Monday, September 28, 2009

Wheels in the Woods 2009




Last weekend the 20th of September saw the return of Wheels in the Woods. A SORC run event which has become very popular over the last 4 years it has been running. As SORC members we are mostly on marshall duty with a bit of recovery thrown in every so often.
I turned up on the Saturday along with a few folks we finished setting up some of the section that Hugh and his team had been working on for most of the week.
The Sunday was a day with good weather and with the Toy I was sent up to one of the Red Routes to look after that in the morning in Cardrona Forest near Innerliethen. The highlight of the morning for me was with the help of Bob we had to extract a Disco 3 that had slipped a little bit too close to the trees. It was not in any major danger apart from maybe a bit of panel damage from the trees. With careful winching we got it back onto a safe route to a very happy owner.
In the afternoon we were in Elibank Forest and I was up on the Moor Run. A great Red Route that must be almost 2 miles long. Great views and driving all day. Well done Hugh and the team along with all the other SORC members making the day run smoothly.
As they say what goes up must come down. That is true to say about the sections. The following weekend was set to make sure all the sections had been cleared properly.. ; ) This time I took the family.
We were lucky again with the weather. Blue skies and warmish weather if a little windy. I got a chance to stretch the legs of the Discovery. Although on Road Tyres it performed well. We drove many of the green runs and even got up the moor route and lunched by the cairn at 1361ft on the summit of Middlebar Knowe.


Friday, September 11, 2009

Cheviot 4x4 Challenge Round 3

With my new daughter only 3 days old it was time to get to the third round of the Cheviot 4x4 Challenge event. It was set in Morebattle down in the borders. This is a site previously used in events like the Muddy Truckers. It is mostly open moreland so we knew that ground anchors were what we needed.


We set off well until a little map reading let us down and we had to back track to find the first two punches we were heading for. Those in the bag we set off back down the hill into a gully with several punches. The third punch of the day was the first disaster of the day. I was lowered into the river and started to winch out the other side. The solenoid pack gave up the ghost and I could now longer winch in on the front. Not good in a Winch event.
We got through another couple of punches without the use of my front winch we even managed to drive one without the winches at all. The next stage was down into a ditch sharp left and then right up a hill. My truck fell onto its right side and manged to bend my D44 bumper and front right wing.

With loads of time wasted getting through that punch it was time to try and make up some time. We headed onto the next series of punches and disaster again. Dave's front winch brake had fried and then will trying to hold me on a hill the motor burnt out. Game over for the day. With 8 punches out of 20 in the bag it was not a great day for us but we still managed 3rd place.

Wet, but we managed third place. Thanks to the Cheviot 4x4 Team for another great event. Round 4 will be in Drumglog. A site I know quite well so lets hope for a better result.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Lizzie 2 weeks 3 days

Lizzie had her first photo shoot this morning.