Anyone up for a desert race?

[danny boy]

Ok,
Feel free to tell me if this idea sucks, but i think it could be fun. It's not uncommon to post here if any one wants to go on a trail ride, so i thought i'd ask if anyone would be interested in congregating for a "just for fun" desert race? We could pick out a route and see who wins. I think it might be cool to invite all kinds of wheelers just so there could be a large field of racers.

The main point of this is that i dream of entering a real race i.e. Jeepspeed, SCORE, etc but find the expenses to be far too prohibitive. Therefore, we could get the fun of racing sans expense. It'll just be a little slower, with competion providing the fun.

Just some fuel for thought,
dan

 

[Drunk tank]

now is this head to head racing... or would it be like a normal race where vehicles leave at certain intervals and are timed?

 

[danny boy]

it could be anything. it just depends what others want to do, though personally i think head-to-head would be fun!

 

[Kejtar]

Ok,
Feel free to tell me if this idea sucks, but i think it could be fun. It's not uncommon to post here if any one wants to go on a trail ride, so i thought i'd ask if anyone would be interested in congregating for a "just for fun" desert race? We could pick out a route and see who wins. I think it might be cool to invite all kinds of wheelers just so there could be a large field of racers.

The main point of this is that i dream of entering a real race i.e. Jeepspeed, SCORE, etc but find the expenses to be far too prohibitive. Therefore, we could get the fun of racing sans expense. It'll just be a little slower, with competion providing the fun.

Just some fuel for thought,
dan

when you're thinking about organizing something like that, think about what liability issues might come up.

 

[Jump This]

Don't let Remi make you think twice about it! Go for it....!
Although I cringe at thinking MY XJ could ever haul butt thru the Dez. With no sway bars and locked...front and rear....(things that make you go....OHHHHHH...............NOOOOOOOOOO!)
But I would like to watch!
BTW what may work out best is to set up a short 'track' maybe five miles or so...then run timed 'races'. Three tries for the best time.
Ocotillo Wells has some great areas for just this kind of thing...
Also the town of Ocotillo...off of HWY 8. That area has races all the time.
Okay...so maybe I reconnect the sway bars and give it a go.
How do you use the rear sway bars with a 5" lift anyway?
Rick
Old retired Dez racer...... :wierd:

 

[danny boy]

Good attitude Jump This!

Remi, I didn't think liability would be an issue because its not really too organized. If you break something or hurt yourself it would be the same as if it had happened while going fast across the dez all alone, except the spirit of competition and cameraderie would be there, not too mention others to help out.

My main point in thinking of this was just to let people enjoy the fun without the money or having to pass inspection and fit into contingency, etc.

Let's see if we can get anyone else interested!
Jump This, if you know a particularly good place, let's hear it! You seem to have some experience so let us benefit from it.

Dan

 

[Jump This]

I took a trip thru Ocotillo Wells yesterday thinking about a timed course. One problem...there are speed limits thru the main washes in Ocotillo Wells. Although you could work around that...just stay out of the 'main' washes near Blow Sand.
It would be neat to add areas that true four wheelin' would be nesc.
Since we are planning on having an XJ 'event' at OW at the end of Feb. this might just be a great time for it.
But....Remi does have a point...(not the one on his head)....
I tell you what we could do....since I plan on attending the Feb. get together I might as well set up..for myself...a short route. I might run it...say..three times and give myself credit for my fastest run. Now if anyone else wants to run the same course, on the same day, maybe we could compare times?
If anyone else would like to give it a go....it would be up to them...and not part of any organized 'event.'
I may not have the rig for high speed running...I about loosened up a few grand worth of bridgework just cruising...but others may have a better time of it....
What do you think?
Rick R

 

[Kejtar]

Something to consider:
Look on the net for "Death Valley Challenge" or "Death Valley Race" or something like that. It was an interesting event that was setup by some group a while ago where all teams would start at the same spot and be given coordinates for the first spot (the starts were staggered IIRC to prevent people following each other). Then you'd go to the location, look for info with coordinates for the next stop and go there. Then each team was judged based on time. Also each team was given a set of envelopes with all the coordinates (one enevlope per each stop) so that if you can't find it you'd break the envelope open and get next point (of course points were lost for breaking open each envelope).

