TLCA Official 25th Rubithon Thread (1 Viewer)

[woooody]

Kevin drives that 45 with abandon!

I saw Mace and family going up Cadillac-looked like he was on a mission.

Cadillac, while not easy, has been improved at the very dangerous spot. Leaving early was a good move-no one else in either direction on the hill.

I was very proud of the Wagon Run guys. Everyone worked together, and spanked the trail with minimal damage. We had a broken FJ40 drive shaft, and a 4Runner broke a t-case (which he fixed and returned 2 days later-very impressive).

Ross richly deserved the hard luck award. We should take up a collection.

One more thing---the Wine Tasting was a great addition to the event. Congrats on that. Nice tasting, good company, lots of variety. That Noceto 2009 small label Sangiovese in the corner pocket was really good. I'll treasure that glass in my camping box from now on. Please do that again.

Thanks Andy. It was certainly a lot to go through to get there, but I may have caught a break on the repairs. No need for a collection. Multiple people came up and offered their old 2F's sitting in the shop or garage. Kinda overwhelming. I may also have a line on getting the diff fixed on the FJ Cruiser.

It may have been obvious to those at the raffle, but I was most upset/disappointed in the fact that my daughter Alex wasn't able to make it in. By the time we got back to the dam on Wednesday, it was clear that she was done.

And kudos to you and Alvaro for the most complete Driver's meeting I've every witnessed. You guys do an incredible job covering all of the bases, and you do a great job making people feel at ease. Thank you both!

 

[woooody]

Additionally -- The biggest of "THANK YOUs" needs to go out to Woody. He sat on Cadillac as a designated spotter for HOURS, I think from 7 AM to maybe 1 or 2 PM. So very generous of him to stay so long doing that, after a late request from Eric at the raffle Saturday. I know both Eric and I truly appreciate the work that he did.

 

[reddingcruiser]

Best Rubithon.
Best trip through the Ribicon, broken front driveline included - and THANKS, Dave Beam!
Best Raffle (because I actually won something).
Couldn't have been better!!!

 

[woooody]

Kitchen Crew

A final set of thank yous needs to go out to the Kitchen helpers, both the vets and the Rookies. After 10 years of working the kitchen, and 7 or 8 years of actually of having to do everything (buying, packing, hauling, dropping off in Tahoe, running the trail, prepping, cooking, cleaning, packing out, hauling home, cleaning and storing away), I've found two wonderful people to take over. Em and Jen Stayner have stepped up to take it all on. I will still be there to mentor, cook, slice, or whatever is needed.

We brought breakfast back this year, and I think everyone enjoyed the post "Marauder Bar" $5 pancake breakfast to soak up the excess alcohol. Either that, or they really needed coffee. I knew we'd be OK when Em told me that she could cook 400 pancakes per hour. Thankfully, Rubicon Springs now has two small flat top grills, and the girls worked their magic. Golden brown and fluffy.

Dinner is one of those things where so many people offer to help that sometimes it seems like they are just standing there. But it's a relief having them available. I want to thank them all, but I know I will forget someone. These guys and gals show up year after year after year (unless they are broke in camp or on the trail).

Veterans like:
Dion and Spencer Mattei, Mudrak, and Courtney Gatton from PMC;
Clint and Glen White, the Knorr brothers, Mr Manny and Bill Jackson from Bills' Thursday Breakfast run;
Georg
Phil Pasiak

Newer people like:
Kevin Pekarek and his buddy Brody;
Em and Jen Stayner and their Mom Kathy;
Ige and Pighead;
Dan Hull

and several new people "from the audience" that stepped in at the last minute to help serve. I hope I didn't miss anyone

Regardless of the request, they all performed them with smiles on their faces. A great moment was asking Ige to shuck corn... "that's Pighead's job!". Yet she sat right down and the two of them shucked their way through 200 ears of corn. Dan stepped in to help me slice tri-tip, as did Phil, allowing me to get back to overseeing everything.

At the end of dinner, and taking a moment to reflect, I was (and am) truly overwhelmed with the amount of help provided. I know Em and Jen are concerned that many of the help will leave, but I know everyone there is committed to helping to make Rubithon a success. There are many unsung heroes that work behind the scenes, and I hope they know how much it means to me that they step in to help.

 

[OGBeno]

Ah...the Stayner Clan....don't I love them all!

Emily and Jennifer.

 

[peesalot]

Em & Jen are one of the consistent fixtures at Rubithon. It will be a great experience for seasoned veterans of the trail & event to have them take over.
Sorry it worked that way for Alex, I know how much having Emmy with me has become a cherished tradition. You guys gave it a hell of a shot.
Finally, after 10 years, got to spend the entire week on the trail with my daughter, she even started driving between DD & Springs. Absolutely the most perfect week, weather, food, friends, river, trail, fj40, all were in rare form and performed flawlessly.

