Beasley Knob work Weekend

[TeddyBoy]

The Ga Bounty Runners are having a work weekend at Beasley Knob on Mar 16, 2013 for anyone who wants to attend.

Meeting time: 9:00 AM March 16 (At Beasley)
Location: Beasley Knob OHV - Old Satterfield Rd entrance

This is the "behind the scenes" work that goes into opening Beasley Knob OHV every year and they need assistance. Officially BKOHV does not open until April so all work is performed behind closed gates during this "closed" period. Bring your trail rig as I would expect it will be needed to move around the property, in other words you get to wheel for free when it's closed.

For those who do not know: The Ga Bounty Runners have been the primary care-takers of Beasley for several years and any assistance we can provide would be great. From what I understand the work load is not expected to be very heavy so gloves, trash bags etc. would be the ideal things to bring.

If you're interested, and I strongly encourage you to attend, please shoot me a PM and I'll provide contact information and the gate code.

 

[Sam Stewart]

Unfortunately I have to work that weekend so I won't be able to attend. Anyone else thar can go, please do! We need all the help we can get to keep our trails open these days.

Sent from another Galaxy

 

[ErikP]

Hey, I'm a new guy and I thought this would be a cool way to meet up, check out the trails, and help out.

Is anyone else coming from Atlanta? I'd be driving up in a mostly-stock Tacoma, 2nd gen, regular cab.

 

[TeddyBoy]

very cool-- great way to meet people.

there are 2 or 3 people going up tomorrow morning. Shoot a PM to BGarcia or Robustbambi if you want to follow one of the me up, otherwise just show up at the location mentioned no later than 9:00 tomorrow morning.

 

[robustbambi]

i like the Ga cruisers more. Safety didnt seem to be very high on the list of whoever my "group leader" was. he also gave no s***s about whether his "recovery techniques" put my truck into a situation where greater risk of damage was very likely. i won't ride with them again.

 

[TeddyBoy]

good that you went and see what others are up to and how they do it. Volunteering your time and effort says a lot about you and the community.

 

[BGarcia88FJ62]

I never made it up there, ended up having to work. Sent a text to Curtis Friday hope he got it. Glad to hear at least some people made it.

 

[riXJeep]

I'm sorry to hear that you have this opinion of the GBR and that you had a bad experience on the ride. I have been a member of this club for almost 14 years and safety has always been the top concern while on a trail ride. I have seen many members over the years put their own vehicles/bodies at risk to protect a driver they were either spotting for or helping to recover. In fact, we had a split in the club a couple of years ago because others felt we had too many "rules" and procedures.

What what the "group leader" driving? Your comments have been forwarded to the GBR's Board of Directors and you can rest assured that your concerns are going to be addressed. I do wish you would have expressed your concerns to our club President who was on the ride or at the very least to Curtis Barnhart who presides over this event twice each year so the issue could have been addressed then and there. It would have been more productive than posting this about another club on a public forum.

While I hope you join us on another ride so that you can see for yourself that safety is a top concern, we certainly understand that your having had a bad experience might prevent that.

i like the Ga cruisers more. Safety didnt seem to be very high on the list of whoever my "group leader" was. he also gave no ****s about whether his "recovery techniques" put my truck into a situation where greater risk of damage was very likely. i won't ride with them again.

 

[robustbambi]

I'm sorry to hear that you have this opinion of the GBR and that you had a bad experience on the ride. I have been a member of this club for almost 14 years and safety has always been the top concern while on a trail ride. I have seen many members over the years put their own vehicles/bodies at risk to protect a driver they were either spotting for or helping to recover. In fact, we had a split in the club a couple of years ago because others felt we had too many "rules" and procedures.

What what the "group leader" driving? Your comments have been forwarded to the GBR's Board of Directors and you can rest assured that your concerns are going to be addressed. I do wish you would have expressed your concerns to our club President who was on the ride or at the very least to Curtis Barnhart who presides over this event twice each year so the issue could have been addressed then and there. It would have been more productive than posting this about another club on a public forum.

While I hope you join us on another ride so that you can see for yourself that safety is a top concern, we certainly understand that your having had a bad experience might prevent that.

Sorry you took offense to my comment. Good thinking sending my post to the your "board of directors", im glad to have helped make the GBR's a safer club.

