"Stupid Low", great music, and other LSLC Roundup stories...

Exiled · 03-04-06, 03:07 PM

I've been home for a couple of hours, which means I half unpacked, played with my son before putting him down for a nap, and as soon as I could, I'm sitting in front of my computer to give you a review of the 2006 Lone Star Land Cruisers Roundup. Don't expect anything objective because I'm still all fired up, I can't wait till 2007....

We got there late afternoon on Wednesday after a leisurely drive from Round Rock, two 60 series wagons, a 1/4 trailer, and a cushy 100 series because a certain someone didn't get his FJ70 finished up in time...next year, right?!

We set up a nice campsite up on the hill next to the Tornado Alley crew, grilled some bacon-wrapped filets and broke out some ice cold Shiner Bock. We had a steady flow of visitors, old friends and new faces; he weather was perfect, and we could see the campsite slowly filling up with rigs. Later that night Nolen Grogan gave us a preview of his new pocket buggy, which as you can imagine, is amazing (I'm sure there will be more on the rig and I don't want to steal Nolen's thunder). On Thursday AM we registered and completed the safety inspection, then did our traditional "Drool Tour", which is basically a slow circle around the campsite gawking at all the cool trucks. Rigs this year varied from Josh Baker's Ultimate Sixty to a pristine, unrestored 1983 FJ40 to one of Proffitt's buildups to an Australian HJ45 that came to the US via Africa, and everything in between. A good mix of stockish rigs, a handful of exceptional buggies, lots of wagons and what surprised me the most, trucks from a lot of different states, it's clear that the word is spreading about this downhome Texas shindig.

I confess to being both excited and apprehensive, my Cruiser of fifteen years was very unfamiliar to me and after a couple of years of inactivity, I felt like a newbie again. I wanted to test out its capabilities, but wasn't sure what to expect. After the driver's meeting we lined up with a mixed group of trucks to run a trail called "Aggie Highway". It's pretty mild, but like everything at Katemcy, has optional obstacles that go from technical to insane, and I was able to test out my truck at its own pace. I especially liked playing with the new Marlin Toybox, which I have to say, it's just incredible, the control you get from such low gearing makes even a hack like me a finesse wheeler, and the combination of the SOA's flex with the Toybox's control has turned my wagon into a powerhouse, I was trying out obstacles that I would have never dreamed I'd be doing in a wagon. We even adopted Erik Christiansen's term for the 4LO-LO, "Stupid Low", and it became our catch phrase for the event. The only issue I encountered was a starter solenoid that was sticking, and at times I struggled to hit the right combination of gears.

After lunch, we headed out for more testing, this time a combination of Cotton Bales and Waterfall trails. We started out with two 60's but hooked up with a couple of really sweet FJ40s and ended up following them for the rest of the afternoon. Again, we tried some pretty crazy stuff, way beyond my comfort zone, and the truck again responded by just chugging over everything....awesome!

On Friday AM we headed out to run Waterfall with a large mixed group that included Todd Kaderabek and some of his East Coast cronies, Christo Slee and Mark Algazy. The trail is technical and the going was slow at first, but the trail is really cool and watching some of these rigs was a pleasure. I got a big kick out of seeing Mark push his topless FJ45 (sporting the 3-on-the-tree and no P/S) way beyond the limits and follow heavily modified rigs. I was again amazed at what the diesel engine, low gears and additional armor can do for a wagon, and we had a great time.

When we got back to camp we lounged around for the rest of the afternoon, then got ready for the raffle and BBQ dinner. The raffle went fast with Kowboy acting as MC and the White Trash of the Elwood Chapter helping to pass out prizes and entertain the crowd. As usual, I didn't win anything, but we scored seats at the 50-yard line and had a great time. I was surprised and pleased to receive an award for Officer's Choice for Best Rig, I appreciate the votes, especially considering the humbling company.

As soon as the band began to play after the raffle, I knew we were in for a treat. Don't ask me how, but Butch Baker fennagled "The John D. Hale Band", an Americana/folk band out of Missouri, to come out to the event, and they were really incredible, this is probably one of the best concerts I've ever attended, check them out if you get a chance! Everyone had a great time, especially after Butch, who had taken the band members wheeling that afternoon and ensured that the guys enjoyed the famous Texas hospitality, actually found a Cruiserhead lawyer and wrote up a contract for the band to come back next year, right there in the middle of the concert! The way they're going, this may be a coup, I bet these guys are going to be famous very soon. They left us with an encore of that Robert Earl Keen classic, "...the road goes on forever, and the party never ends..."

