So, this weekend I did a two-day offroad driving training intensive in Rausch Creek Off Road Park in Pennsylvania. This was taught by a company called Offroad Consulting. This company was incredible. The instructor, a British guy named Peter, was extremely on top of his game and very articulate and astute. Ron, who watched the group from the rear, was a diligent and kindly spotter.
Not surprisingly, I was the only Land Cruiser in the group. There was one lifted Bronco on 35s, a Jeep on 37s, a Gladiator, and several other Jeeps on various tire sizes. The instructor did a great job in using the differences between all the vehicles to help illustrate the lessons--talking about the pros and cons each of our vehicles had in terms of weight, wheelbase, visibility, etc. The students were a very pleasant and interesting group as well. I did not feel like the odd man out at all.
During the intermediate session today, we hit up some blue trails, which lay in the middle between green and black. I was very happy to find my Cruiser keeping up with everything even the bigger Jeeps were doing. The main limitations were having to pick more cautious lines in some cases where the rocks got gnarly and having less wiggle room on hairpin off-camber curves. In many cases, my Cruiser seemed to climb more easily than the other vehicles. In fact, on my new Kenda Klever r/ts, I felt like a tractor on steroids. I never lost traction, even on the steepest climbs. I also found that my articulation kept my wheels on the ground more often than with some of the other vehicles.
All in all, a great weekend. For anyone with an LC200 who's ever in the Northeast and wants some formal training, I highly recommend Offroad Consulting! I also recommend Rausch Creek Off Road Park for anyone in the northeast seeking a variety of terrain from advanced beginner through black trail level.
I'm waiting for some pictures to be shared. Meanwhile, here's one I took myself from the driver's seat while doing one of the water crossings.
![20230702_132353[1].jpg](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='1440' height='1920' viewBox%3D'0 0 1440 1920'%2F%3E "20230702_132353[1].jpg")
Not surprisingly, I was the only Land Cruiser in the group. There was one lifted Bronco on 35s, a Jeep on 37s, a Gladiator, and several other Jeeps on various tire sizes. The instructor did a great job in using the differences between all the vehicles to help illustrate the lessons--talking about the pros and cons each of our vehicles had in terms of weight, wheelbase, visibility, etc. The students were a very pleasant and interesting group as well. I did not feel like the odd man out at all.
During the intermediate session today, we hit up some blue trails, which lay in the middle between green and black. I was very happy to find my Cruiser keeping up with everything even the bigger Jeeps were doing. The main limitations were having to pick more cautious lines in some cases where the rocks got gnarly and having less wiggle room on hairpin off-camber curves. In many cases, my Cruiser seemed to climb more easily than the other vehicles. In fact, on my new Kenda Klever r/ts, I felt like a tractor on steroids. I never lost traction, even on the steepest climbs. I also found that my articulation kept my wheels on the ground more often than with some of the other vehicles.
All in all, a great weekend. For anyone with an LC200 who's ever in the Northeast and wants some formal training, I highly recommend Offroad Consulting! I also recommend Rausch Creek Off Road Park for anyone in the northeast seeking a variety of terrain from advanced beginner through black trail level.
I'm waiting for some pictures to be shared. Meanwhile, here's one I took myself from the driver's seat while doing one of the water crossings.
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