 

[riXJeep]

I was more concerned that someone felt there was a safety issue on one of our rides. What I "took offense" to was having someone publicly berate a respected SFWDA member-club that just celebrated 20 years as a club, with a spotless reputation AND safety record, and making a comment like ""he also gave no sh**s about whether his "recovery techniques" put my truck into a situation where greater risk of damage was very likely"" with no explanation of what happened nor discussion of said events at the trail ride with anyone else. After further investigation into the matter and the input from several others on the ride, the person you slammed happens to be one of the most experienced off-roaders around, has saved countless of vehicles, drivers and passengers over the past two decades, including my own. And for the record, he was the United Four Wheel Drive Association's Back Country Awareness program instructor for many years. For those of your not aware of what that program is, this is where new and not-so-new drivers are trained on proper 4x4 driving, vehicle recovery, and basic survival techniques. Old link here http://www.off-road.com/atv/voice/united-4-wheel-drive-awareness-program-48737.html. As you might surmise, the UFWDA nor the SFWDA would put someone in charge of that program unless they were the best of the best. I would put this person up against anyone in the sport as being hands-down one of the best out there. Ask those who have been around a while both in your club and others in the SFWDA about him and hear for yourself the caliber of this individual.

Just what happened on the ride that made you post such a statement? I'd be very interested in hearing your side of it. Also, just out of curiosity, how long have you been a member of The Georgia Cruisers? How long have you been driving off-road? It's always helpful to know one's experience level.

Sorry you took offense to my comment. Good thinking sending my post to the your "board of directors", im glad to have helped make the GBR's a safer club.

 

[robustbambi]

Do you want me to PM you or do you want to discuss my observations here?

...And i dont want to come across as a jackass, but i dont think my experience level, or lack there of compared to his, has anything to do with what occurred. Even if it was my first day out, id still be able to spot a bad idea when i saw one

 

[riXJeep]

I guess that's up to you as to how you discuss your observations since you have already openly stated that the person trying to assist you didn't give "sh**s" about damaging your vehicle.

You clearly misunderstood the reason behind my question. The experience you have actually does make a difference and NOT as a comparison to anyone else, but in understanding what is happening OUTSIDE of your vehicle where you can't see. Ask anyone who had done this for a while and you'll see that what you are feeling inside doesn't match what is happening outside. That's why you have to trust your spotter. If you are uncomfortable with something they ask you to do, it is up to you to tell them and either get another spotter or figure it out on your own. That choice is yours.

What you thought was a "bad idea" might have been the only way to get you out of a mess you'd gotten into. Have you ever handled a hill climb such as that one before? Did your vehicle get damaged during the GBR ride? Did you get off the trail safely?

The issue I have is that rather than discussing the matter with anyone in the GBR in person or going to your club President and asking them to help you address the issue between clubs, you publicly insulted not only someone trying to help get you out of a mess, but stated that the GBR as a club was unsafe. 20 years of trail rides with NO injuries or accidents tends to prove just the opposite.

As you stated, I too am not trying to be a jacka$$, but instead would like to see the issue stated clearly and resolved.

Do you want me to PM you or do you want to discuss my observations here?

...And i dont want to come across as a jackass, but i dont think my experience level, or lack there of compared to his, has anything to do with what occurred. Even if it was my first day out, id still be able to spot a bad idea when i saw one

 

[robustbambi]

I guess we'll make this public then.

I guess that's up to you as to how you discuss your observations since you have already openly stated that the person trying to assist you didn't give "sh**s" about damaging your vehicle.

I got caught up on a rock on a very steep hill. Instead of dig a rut below the rock, we strapped my LC to some guys blue rubicon to get me over. After something very dangerous happened (ill speak of that next, dont worry) i got the rear wheels up on the rock and put my brake on so we could take the strap off and i could continue going up the trail. Instead, the jeep driver guns it up the rest of the trail, yanking me up behind him. The trail was not straight up the mountain, so, as he goes around a corner, i still need to go about 10ft before i even begin my turn. so he begins pulling me diagonally through the tight little trail. (Pretty safe right?) No where did i ask him to recklessly tow me up behind him. Very quickly, he put my truck into a situation where damage was a much larger risk than if i were to finish the trail myself. Immediately after i got to the top of the hill, i got out and looked all around the truck for damage, wiping off dirt that showed where i had made contact with the walls. I put my hood up (everyone crowded around to talk) to look and ensure none of my motor mount were broken because i hit a large rock with my tire quite hard.
I was lucky none had snapped.

