The Back of the Pack was an interesting place!
First off, Great Ride. To Rich, thanks for awesome job organizing the ride! Sorry we couldn't stick around for the BBQ, but we really appreciated the offer. To Papa Bear, thank you for your patience and Macgyver skills. Without your help we wouldn't have gotten past the first 5 minutes of the ride. Dan, thanks for the beers!!!
The R1 held up through the run. We had to stay behind at the bridge due to the lack of 4WD. But we had plenty of time to relax, 2 HOURS!!! lol. To the couple that stayed behind with the broken CV, thanks for the company and drinks! This was the first all day trip this Rhino has seen since the motor swap. Not the best place to try it out, but it gave me the opportunity to really push it. The new Cognito suspension ate up rocks, ruts, holes, and jumps (when I could get the space for speed) with ease. I've learned quite a few things about this new motor. It loves high RPM's and going fast, but it's lazy when it comes to slow crawls. It just doesn't like it. I forgot your name, but thanks for pulling me up that hill! Also, not having reverse really sucks. I'll have to reconsider that part of this build for sure. This car was built for the sand and open spaces. I think it should stay there.
The most fun part of the ride was the ride back after leaving Pinnacles. I don't know the name of the kid in the XP in front of me, but thanks for the fun ride. As soon as we hit the pavement he opened up that XP and off we were. I don't know how fast we went, but it was fun. It was the first time I was able to hit 3rd of 6 gears!!! I also managed to get a few drifts in. The trails back to camp were just as fun.
It was great seeing riders from three different forums get together and help each other out. Angelica (my wife) has never really been into the whole offroading thing, but she loves the outdoors and anything that involves trees, animals, and creeks. She even showed interest in buying an XP! Rich, I don't know if you planned it, but having that doe (deer) prancing about made her day.
Dan, be patient and try and hold off torching your Rhino. lol. Let me know when you and dbestduner (or anyone for that matter) want to hit some sand!
A big Thank You to everyone! Despite some setbacks, we had a great time.