We stayed up till the wee hours of the night, chatting, hanging out with old friends and new, and watching a new variation of technical wheeling, "Tree climbing"...I'll let someone else tell you what that's all about.

We packed up the Cruisers and trailer this AM and took off, stopping only for an early lunch at Cooper's (best BBQ in TX, period).

I'm still stoked, I had a great time, got to see a bunch of old friends, made some new ones, wheeled the heck out of my old wagon and other than some fresh scrapes and a couple of jagged bumpers in dire need of a grinding wheel, I didn't have any significant damage (at least I don't think, it's dripping a bit of gear oil from somewhere....sigh!).

And the best part? I drove there and back and ran two whole days of trails without turning the Cruiser off and used up about a 1/3 of a tank of diesel....he, he, he!

Folks, pencil this event into your 2007 calendar, it's definitely worth it!

I took five rolls of film and will drop them off tomorrow AM, I should start adding pictures to this thread tomorrow afternoon.

Mace · 03-04-06, 04:05 PM

You sir, suck..

Radd Cruisers · 03-04-06, 10:30 PM

Nice read Henry, sounds like too much fun.

Glad to hear your rig performed above and beyond your expectations, sounds like you have the diesel bug now.

Rob

peesalot · 03-05-06, 01:37 PM

I'll bet ole oneeye is a little hungover , ya reckon ?

woody · 03-05-06, 02:25 PM

nice write....REALLY wish I coulda swung down for the weekend....

can't wait for pics...

(tree wheelin occurred last year too....break the old record?)

Exiled · 03-05-06, 03:58 PM

Well, I got good news and bad news. The good news is I have some really good pictures of my Cruiser and another FJ60. The bad news is that that's pretty much all the good pics I have of the Roundup, two of my film rolls were bad, probably because they'd been around for a while...dang! I'll start resizing and send some pics out.

Felix · 03-05-06, 04:22 PM

Exiled, that sucks about your film! Ross got some nice shots of you and your group and posted them in this thread http://forum.ih8mud.com/va-dc-md-capital-land-cruiser-club/82341-trip-report-photos.html

Green Lantern · 03-05-06, 08:31 PM

Henry,
Did you ever get another key made???
;-)
Happy Trails! N

Ian Rogers · 03-05-06, 09:10 PM

glad to here that mark took the 45 I love that truck

Exiled · 03-06-06, 11:12 PM

OK, I figured it out, pics at:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.p...971#post983971

davegonz · 03-09-06, 02:11 PM

Yeah..you forgot the story about the guy that got locked out of his rig....

Texican · 03-12-06, 04:28 PM

Nice write up, now if we can just get another Lost Birfield Bar installment..........

