Wanted to ask a simple question? I'd like to stop commenting on this question until we get votes counted after next week.
yup! The club does do that, but the focus isn’t strictly on driving. This would be on be driving skills and I’m just trying to poll right now and see if there is interest before I go from there.The club sponsors a class or two every year ahead of Cruise Moab with Bill Burke. That is more about leadership and recovery so are you polling for something building upon or completely different than that?
Yes.Does Bill Burke also teach driving skills classes?
Personally, I would love focus on these. Learning to work with your spotter, and overall mechanical sympathy in action.2. Lack of “follow through” on big obstacles. They are driving in the now, not the future. The gate keeper on Behind the Rocks is a classic driving in the “now” obstacle. “Begin with the end in mind”
3. Throttle control and overall finesse. As fast as necessary, as slow as possible.
4. Mechanical sympathy, why be harder on the equipment than I need to be. Riding the clutch, steering to much, not going into low range soon enough etc.
6. Poor communication with ones spotter.
David - Great perspective! Its so easy to forget what we all went through to get to where we are now.I am a bit embarrassed to say some of my problems but I'll chime in as a "noob" to hopefully give some perspective. I've been on several runs with Rising Sun, Cruise Moab and I know a few here on the forum. Before I was allowed out on the trail, my wife insisted I take Bill's beginning driver course. It was at Slaughterhouse Gulch. It took us about 5 hours to go around the entire loop. Here were/are my beginner fears:
1). Lack of vehicle knowledge - I didn't know how to put my LC into 4 Lo. Since the lockers hadn't been worked for a long time, it took some driving on dirt just to get the center diff to lock. So, Bill had to go to each vehicle to make sure everyone knew how to get into 4 Lo. Also, he spoke about the vehicles that had traction control and when/how to use them.
2). Lines to take - Along with understanding vehicle width and wheel base, it was helpful to see what lines Bill took (if you were up close, and he rotated us through to show us) to see where/how he placed his wheels. I've been told to place the tire on the highest point but sometimes it seems like going around the rock (staying on the trail of course) would be better. I was with Travis in Moab and was able to watch him on trails and I had a passenger who was much more experienced help me through the trails. I still don't feel comfortable here.
3) Limits of vehicle - Bill put his vehicle off camber to show us how angled the vehicle can get before it gets close to being dangerous. Where he put his vehicle wasn't even close to typing he said but to a noob, it was downright scary.
4). Etiquette - I didn't know uphill typically had the right of way, but Bill went through that.
5). I had the unfortunate experience of blowing up my plastic radiator at the top of Slaughterhouse. My BIGGEST fear was breaking down. After saying "he has never seen that before", bill showed us how to tow me down, with me stepping on my brake as best as I could and being attached to another vehicle behind so I didn't run away. He then towed me up to the gas station at 285 and I waited for a tow truck. What he told me made me feel much better - this happens and now you know the world doesn't end...
6). Fix a flat tire - the next day, on Bill's training, one of us got a flat tire. It was a skinny Range Rover tire but Bill took the time to show us how to patch the tire, and when that didn't work, how to change it. Some people didn't know where their spare was or where the tools were.
7). Listening to spotters - getting to know the driver/passenger directions wasn't too hard. I was usually petrified during the times I needed spotting so if the spotter told me to pick my nose at that time, I would probably have done it without hesitating.
I know this all seems stupid to y'all, but simple fears like this can be paralyzing to noobs. But, I've been at FJ Summit with bigger noobs behind me and I had to ask them to not follow so closely in case I stopped quickly. They were afraid that they wouldn't know what line to drive so they were just following me.
So, like anything, what is easy and intuitive for experienced people is not so easy and intuitive for others. I can set up a triple nymph fly fishing rod in about 2 minutes. I know people who have spent an hour tying 3 flies on.
I love the idea and I hope this gives you some perspective on what noobs look to learn and feel. I have blessed by the people at Rising Sun who have taken the time to explain various elements of this to me!
I was a total knob when Jeff Zepp patiently took Kirsten and me up Spinning Wheel trail outside of Idaho Springs for my first "official" run with the club. That first year was a steep learning curve on stuff like Wheeler Lake, Red Cone, Triple Bypass. Thanks to the people willing to show me the ropes I feel like a much more skilled knob now.David - Great perspective! Its so easy to forget what we all went through to get to where we are now.
New member, first post and just want to say how excited I am to find this forum and this club. I've spent a while base lining my rig (skeert **itless of breakdowns) and running nearby trails to cut my teeth on this new-to-me mountainous terrain. My first trail ride was a gut-wrenching novice affair. Since then I've matured to what I'd call 'restrained amateur'. lol
I've no idea where I stand in terms of skill as solo trailing can only give a self-evaluation. Made it thru some stuff only due to lockers and chose to avoid other stuff because I was solo and had no plan B were things to go south.
I consume as much offroad programming/content as possible to learn anything available.
But there is no substitute for live, on-site tutelage/mentoring.
You have a contributor and attendee in me if this suggestion comes to fruition.
Welcome @LandLocked93
Thank you and glad to be here!Hey Man! There are a ton of opportunities to learn in Rising Sun. Be on the lookout for a Newbs run with @jps8460 as we had a discussion about this last night and it's really for anyone and covers a ton of topics. We are always in the works for doing other types of runs and you are more than welcome to join any of the runs you see listed on the "4wheeling and event staging area." And if you see on that fills up before you have a chance to sign up, feel free to ask to be put on the waiting list as more than likely there is almost always room by the time the run happens. Glad to have you!
Noob Dave, .... NoooooobI was a total knob when Jeff Zepp patiently took Kirsten and me up Spinning Wheel trail outside of Idaho Springs for my first "official" run with the club. That first year was a steep learning curve on stuff like Wheeler Lake, Red Cone, Triple Bypass. Thanks to the people willing to show me the ropes I feel like a much more skilled knob now.