective club. 

The event started shortly after 9 and sent a chill of foreboding through the crowd, and contestants from the start as Troy Muse, a seasoned veteran of multiple competitions, found his trail hammered Toyota truck squarely perched on top of an overly affectionate rock that grabbed his cross-member and drivelines. Try as he might he couldn't get past this obstacle at the entry gate and ran out of time for the course. Next up was Jerry Sparks, aka "Fatkid",  in his white Samurai. He cleverly avoided Troy's rock, and twisted right, then tweaked his flexy rig left through the tight zig-zag section of rocks that made up the last level ground portion available. He was then faced with THE GATEKEEPER for this course, an almost 8' high climb of nearly 90 degrees with a metal munching hole on the left and a progress inhibiting boulder on the right. When the low-gear, crawlin' method didn't work, "Fatkid" let his right foot do the talkin' and launched past the mammoth barrier to gain freedom through the closing gates. 

Fatkid was the first competitor to make it up Gatekeeper, while others were not so lucky...

Next up was Eric Wehrer, in his Toyota FJ Cruiser that hands down got all the votes for "clean and purdy". The rig had just been finished a few weeks earlier and broke in on the Rubicon shortly thereafter. Sadly before this obstacle was done with him and his show room ride, THE GATEKEEPER would take in its first course of metal mayhem for the day, pitching Erin back down to the base of the hill in heart-stopping rollover fashion. Erin wasn't the only one to get hurled back to bottom of this stalwart obstacle. Only 6 out of the 20 contestants made it up this mountain of doom before either rolling, or suffering a cataclysmic form of vehicle damage. Jeff "H8Monday" Huelsman, undoubtedly, wins the most death-defying,  can't-believe-he-walked-away-from-it roll for the day, as he catapulted down the mountain nearly 3 times before he came to what everyone thought was to be his final resting place. 

Jeff Huelsman (aka H8Monday) had the most spectacular roll over of the event.  Even with his mangled rig,  Jeff completed the remainder of the event.

Because of the amount of time spent recovering rolled and broken rigs, the second obstacle course for the day was eliminated and the organizers opted to only run 2 courses in order to allow all teams a fair chance at claiming bragging rights for the day. If this was supposed to calm the furor of dread, it didn't last long. The second course was far more technical than the first. Contenders were faced with severe off camber climbs, drops, and side-hill action that would swallow the most stalwart of BVD's. This course is where teamwork between driver and spotter was truly tested as spotters had to drag, pull, anchor, push, or even physically hold up/down the rig as it traversed the many course challenges. 

After making an easy climb up a granite ramp, they turned hard right through a twisted crevice that tried to dump them over onto their sides as the rigs pitched off a 4' ledge. If they succeeded in staying upright they turned hard left at the bottom and did some side hill action to get to a series of huge stand-alone boulders that had many rigs straddling precariously on top in search of the correct traction angle. After clearing the last big boulder of this section, they jockeyed hard right again to attempt their last search for solid ground beneath a series of hole-hiding half-hazard strewn rocks and another human size drop off. It was here that a few more, such as Troy Muse, met their demise as they toppled over onto there roofs or sides and, even once by Tom Martin, into a broken rig that was perched on the side of the course. Perhaps Lance Clifford said it best and with the most heartfelt sincerity as he pleaded with his spotter to "Hold Me" as he skillfully maneuvered down the last steep section. It was such a tender moment I almost cried! No word yet on whether this pair had a cigarette afterwards or not, but the trust it takes to compete in this sport was evident in all of the teams that worked endlessly to beat the clock and cones on each course. To exemplify the trust between team members, spotters, and contestants, Eric Lillind was man enough to let Eric Wehrer (of the formerly pristine white Toyota FJ) borrow his CJ5 to drive the last course. I'm sure both Eric's were relieved that the former tragedy of the wounded FJ didn't resurrect its ugly head again on this particular course.

Not to be outdone, the second obstacle dished out it's share of carnage for the day.

Once again, contrary to the "Carnage" befitting its name, Rich Klein and the CalRocs organization put on a spectacular event for all who attended. All considerations for an event of this caliber were covered, right down to Mike Golub and his crew being on-hand at every roll to assess and care for any medical needs. Strict vehicle and driver safety requirements made the medical team's work virtually non-existent, as usual. There is no way the spectators didn't get their money's worth while helping out a worthy cause, to keep the Rubicon Trail accessible for all.

In the end, all teams and drivers that competed were worthy of being winners. But only one team could lay claim to the title of California Hard Core Champions. That honor went to the Tin Benders. Close on their heals in the points standings were Pirates of the Rubicon, followed by URJB, and then Sierra Rock Crawlers. The true winner of the day, however was, without a doubt, our precious Rubicon Trail and FOTR. Remember, if we are to keep this precious commodity open, we all have to wheel responsibly and with consideration for other that share the trail, be it on foot, hoof, or wheels.

With only two courses for this event, it offered up a spectacular array of driver skill and course mayhem.