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| Johnson Valley, CA - November 1999 | Short Cuts | ||||||||||||||||
by: Jeff Reynolds
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| [ | Organizer: Bob Hazel |
| | Judge's Perspective |
| | Contestant: Jason Bunch |
| | Contestant: Steve Friend |
| | Spotter: Jefe Reynolds |
| | Spotter: Mike Garner |
| | Spectator's Perspective |
] |
Party Time It Was Not
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| Team Reynolds on Clawhammer Steve Griggs |
Friday morning, the weather was calm and sunny. The contestants with odd numbers lined up in order at the red pole and the even numbered rigs lined up at the green pole, some 100 yards from our motor home. We were second in line, on the "Wrecking Ball Route", and we followed the lead Jeep into the hills. The lead Jeep got lost and the whole line had to do some dancing to get back on the correct route. I was on foot by this time and made my way to the start of the first obstacle. The first Jeep tried unsuccessfully to get over the route. The judge looked at us and said "O.K.!", and I took that as the start and walked through the starting gate. Bob Hazel was standing right there and saw me and said, "O.K., zero them out and proceed to the next stage." What? Hazel said it was not the official start of our run. He whispered to me that there were 30 competitors watching, and that he was sorry, but that we had to be made an example. What a way to start! That's when it began to dawn on me that it was not good to go first.
The next obstacle had some near impossible routes. Near impossible, unless you stacked rocks -- lots of rocks (this was not prohibited by the rules). We stacked a few rocks and tried several ways, including throttle-stomping-banzai, with little success. We did succeed in pushing the Bronco's front end back a bit, so the fan was grinding on the radiator. We timed out and moved to the next stage, after pulling the front-end bulkhead forward enough to stop the propeller from taking out the radiator.
By the end of the day, the route through this stage was beat down and paved with scores of fill rocks, making it much more passable. It took a few stages for John and I to recover from the initial letdown. We're used to performing under pressure, but unlike playing trombone in the Philharmonic, I had little discernable control. What I did have was John's attention, focused on a little yellow cut off broom handle. It served as a conductor's "baton" or "joystick". We had even practiced using it before the event. When he needed it, I would just hold it so he could see it, and lean it one way or the other from the vertical and his steering would follow the approximate amount of change. About a foot long, he could see it easily out of the corner of his eye, even while he was focusing his eyes elsewhere. We threaded the needle several times that day over terrain he couldn't even see, especially coming blind over some large rocks. By the fourth stage, we got into our stride and he was making maximum or near point totals. It was still a disadvantage being so close to the front of the pack, but we finally had a sense of momentum.
Between each stage, we had a rather long wait. I checked the tire pressure as the sun rose higher, letting a bit out to keep it at 4-1/2 lbs. I only had to lower the side in the sun. As much trouble as we had, some folks behind us were having more, and many were breaking. The carnage piled up behind us: axles, U-joints, drive shafts, ring gears, lockers, and some rollovers. At one point, in order to get the one Jeep in front of us moving (Copley/Goodwin in a coil sprung yellow CJ7); John welded their coil spring limiting strap/shock mount.
Copley punctured the cover of his Dana 60 and we followed a trail of gear oil for the rest of the day. The route was so slow, and the hour so late, that Hazel cut out the last stage or two, just as we were warming up to the challenge. After a long roundabout retreat to the dry lake, the first day's competition ended. John and I were just morose -- party time it wasn't. The following day the competitors would line up again to ply the other trail. We hoped it would be our day to shine.
Party Time It Was
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| Squeezing through Clawhammer Steve Griggs |
On the Clawhammer route, the competitors lined up in reverse order of the previous day. This was a great equalizer, as we were now next to last in the lineup. We had the advantage of seeing most of the competitors go before us from the starting gate. Also, the route was beaten down by the time we got to the obstacles, giving us the advantage that was the disadvantage the day before. John and I plotted the best routes for his Bronco's strengths: it was not too wide, it was short, and had a short turning radius, at least on paper. What was becoming obvious was the Bronco's inability to turn with the massive traction of those meats. Even with power steering, John had a difficult time turning with the ARB lockers engaged. He soon developed a rear axle disconnect through the Atlas transfer case. He would simply disconnect the rear axle from the drive train, allowing the front axle to pull the rig around corners. This only worked if it wasn't too steep, or the drive train was not in a bind.
The wind had picked up in the afternoon and the sand and dust began to blow. All night the wind howled across the dry lake, with gusts up to 70mph, blowing alkali dust and sand against our motor home. Being a Californian, I woke up a couple times thinking it was an earthquake. Little did I know what real havoc this sandstorm would wreak...
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