Butch

03-04-06, 03:07 PM	#1
Exiled Wagon Wheeler Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Round Rock, TX TLCA# 4080 Posts: 1,469	"Stupid Low", great music, and other LSLC Roundup stories... I've been home for a couple of hours, which means I half unpacked, played with my son before putting him down for a nap, and as soon as I could, I'm sitting in front of my computer to give you a review of the 2006 Lone Star Land Cruisers Roundup. Don't expect anything objective because I'm still all fired up, I can't wait till 2007.... We got there late afternoon on Wednesday after a leisurely drive from Round Rock, two 60 series wagons, a 1/4 trailer, and a cushy 100 series because a certain someone didn't get his FJ70 finished up in time...next year, right?! We set up a nice campsite up on the hill next to the Tornado Alley crew, grilled some bacon-wrapped filets and broke out some ice cold Shiner Bock. We had a steady flow of visitors, old friends and new faces; he weather was perfect, and we could see the campsite slowly filling up with rigs. Later that night Nolen Grogan gave us a preview of his new pocket buggy, which as you can imagine, is amazing (I'm sure there will be more on the rig and I don't want to steal Nolen's thunder). On Thursday AM we registered and completed the safety inspection, then did our traditional "Drool Tour", which is basically a slow circle around the campsite gawking at all the cool trucks. Rigs this year varied from Josh Baker's Ultimate Sixty to a pristine, unrestored 1983 FJ40 to one of Proffitt's buildups to an Australian HJ45 that came to the US via Africa, and everything in between. A good mix of stockish rigs, a handful of exceptional buggies, lots of wagons and what surprised me the most, trucks from a lot of different states, it's clear that the word is spreading about this downhome Texas shindig. I confess to being both excited and apprehensive, my Cruiser of fifteen years was very unfamiliar to me and after a couple of years of inactivity, I felt like a newbie again. I wanted to test out its capabilities, but wasn't sure what to expect. After the driver's meeting we lined up with a mixed group of trucks to run a trail called "Aggie Highway". It's pretty mild, but like everything at Katemcy, has optional obstacles that go from technical to insane, and I was able to test out my truck at its own pace. I especially liked playing with the new Marlin Toybox, which I have to say, it's just incredible, the control you get from such low gearing makes even a hack like me a finesse wheeler, and the combination of the SOA's flex with the Toybox's control has turned my wagon into a powerhouse, I was trying out obstacles that I would have never dreamed I'd be doing in a wagon. We even adopted Erik Christiansen's term for the 4LO-LO, "Stupid Low", and it became our catch phrase for the event. The only issue I encountered was a starter solenoid that was sticking, and at times I struggled to hit the right combination of gears. After lunch, we headed out for more testing, this time a combination of Cotton Bales and Waterfall trails. We started out with two 60's but hooked up with a couple of really sweet FJ40s and ended up following them for the rest of the afternoon. Again, we tried some pretty crazy stuff, way beyond my comfort zone, and the truck again responded by just chugging over everything....awesome! On Friday AM we headed out to run Waterfall with a large mixed group that included Todd Kaderabek and some of his East Coast cronies, Christo Slee and Mark Algazy. The trail is technical and the going was slow at first, but the trail is really cool and watching some of these rigs was a pleasure. I got a big kick out of seeing Mark push his topless FJ45 (sporting the 3-on-the-tree and no P/S) way beyond the limits and follow heavily modified rigs. I was again amazed at what the diesel engine, low gears and additional armor can do for a wagon, and we had a great time. When we got back to camp we lounged around for the rest of the afternoon, then got ready for the raffle and BBQ dinner. The raffle went fast with Kowboy acting as MC and the White Trash of the Elwood Chapter helping to pass out prizes and entertain the crowd. As usual, I didn't win anything, but we scored seats at the 50-yard line and had a great time. I was surprised and pleased to receive an award for Officer's Choice for Best Rig, I appreciate the votes, especially considering the humbling company. As soon as the band began to play after the raffle, I knew we were in for a treat. Don't ask me how, but Butch Baker fennagled "The John D. Hale Band", an Americana/folk band out of Missouri, to come out to the event, and they were really incredible, this is probably one of the best concerts I've ever attended, check them out if you get a chance! Everyone had a great time, especially after Butch, who had taken the band members wheeling that afternoon and ensured that the guys enjoyed the famous Texas hospitality, actually found a Cruiserhead lawyer and wrote up a contract for the band to come back next year, right there in the middle of the concert! The way they're going, this may be a coup, I bet these guys are going to be famous very soon. They left us with an encore of that Robert Earl Keen classic, "...the road goes on forever, and the party never ends..." We stayed up till the wee hours of the night, chatting, hanging out with old friends and new, and watching a new variation of technical wheeling, "Tree climbing"...I'll let someone else tell you what that's all about. We packed up the Cruisers and trailer this AM and took off, stopping only for an early lunch at Cooper's (best BBQ in TX, period). I'm still stoked, I had a great time, got to see a bunch of old friends, made some new ones, wheeled the heck out of my old wagon and other than some fresh scrapes and a couple of jagged bumpers in dire need of a grinding wheel, I didn't have any significant damage (at least I don't think, it's dripping a bit of gear oil from somewhere....sigh!). And the best part? I drove there and back and ran two whole days of trails without turning the Cruiser off and used up about a 1/3 of a tank of diesel....he, he, he! Folks, pencil this event into your 2007 calendar, it's definitely worth it! I took five rolls of film and will drop them off tomorrow AM, I should start adding pictures to this thread tomorrow afternoon. __________________ 1999 UZJ100 "the Watermelon" 2003 UZJ100 "the Hippo"

03-04-06, 04:05 PM	#2
Mace what he said Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 11,161	You sir, suck.. __________________ I am kinda gay....... My Myspace http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endid=75712409 "Mary Poppins: In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and - SNAP - the job's a game."

