SOTEC Newbie Run 101, 2024

Good to hear everyone had fun, we got some commentary on the naming scheme. Going to revise it for the next one and shorten trail runs for some groups.

 

Curious to hear the all the feedback - heard some during the day, but it would be interesting to get the full picture.
As far as the rating/naming of the groups go, I would recommend to maybe focus less on experience, but more on how much protection the truck has?

Again - this is not criticism, just constructive feedback. I had a blast and would love to see another trip like this in August... might even have to buy a tent for that

 

where did the "Dislike" button go?

 

We appreciate it! Based on our last trip with the crv we thought the ratings were accurate. However trails change year to year and now that we have run the trails we have a better idea of the vehicle requirements needed for the august run. Not trying to make excuses but more give some info on trail conditions and how we go about organizing.

Hopefully it was more of a pucker factor and no one got damage. We do try and go out of the way to set people up for success on the trails and ensure our vehicle requirements of each trip are accurate. The last thing we want is to bring someone out to damage their vehicle. We have all had stock vehicles including myself and I personally get being cautious as you are learning the capabilities of a vehicle. First time I ran south trail, every bang and thud was pretty devastating and nerve racking. Can take the fun out of the day which isn’t something we are doing obviously.

If anyone has any other feedback it is appreciated. Also if you do have the OF4WD check out the trail conditions of what we just ran and let us know if there are some more intriguing trails to run. Helps us as out as it gives us a different perspective of where people are at.

 

I had a great time on the moderate run. Was it a little more technical than I was anticipating? Yes. Did I still have a shit ton of fun and learn some capabilities of my truck? Yes. Would I do the same level again next year? Yes I would.

The group I was in was fantastic. @Trdtacosauce , @Saturnine & @Canadian Joe did an awesome job of navigating us through, helping us to pick lines when it was needed. Which helped me gain confidence as we went forward.

My truck is a stock Pro, I walked away with small chunk of wood in the tire (but its still holding air and did all the way home) and a few scratches that I was already expecting to get.

Overall, great time and would do the same trails again next year/later this summer (maybe when the bugs aren't so bad). Appreciate everyone taking the time to set this up and take us out.

 

Definitely a bit tougher than I would have thought

 

I think for the next one we should ease into the harder trails. Think going in “dry” to gooderham may have been the main issue.

 

I would agree. Building up to some of the more technical trails would have created some confidence

 

Appreciate it. The last time we did it we had all vehicles together and this time around we were trying to avoid traffic on the trails. In doing so we avoided some trails and started in others.

hopefully we didn’t scare anyone away and for the august one we will start a lot slower and maybe stick to 2 trails.

one of the reasons I like Ardbeg so much is the offshoots avaible for anyone who wants to play. Issue is it’s a longer drive and almost requires camping. If everyone is interested we could just do a Saturday/Sunday trip to Ardbeg and run some of the trails there.

 

a few more photos

 

skid plates, sliders, etc are essential to avoid damage when the trail gets gnarly but do not discount the experience factor... the quotes below talking about "easing in" and "building confidence" are not about truck parts, they are about building experience.

those who found the gooderham trail overwhelming will likely feel different after a few more trail runs. the level of on trail anxiety steadily goes down too with more trail experience.

 

Thanks to everyone that came out and everyone helping organize, another great run for the books!

We’ll definitely make some adjustments to trail ride descriptions as the last thing we want is to ruin anyone’s trail first experience.

Hope to see you out in the trails again.

 

You'd be surprised how much of a difference a little experience would make on this kind of ''moderate trails''. Learning how to pick the right lines and confidence, then building out your truck as you feel it's needed.

but as @tacoma16 said, trails change year to year so its hard to tell what they would be like. We'll try and get another easy/moderate trail run in this summer!!

 

I completely agree. It was a bit intimidating at first but once I realised what the truck could do and got a bit of experience picking a line I had a lot of fun.

some spots definitely looked a lot gnarlier from the drivers seat. But once you got through it wasn’t so bad after all.

Id definitely do the moderate level again.

another huge thanks to the trail leaders and organizers.

 

Huge shoutout to the trail leaders! The whole thing was very fun the trail we did was moderate and even though the trails looked intimidating the truck itself surprised me big time with the way it got through it all.

group members helped guide and stayed on the walkies for any updates on the trail

I was the predator tube steps taco. It was definitely scary hearing some scratching noises going through some terrain but I can happily say after a nice wash the only damage is a few dents on the tube steps, the truck itself survived with no issues at all!

that was such a cool experience, will for sure try to come out to future ones. BUT definitely leaving those tube steps at home

 

Agreed - the mods I did to the truck were based on last year's run, and are minor. I don't trust my line picking and 'experience' yet (which showed), so for me it's just insurance, even though it is not really required for the trails. I now regret not camping, looks like Sunday was a blast too.

 

Campfire

 

Out of curiosity what’s the mod list for that truck. Size tires and lift? I doubt my long bed would have made it over that

 

Sliders are important. Can't ignore it even if you have Top Gear's budget:

 

Hey now, I’m just gunna get a fat guy at work to jump on it a few times you’ll never know I did that.
Maybe I’ll hire someone to fab some sliders that can hide underneath those steps