You clearly misunderstood the reason behind my question. The experience you have actually does make a difference and NOT as a comparison to anyone else, but in understanding what is happening OUTSIDE of your vehicle where you can't see. Ask anyone who had done this for a while and you'll see that what you are feeling inside doesn't match what is happening outside. That's why you have to trust your spotter. If you are uncomfortable with something they ask you to do, it is up to you to tell them and either get another spotter or figure it out on your own. That choice is yours.

Speaking of spotters (heres the very dangerous part).... After i was strapped to the back of the jeep, getting ready to be helped up the rock, my spotter sent his son down beneath my truck to put a rock under my rear tire. While the son is climbing down, I see the brake lights on the jeep go out and i got on the radio and yelled, "STOP STOP STOP STOP!" I guess the radios werent working well because he didnt stop, so i held the brake hard but saw i was still moving inches toward the guy. The jeep guy stopped after another round of me yelling through the radio and the son climbed back out of the way. Including me and the spotter's son, 4 people were present to witness this event take place.
After that debacle, I had very little faith in my spotters. Im glad i didnt need one the rest of the day.

Earlier you said that the GBR spotters put themselves in danger in order to help the driver out... How is that a good thing? Thats retarded to put yourself in harms way to get a truck unstuck.

what you thought was a "bad idea" might have been the only way to get you out of a mess you'd gotten into. Have you ever handled a hill climb such as that one before?

Yanking me up the rest of the trail was most definitely a "bad idea", even my brother who doesnt even go driving off road could see that. And it was certainly NOT the only way to get me out the mess id gotten into. I wasnt even given a chance to continue on my own before i was at the top of the hill LOL. Now, since that was my first time going out with a rear locker, no i had not been on a hillclimb that steep, unless Grand Canyon at Dtown is that steep, in that case, yes i have.

Did your vehicle get damaged during the GBR ride? Did you get off the trail safely?

Did my vehicle get damaged?
No body damage. But on my way up being tugged behind the jeep, i was dragged diagonally and my front passenger wheel was smashed into a rock and on the way home, at high way speeds, i definitely felt a huge difference in handling. the truck was wobbling like crazy. I have no proof that that hill climb is when it happened because the truck only started acting up at speeds above 40, so it never happened on the trail. But seeing as how that was the greatest impact that happened that day, i feel it was very likely.
I mentioned in a thread last week that i would miss the choccolocco trip because i had a steering issue to take care of, it was a cheap fix and i took care of it last weekend. Thanks for your concern

Did i get off the trail safe?
Obviously i did.

But i do find it odd that you would ask these questions and think that the actions shown by the guy were justified just because i had no visual damage...
thats like me calling my brother an , getting in trouble, and then saying to mom, "that doesnt matter, atleast i didnt punch him." Its illogical.

the issue I have is that rather than discussing the matter with anyone in the GBR in person or going to your club President and asking them to help you address the issue between clubs, you publicly insulted not only someone trying to help get you out of a mess, but stated that the GBR as a club was unsafe. 20 years of trail rides with NO injuries or accidents tends to prove just the opposite.

Im having a little trouble finding where i said "GBR, as a whole" was anything haha. I talked about one person. If im wrong in that, PLEASE, point me in the right direction...

And the past holds no secrets of the future. 20 years of safe wheeling could of been ruined if i hadn't seen the spotters son crawl down next to me. Anything can happen at anytime.

As you stated, I too am not trying to be a jacka$$, but instead would like to see the issue stated clearly and resolved.

Total number of reckless things I noticed...

1. My leader sped through the trails at 8-10mph to get to the area we were supposed to be cleaning. That doesnt sound fast. but i was taught by the GA Cruisers, that if you cant see the driver behind you, you slow down or stop until they get back into your rear view mirror. 3 or 4 times i lost sight of the blue rubicon and had to ask my brother, in the passenger seat, "which way he went", "did he turn there", etc.

2.When we got to an obstacle, he would drive up and then just stop. I couldnt figure out why he would do that. He told me he was waiting for me to start...
I was taught, again, by the GA cruisers that you wait at the bottom of the hill climb until the truck ahead of you has made it to the top. That way, if the guy up front has trouble and needs to back down, you dont have a line a trucks backing down to get out of his way.

So he drove too fast when he needed to go slow, and drove too slowed or stopped when he needed to go faster.