I took a trip thru Ocotillo Wells yesterday thinking about a timed course. One problem...there are speed limits thru the main washes in Ocotillo Wells. Although you could work around that...just stay out of the 'main' washes near Blow Sand.
It would be neat to add areas that true four wheelin' would be nesc.
Since we are planning on having an XJ 'event' at OW at the end of Feb. this might just be a great time for it.
But....Remi does have a point...(not the one on his head)....
I tell you what we could do....since I plan on attending the Feb. get together I might as well set up..for myself...a short route. I might run it...say..three times and give myself credit for my fastest run. Now if anyone else wants to run the same course, on the same day, maybe we could compare times?
If anyone else would like to give it a go....it would be up to them...and not part of any organized 'event.'
I may not have the rig for high speed running...I about loosened up a few grand worth of bridgework just cruising...but others may have a better time of it....
What do you think?
Rick R

 

[Kejtar]

OK, they're site is down by now and I had to go through archives to get the details, but here's what they had setup:

The format of the event is simple. Teams travel across the desert after receiving their first envelope with GPS coordinates (A GPS is mandatory to participate) to find the next stage that is identified with a small flag. The team will then collect a new set of coordinates taking them to the second stage point. There will be between 3-5 stages before reaching the final camp site. The first team to arrive at the final campsite for the BBQ is the winner.

The event will begin with all the teams meeting and hearing a brief introduction and a review of the rules. Each team will then receive two envelopes. The first will be a set of coordinates for the first stage point. The second envelope is for safety. It will contain the coordinates and directions for the final camp. You may use it in case you get lost or decide to give up. This envelope will be sealed and requested back at the final camp to check to see if it was opened. If found opened or if the team fails to produce the envelope, they will be eliminated.

To make this a little more exciting the idea was to have a bet as to which team would make it to camp first. So each team would give $50 towards the pot. With the winner receiving the full pot.

DV has some great views and offers some challenging off-roading (enough to hurt yourself if you're not careful). The weather should be fine and the temperatures should be in the 70's. The terrain is very mixed from smooth dirt roads to rocky sections with everything in between.

Some items to bring are ...

MANDATORY ESSENTIAL OPTIONAL
GPS Tent Gloves
Detailed Map Sleeping Bags Tow rope
Spare Tire Chairs Auxiliary lights
Extra gasoline Tool kit Boots with ankle support
Air pump/OBA Spare batteries Machete or shrub cutters

We have identified the general areas for each of the stages (checkpoints) and decided to run 2 of the stages in parallel. This will separate us into 2 smaller groups and hopefully spread the teams out. This will hopefully prevent everyone from just following each other. Each team will be assigned a team number. At each checkpoint, the team member who finds the flag must pick up the envelope with the next set of GPS coordinates that corresponds to his team number. For example, if you are team #5, once you reach the first checkpoint and find the flag, there will a small box that will contain several envelopes. You must pick up the envelope marked Team #5. It will be the same for each checkpoint. At this point we have determined that it will be 5 checkpoints and then the dash to final camp. The team that arrives to the campsite first wins the pot.

In your quest to reach each of the checkpoints, you will will have to make some choices, which in turn will determine the quickest route to your destination. At times it could be 100% off-road, or you could potentially backtrack onto a highway and drive around a mountain range, reverting back to off-road in the last leg of the journey. That is your choice. Just remember to keep an eye on your gas gauge. Although we have not done a full dry run, we can guarantee that you will not finish all 5 checkpoints on 1 tank full. At this point, my guess would be about 2 full tanks. Personally, we would carry a half a tank of spare gasoline on top of that.

You can do a variation on this and it could end up being interesting.

 

[Jump This]

Now those are some good ideas....
but much more involved than what I had planned!
Hmmmmmm......food for thaught if nothing else!!
Rick R