Wish I had seen & met all the names and faces from the boards. It was nice to chat with as many as I could. It is really nice that so many folks put in a ton of effort to experience this trail & event. Great job goes to Eric Agee

 

[Mace]

Kevin drives that 45 with abandon!

I was wondering how he would deal with the con in the 45. So cool that it was a great experience for him!!

I saw Mace and family going up Cadillac-looked like he was on a mission.

2 hrs from camp to the lake. Not a bad time. Only scared the wife and oldest son once lol..

I was very proud of the Wagon Run guys. Everyone worked together, and spanked the trail with minimal damage. We had a broken FJ40 drive shaft, and a 4Runner broke a t-case (which he fixed and returned 2 days later-very impressive).

Ross richly deserved the hard luck award. We should take up a collection.

Thanks for putting so much effort into the wagon run! I was astounded to see how many 60 series there were this year!!!

Ross Rallied and conquered! I'm not sure that I would have went to the extent he did!! Full props!

One more thing---the Wine Tasting was a great addition to the event. Congrats on that. Nice tasting, good company, lots of variety. That Noceto 2009 small label Sangiovese in the corner pocket was really good. I'll treasure that glass in my camping box from now on. Please do that again.

Agreed on all points! Annie and I had a great time at the wine tasting event! I picked up one of the brochures from Noceto. I'm going to order a case!

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

Huge thanks to the Rubithon committee members for pulling off this large of an event this smoothly!

Yes, I broke on the way out, but it was all my fault for taking the buggy line.... But I didn't slow down the traffic, and we were only down for less than an hour while I pulled the birf out... All's well that ends well...

 

[FJ60Cam]

The Wagon Run at the top of Cadillac Hill...

 

[Fast Eddy]

So many people to thank, but I've got to start with Kevin too.

On the subject of thanking people...

We ran into Bruce (basfire) doing medic duty on Thursday and ate dinner with him on Saturday night. I don't have any pics of him in my portfolio, but everyone knows he's an awesome mudder, from volunteering to do medic duty, to letting us park tow rigs at his house, to picking up AlbertoSD from the airport and hosting him for the whole trip. From us to you Bruce, thanks and

CruiserDrew and his people had invited us to Dusy Ershim last summer, and we almost made it, but due to Nick working on his Eagle Scout Project, we had to bag it at almost the last minute. I started sending PMs about the wagon run back in Jan. He eagerly accepted us into the group. Fast forward to Wednesday morning, we woke up in the cul-de-sac outside basfire's place in Pollock Pines and tried our best to make the 9am start time, but we were about 25 minutes late. It turns out it was an 8am start time and the wagon run was already consuming Toyotas at the rate of about one per 30 minutes. Thanks to Wooody and the power of 2m we contacted them and let them know we were coming.

Thanks also to Wooody for the tire deflator and 14psi recommendation at a not-very-happy time for him.



We headed into the known-difficult, unknown trail alone, but came across Robby (powderpig) just a minute or two in, escorting a broken fj40 out. Our trip would have been white-knuckle without him hanging with us. We moved quickly and caught the group right after Ellis Cr.

 

[Fast Eddy]

One more of Robby, about to dent his lower-rear quarter.

The root at the driver's front and the hole by the giant rock are the culprits. I've done spotting to get people up things, but spotting to prevent body damage on Rubicon-class trails is an artform.

 

[Pighead]

Ige & Pighead made it home safely.

 

[Fast Eddy]

I was going to save the best for last, but I can't. My planning partner, wrenching and soldering assistant, copilot, photographer, radio operator, man-Friday and my son, Nick. I could not be more proud of you bro.






photo credit - 45kevin

 

[Mace]

That's awesome Eddy

 

[Fast Eddy]

Ige & Pighead made it home safely.

Who?

 

[Fast Eddy]

That's awesome Eddy

We've been in the same neighborhood twice now (more? Pismo probably...). We'll have to meet up one of these times.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Getting close to done for tonight. Thanks for everything Pighead. Hope we can do this again. Forever.

 

[Fast Eddy]

A couple quick shots of Marilyn and her rig. We wheeled in front and behind her for awhile on day two from Buck Island to the springs. Great rig. Her bf was one of the tlca spotters for our run. Never got your name bro. Thanks for the help. More of Marilyn to come via youtube.

 

[Fast Eddy]

So many kudos to Kevin for his supply chain skills cough:Cuba:cough), putting up with us ditching him for breakfast and walking to dinner, and his amazing ability to keep his rig in one piece despite somewhat of a beating to get it through the 'con. The video is going to take a lot of work, but I'm going to make it happen in the next week or so.

Here he is making the Canadian cocktail delicacy, the Caesar, for a hundred of his closest friends.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Everyone knows how much Woody does for us. Thanks from all of us mudders, past and present.



It was not lost on Woody that my camera actually crashed and had to be rebooted in the course of taking this picture.

I want a copy of the picture you took of me coming up Cadillac Hill.