3. The whole almost crunching the guy and slinging me all over the place while pulling me up the hill. I explained that enough.

4. At the end of the day, we went to this other trail, im sure my leader could tell you which one since i dont remember the name. On the way there, there was an unpaved road with small rocks covering the ground. the 2 drivers ahead of me (i was last) were both going 15-20 mph down the one lane road, with drops on the side. They had no idea if any other group had been over there and were on there way back. I followed behind at speed (im just as guilty, i know) because i didnt want to get lost back there. It was only my first time at Beasley and i wasnt confident the CB would work well enough to guide me back out. We were already having trouble with communication, remember the "STOP STOP STOP... moment".
It is stupid to drive that fast in the woods on a rocky road next to a cliff with possible trucks coming head on.

Those 4 things dont seem very safe. No getting around that. So please show this responce to your "board of directors"

See y'all at the next event. I cant wait to get my shirt for giving blood

 

[riXJeep]

That's your account of what happened. Hopefully others who were there will post up theirs as well. You are not describing behavior that I have seen out of anyone in your group, ever.

Of course with the sarcasm, and " " all over the place, I couldn't really tell what I was to consider serious in your comments. Clearly the referring to my original message where I mentioned taking the issue to our Board of Directors must have struck you as stupid or humorous in some way the way you kept referring to it in quotation marks. The GA Cruisers has no club officers? Ask the oldest member in the club where the club originated and where the things you kept referring to that you were taught, originated. You might be surprised.

Do come to the next "event". Hopefully you will find donating blood a more positive experience than what you've stated you had on your first and last ride with the GBR.

I guess we'll make this public then.



I got caught up on a rock on a very steep hill. Instead of dig a rut below the rock, we strapped my LC to some guys blue rubicon to get me over. After something very dangerous happened (ill speak of that next, dont worry) i got the rear wheels up on the rock and put my brake on so we could take the strap off and i could continue going up the trail. Instead, the jeep driver guns it up the rest of the trail, yanking me up behind him. The trail was not straight up the mountain, so, as he goes around a corner, i still need to go about 10ft before i even begin my turn. so he begins pulling me diagonally through the tight little trail. (Pretty safe right?) No where did i ask him to recklessly tow me up behind him. Very quickly, he put my truck into a situation where damage was a much larger risk than if i were to finish the trail myself. Immediately after i got to the top of the hill, i got out and looked all around the truck for damage, wiping off dirt that showed where i had made contact with the walls. I put my hood up (everyone crowded around to talk) to look and ensure none of my motor mount were broken because i hit a large rock with my tire quite hard.
I was lucky none had snapped.



Speaking of spotters (heres the very dangerous part).... After i was strapped to the back of the jeep, getting ready to be helped up the rock, my spotter sent his son down beneath my truck to put a rock under my rear tire. While the son is climbing down, I see the brake lights on the jeep go out and i got on the radio and yelled, "STOP STOP STOP STOP!" I guess the radios werent working well because he didnt stop, so i held the brake hard but saw i was still moving inches toward the guy. The jeep guy stopped after another round of me yelling through the radio and the son climbed back out of the way. Including me and the spotter's son, 4 people were present to witness this event take place.
After that debacle, I had very little faith in my spotters. Im glad i didnt need one the rest of the day.

Earlier you said that the GBR spotters put themselves in danger in order to help the driver out... How is that a good thing? Thats retarded to put yourself in harms way to get a truck unstuck.



Yanking me up the rest of the trail was most definitely a "bad idea", even my brother who doesnt even go driving off road could see that. And it was certainly NOT the only way to get me out the mess id gotten into. I wasnt even given a chance to continue on my own before i was at the top of the hill LOL. Now, since that was my first time going out with a rear locker, no i had not been on a hillclimb that steep, unless Grand Canyon at Dtown is that steep, in that case, yes i have.



Did my vehicle get damaged?
No body damage. But on my way up being tugged behind the jeep, i was dragged diagonally and my front passenger wheel was smashed into a rock and on the way home, at high way speeds, i definitely felt a huge difference in handling. the truck was wobbling like crazy. I have no proof that that hill climb is when it happened because the truck only started acting up at speeds above 40, so it never happened on the trail. But seeing as how that was the greatest impact that happened that day, i feel it was very likely.
I mentioned in a thread last week that i would miss the choccolocco trip because i had a steering issue to take care of, it was a cheap fix and i took care of it last weekend. Thanks for your concern

Did i get off the trail safe?
Obviously i did.

