This is only a test
Oct 6, 2008 2:17 PM, By Jeff Ryan
We all got to the lodge in late afternoon on the first day of the Rodeo. After thoroughly checking out each machine for the “maintenance and service” evaluation, Team FIN members each got on an ATV and followed the gun club's owner, Randy, through the woods and the trails. We needed a refresher on where everything was and what route we were supposed to follow the next day. Funny thing. On the approach to the creek crossing, we pulled to one side and did a loop to turn around. We were apparently in education mode and not evaluation mode, so no splashing on opening night. We really couldn't get a look at the crossing, because it was around the corner behind some trees. It was sort of a "Go over there to cross. Just trust me," kind of a situation.
When the testing began the next morning, I don't recall which machine I was on, but it wasn't my take-home project and it wasn't the tiniest machine there. I got to the water crossing and realized it was a bit more intimidating than the way it was portrayed the previous afternoon. The entry and the water weren't so bad. It was the exit up the opposing bank that was a bit touchy. Two clear wheel tracks marked the path. One side of the machine making those tracks certainly appeared, to me at least, to have far better traction and excavation capabilities than the other. Either that, or there was a quicksand issue on the stream bank. As I started across the rutted path, I realized that the machine was beginning to travel several degrees away from level. Best guess, it felt like 30, maybe 45, perhaps even 60 degrees. And this was on the first pass. Just think what seven machines, each being driven by seven different drivers, would do to that path by the last round of the day.
I got on my second machine — the smallest and most likely poorest-scoring (in part because of suspension and comfort issues) of the bunch — and made my way to the creek crossing. I got partway up the bank on the other side and my machine pretty much ate the sidewall. I was about to be removed from my machine like Norm Abram running a plane down a piece of lumber on "The New Yankee Workshop." No way was this machine climbing out of there going forward. It also had an absolutely ridiculous series of steps to follow to get it into Reverse. That's a really handy feature to have when you're about to wipe out.
Once I solved that Rubik's Cube of buttons and levers, I got the beast backed up and turned around to go back from where I came. When I got back to the area where we park the machines and do some paperwork, I mentioned to Randy that there were going to be some serious safety issues at the creek crossing before the end of the day. He hopped on his own machine and went to survey the situation. It was decided that we'd make another pass right next to the one with the gorge-like ruts and simply climb the bank there instead. If we wanted to, we could still use the original path. Many apparently did.
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