The Pitt
Saturday, July 17th 2004
The morning was beautiful, a little overcast and cool but no rain. Perfect wheelin’ weather.
We had an awesome turn out, for a club of 10 we had 8 members show up. Jimmy found us parking that was close to the trail
head and safe to leave the trucks and trailers. Everybody was anxious to hit the trail. A few of us had added new parts to
our rigs and were anxious to try them out. And for Jimmy this was the maiden run of his new rig. There was excitement in the air, Oldman was happy because I was letting him drive today. Something that
I will have to start thinking harder about in the future.
We headed out for the trail 8 able vehicles, Scott and the Oldman were anxious to see how their new
Iroc tires were going to hold up. Jimmy was anxious to see how his Toyota was going to hold up and he too had a new set of
Irocs to test. Steffy was anxious to see how his camera man was going to hold up. Belcher, Wachs, CJ and Angie, and Rob (Rock
Dog) Mozzocco were all just anxious to hit the trail. So yes the word for the day was “anxious”.
Now we had run this trail before. It is a challenging trail but yet doable. Has all the qualities
that make for a good trail, rocks, rock ledges, rock climbs, thrown in with a little dirt and strategically placed trees.
Well little did we all know this trail was going to kick our butts.
The Oldman was the first one into the trail and the first one to suffer a break. He broke a rear
yoke. Followed by Jimmy who at the same spot broke a U-joint . The third vehicle in the trail was CJ who also was subjected
to a little carnage. He broke the straps on his front drive shaft. The next vehicle in line was Steffy and of course he went
through the obstacle like a cop after a donut, lights flashing
and no problem. Ok so this changed the score,
the Pitt 3 - XTC - 1. We still had 4 rigs to go so we could still win this trail.
Rob Wachs gives us a show to remember, He is hammering on this obstacle bouncing the yota around like
a ball when ever so gently and it looked to be in slow motion he lays her on her side. Poking his head out the drivers window, giving everybody the cat that ate the canary smile we can see he’s ok. He did
manage to beat the obstacle his carnage would come later.
Now remember we are still only at the first obstacle and
we still have 3 rigs to motor through. Belcher gave us his usual show with high horsepower, glowing pipes and a dancing buggy.
Nobody puts on a show like John. CJ decided to jump in for a ride too, by the end of his attempt he and CJ were covered in
dirt from head to toe. Again the trail would claim yet another member of our group. John broke a hub and an outer axle stub.
The Pitt 4 – XTC 2.
Scott was ready to give it a try. On his first attempt through he broke a burfield but was able to
do a trail repair and give it another go. He managed to make it up the obstacle.
Rock Dog pawed his way through the area with a nervous smile, he hadn’t been behind the wheel
in awhile so his adrenaline was extremely high. By the end of the trail he was back in the saddle and riding like a pro. Welcome
back Rob, we missed you.
So at the first obstacle we now have as many hikers as we do drivers. Steffy, Wachs, Scott and the
Rock Dog were all that was left. We watched them go through the next obstacle with no problems. Steffy made a new line to
make the area even harder, he’s always looking for a more challenging way. They all mastered this area with no problems.
The third major obstacle claimed Wach’s yota. He broke a burfield and had to wheel the rest of
the way out on three wheel power.
This third obstacle was a pretty extreme off camber, just ask Michelle. She braved the ride like a
pro. She was on the down side of a serious lean while Scott had his side in the air.
They had one hill climb to go and they were out of the trail. The broken vehicles were able to get
out on their own power. So all in all the Pitt was a great day. It was so good to have so many of us together. I want to thank
everybody that was able to show up. Special thanks to Jimmy for the parking arrangements. Looking forward to the next run…
Oh yea final score…The Pitt – 4 XTC
– 4 Good job guys!