But i do find it odd that you would ask these questions and think that the actions shown by the guy were justified just because i had no visual damage...
thats like me calling my brother an , getting in trouble, and then saying to mom, "that doesnt matter, atleast i didnt punch him." Its illogical.




Im having a little trouble finding where i said "GBR, as a whole" was anything haha. I talked about one person. If im wrong in that, PLEASE, point me in the right direction...

And the past holds no secrets of the future. 20 years of safe wheeling could of been ruined if i hadn't seen the spotters son crawl down next to me. Anything can happen at anytime.



Total number of reckless things I noticed...

1. My leader sped through the trails at 8-10mph to get to the area we were supposed to be cleaning. That doesnt sound fast. but i was taught by the GA Cruisers, that if you cant see the driver behind you, you slow down or stop until they get back into your rear view mirror. 3 or 4 times i lost sight of the blue rubicon and had to ask my brother, in the passenger seat, "which way he went", "did he turn there", etc.

2.When we got to an obstacle, he would drive up and then just stop. I couldnt figure out why he would do that. He told me he was waiting for me to start...
I was taught, again, by the GA cruisers that you wait at the bottom of the hill climb until the truck ahead of you has made it to the top. That way, if the guy up front has trouble and needs to back down, you dont have a line a trucks backing down to get out of his way.

So he drove too fast when he needed to go slow, and drove too slowed or stopped when he needed to go faster.

3. The whole almost crunching the guy and slinging me all over the place while pulling me up the hill. I explained that enough.

4. At the end of the day, we went to this other trail, im sure my leader could tell you which one since i dont remember the name. On the way there, there was an unpaved road with small rocks covering the ground. the 2 drivers ahead of me (i was last) were both going 15-20 mph down the one lane road, with drops on the side. They had no idea if any other group had been over there and were on there way back. I followed behind at speed (im just as guilty, i know) because i didnt want to get lost back there. It was only my first time at Beasley and i wasnt confident the CB would work well enough to guide me back out. We were already having trouble with communication, remember the "STOP STOP STOP... moment".
It is stupid to drive that fast in the woods on a rocky road next to a cliff with possible trucks coming head on.

Those 4 things dont seem very safe. No getting around that. So please show this responce to your "board of directors"

See y'all at the next event. I cant wait to get my shirt for giving blood

 

[robustbambi]

That's your account of what happened. Hopefully others who were there will post up theirs as well. You are not describing behavior that I have seen out of anyone in your group, ever.

Of course with the sarcasm, and " " all over the place, I couldn't really tell what I was to consider serious in your comments. Clearly the referring to my original message where I mentioned taking the issue to our Board of Directors must have struck you as stupid or humorous in some way the way you kept referring to it in quotation marks. The GA Cruisers has no club officers? Ask the oldest member in the club where the club originated and where the things you kept referring to that you were taught, originated. You might be surprised.

Do come to the next "event". Hopefully you will find donating blood a more positive experience than what you've stated you had on your first and last ride with the GBR.

Really dude?
see you at the blood drive, man.

 

[TeddyBoy]

Alright guys, hang on. I've not read through all this and frankly not going to. Clearly there is some disagreement over events and the actions thereafter which is fine but let's calm down a little.

Patrick--sorry you had a bad experience but it's time to move on, let's just chalk it up to the learning process. This sport can be dangerous at times and we have all found ourselves in difficult positions and have similar stories. Fortunately, there have been no major mishaps or injuries but it's certainly not from pack of effort. Obviously you (or anyone for that matter) should speak up when a situation arises that is uncomfortable or concerning and make modifications from there, on the spot.

rixJeep-- Same story. We can all appreciate your positions but it's time to let it go. The GBR has been around for many years and your record speaks for itself. Thanks for this and all that the Bounty Runners do over and above what most other clubs do. I personally brought GBR into the Tots event 3 or 4 years ago and did so for a damned good reason, we look forward to reciprocating at MFB and hopefully the 2014 Beasley trail clearing.

Now, can we please move on to other things. Maybe you guys can hug it out at chocco this weekend, how's that sound?

 

[AnkurGT]

Maybe you guys can hug it out at chocco this weekend, how's that sound?

Hugzzz...

 

[HENDOG]

KISSES too....