Crozet Open Wheeling Weekend

[zuke]

Open Wheeling Weekend, January 20-22

This is an OPEN run (i.e., both existing members and prospective members/nonmembers are eligible to attend)

DATE & TIME

January 20-22, 2012
Start time is 9:00 AM each morning. Please plan to arrive by 8:30 AM in order to finish the registration process and get into your trail groups by the start time.

Participants who plan to camp on-site are welcome to arrive to setup camp anytime after 2:00 PM on Friday, January 20. There will be no wheeling on Friday, just camping.

EVENT LOCATION

(MapQuest)
6000 Bearwood Rd.
Crozet, VA 22932

You'll need to go past the "End of State Maintenance" sign, over the cattle guard, through the gate -- PLEASE KEEP CLOSED -- and to the top of the hill to find the parking/camping/registration areas.

Please be advised that Crozet is privately owned land which RCPFA maintains. It is NOT open to the public at any other time unless arranged via the RCPFA Board of Directors (BOD). All persons attending must either drive their rig or have a seat in another rig to ride in. NO SPECTATORS ALLOWED at wheeling events. Please take all of your trash and/or broken parts with you. Upon your departure, the area should be left in as good a condition as when you arrived.

If you are cross-posting this event to another board/list, please make sure that the above information is included.

ACCOMMODATIONS

CAMPING

We have primitive on-site camping, a porta-john, and a bonfire pit. Open/camp fires are not permitted in the camping area (exceptions are grills, etc.). If desired/needed, we will separate tenting areas for noise control. You are welcome to arrive for camp setup anytime after 2:00 PM on Friday, December 10. There is no camping fee.

LODGING

MISTY MOUNTAIN CAMPGROUND is 6.5 Miles away from the park
56 Misty Mountain Road, Greenwood, VA 22943
1-888-647-8900

There are at least 50 or 60 hotels in the area. The following two are the closest:

Holiday Inn (Charlottesville-Monticello)
I-64 & 631 (5th St.)
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Ph: (434) 977-5100

Holiday Inn (Charlottesville-University Area)
1901 Emmet St.
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Ph: (434) 977-7700

TRAILS

We will have guides available for each trail level (listed below). Participants will choose trail levels the morning of the event (i.e., run Blues, Blacks, etc.). Most groups return to the parking area/pasture for lunch, and participants can typically adjust trail level (if desired).

Blues & Blacks







Reds





MINIMUM VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS

Low Blues:
- 31" tires (not street tread)
- Tow points front and rear of vehicle
- Rocker protection and skid plates recommended

Middle/Upper Blues with (optional) Low Black Bypasses:
- 33" tires
- Tow points front and rear of vehicle
- Rocker protection and skid plates recommended

Low Blacks:
- 35" tires
- Front and rear lockers
- Tow points front and rear of vehicle
- Rocker protection and skid plates recommended
- Body and/or drive train damage is likely

Upper Blacks/Reds:
- Minimum 35" tires
- Front and rear lockers
- Full frame tied-in roll cage (6 or more points)
- A total disregard for body damage
- Helmets
- A trailer to tow your rig home
- A few screws loose in your head

FEES

Members - $25/day per vehicle, $40/2-day weekend per vehicle. (No passenger fees.)
Nonmembers - $30/day per vehicle, $60/2-day weekend per vehicle for preregistration, extra $5 if paid at the site. (No passenger fees.)

Non Member:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/view...JSVUE6MA#gid=0

Member:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/view...V3YWc6MA#gid=0

WAIVERS

Signed waivers must be completed for Non-Members during registration and turned in before heading out each morning of the event.
RCPFA WAIVER:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...thkey=CM__wZUI



WEATHER LINK (Crozet, VA 22932)

http://www.weather.com/outlook/recre...10DayLink_golf

ALCOHOL

Alcohol is NOT PERMITTED during the trail rides. You may drink after you are done wheeling. Alcohol is permitted in the camping and bonfire areas.

www.RCPFA.com

[zuke]

Don't know if anyone else has an interest in these kind of events, But I'll be out there at least Saturday this weekend (Sorry, In a Heep), and probably Sunday too, I'm a member of RCPFA, so unless some one objects, I'll post up the open wheeling events here whenever they come up.

[Ty M]

I live 3.4 miles from the park, according to the Google. If you have a spare seat/ are going tomorrow, give me a call 757 five three 2 one niner 50 and I'll come on out for a while tomorrow.

[zuke]

Originally Posted by Ty M

I live 3.4 miles from the park, according to the Google. If you have a spare seat/ are going tomorrow, give me a call

Sorry Ty, Didn't see this till tonight, Or I woulda given you a call... It was a great run this weekend too, Especially today was quite a challenge, The rocks were super slick...

[zuke]

So, It was a pretty good weekend overall, Day one was cold, with some snow flying early on, but the ground and rocks still had some stored heat in them, so it wasn't as bad as Sunday would be, We had more turn out than anyone really expected, though still somewhat light, we had a bunch of Jeeps a Toyota, and a Dodge Ramcharger I started the day by showing up late, putting on my tires while everyone else was stuck waiting, and got all the way to the beginning to discover I had a flat tire (I'm really sorry about my bad start, and apologize to everyone else for it) So I ran back for air (Thanks Charles!) and caught back up to everyone about halfway through the first creek bed.





A newly fallen tree made some big alterations to the way this part of the trail is now handled, Turning what used to be three separate lines into a stream crossing, or a pretty challenging climb over the log, there are still three main ways thru, but they are all different than before;







The rest of the day was good, with a few more than the usual number of us getting stuck due to slick rocks, and more than usual mud.



Late in the afternoon, I managed to roll a tire completely off both beads running back down the hill by the same tree from earlier, requiring a tire change on the trail;



Sunday was a whole 'nother can of worms, A second ice storm came thru overnight, and now the rocks had no stored heat left in them.

The turn out was much smaller, with just 5 Vehicles including our intrepid trail guide.



My camera batteries died on day two, so I didn't get as many pictures sadly, but there were a lot of obstacles and lines that just couldn't be done... Most of the time, it was just a matter of backing down, but we did have one case where the slippery conditions led to a vehicle's tires losing it's connection to the ground;





Our fearless driver maintained a positive attitude, and was uprighted with a light tug from Rich's winch, and continued on his way.

You can see the rest of my pictures here;

http://cvajeepers.net/album.php?albumid=47

[WesV]

looks like a lot of fun John!! I have lost a lot of interest in wheeling in recent years just because so many local spots have been shut down but this really makes me want to get back into it!