03-04-06, 10:30 PM	#3
Radd Cruisers IH8MUD Lifer Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vancouver Island BC Canada Posts: 3,805	Nice read Henry, sounds like too much fun. Glad to hear your rig performed above and beyond your expectations, sounds like you have the diesel bug now. Rob __________________ Come and visit us in Duncan, BC www.raddcruisers.ca --> 60 Series Cable Lockers available - 4.11s or 3.70s - handles and cables included --> 12HT & H55F combos available - complete & running --> in stock and ready to go.

03-05-06, 01:37 PM	#4
peesalot IH8MUD Lifer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: in a house Posts: 1,581	I'll bet ole oneeye is a little hungover , ya reckon ? __________________ John on the hawgs

03-05-06, 02:25 PM	#5
woody Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Appleton, WI TLCA# 1548 Posts: 7,671 Blog Entries: 1	nice write....REALLY wish I coulda swung down for the weekend.... can't wait for pics... (tree wheelin occurred last year too....break the old record?) __________________ Brian 'woody' Swearingen 1974 FJ40 'The Raisin' - Pitbull Rockers, 30-spline Longfields, SOA - 1/4 ellip 1996 FZJ80 'Gretchen' - MetalTech, ARB, OME, IPOR, 4x4Labs 2003 2500HD Duramax - Edge/Juice/Attitude, 285 Nitto Terra Grapplers, 4" exhaust

03-05-06, 03:58 PM	#6
Exiled Wagon Wheeler Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Round Rock, TX TLCA# 4080 Posts: 1,469	Well, I got good news and bad news. The good news is I have some really good pictures of my Cruiser and another FJ60. The bad news is that that's pretty much all the good pics I have of the Roundup, two of my film rolls were bad, probably because they'd been around for a while...dang! I'll start resizing and send some pics out. __________________ 1999 UZJ100 "the Watermelon" 2003 UZJ100 "the Hippo"

03-05-06, 04:22 PM	#7
Felix Magic on the Mic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Alexandria, VA TLCA# 15204 Posts: 1,532	Exiled, that sucks about your film! Ross got some nice shots of you and your group and posted them in this thread http://forum.ih8mud.com/va-dc-md-capital-land-cruiser-club/82341-trip-report-photos.html __________________ Felix '75 FJ40 - kinda stock-ish Capital Land Cruiser Club

03-05-06, 08:31 PM	#8
Green Lantern Have Truck, Will Travel Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Fort Worth, Texas TLCA# 8070 Posts: 487	Henry, Did you ever get another key made??? ;-) Happy Trails! N __________________ Nick Stone 81 BJ42 "BJ" 82 FJ60 "Sparrow" Lone Star Land Cruisers TLCA #8070 TLCA Administrative VP 02-08

03-05-06, 09:10 PM	#9
Ian Rogers IH8MUD Lifer Join Date: May 2004 Location: Westlake Village, CA TLCA# 14752 Posts: 1,334	glad to here that mark took the 45 I love that truck __________________ TLCA #14752, L.A. Trail Crew http://www.marksoffroad.net My Parts Source "nothing pairs better with a bottle of Merlot than an honest workout digging in the sand and my shovel is always ready, lol" PKP80 thoughts on Surf and Turf

03-06-06, 11:12 PM	#10
Exiled Wagon Wheeler Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Round Rock, TX TLCA# 4080 Posts: 1,469	OK, I figured it out, pics at: http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.p...971#post983971 __________________ 1999 UZJ100 "the Watermelon" 2003 UZJ100 "the Hippo"

03-09-06, 02:11 PM	#11
davegonz Keeping it Weird Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Austin, TX TLCA# 14650 Posts: 1,294 Blog Entries: 1	Yeah..you forgot the story about the guy that got locked out of his rig.... __________________ David Gonzalez __________________________________________________ "Penny" Bronze 2000 100-series 33" BFG A/T's, storage drawers, OME Heavy Lift, Kenwood Nav System Old trucks:1993 FZJ80 White, 1993 FZJ80 Green, 1991 4BTJ62 david.gonzalez@gmail.com Lone Star Land Cruisers “I HEAR AND I FORGET, I SEE AND I REMEMBER, I DO AND I UNDERSTAND” - CONFUCIUS

03-12-06, 04:28 PM	#12
Texican Wise One Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Bonham Tx. Posts: 2,950	Nice write up, now if we can just get another Lost Birfield Bar installment.......... Butch __________________ _______________ Conflict is inevitable..... Combat is optional.... Lone Star Land Cruisers REAL TEXAS MUSIC

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