MaBell - Spring 2000 - Exerpt from Dennis White

   We arrived at this year's Fall Heritage late on Saturday. We were greeted by the usual complaints about mixing extreme and stock rigs on the same runs. The whining about too much waiting and not enough driving on the trails. There's been a lot of that going on lately, not only within BSROA but also the West Connecticut club.
Over the course of next few weeks several emails flew to and fro, the flavor of which ranged from "That was My Last BSROA event" to "What can we do to make these events better". Somewhere during the discourse, I was asked by Chris Browne to run a day trip. As the axiom "Put up or Shut up" goes I agreed.
   Never having run a trip by myself, I immediately enlisted the help of two of the most capable Rover nuts I know. Chris Velardi from Hamden, Connecticut and Ernie Young from Foster, Rhode Island. Two people I would feel very comfortable facing disaster with. (of course I feel even more comfortable when Ernie's wife Linda and Chris' girlfriend (should be wife) Stacey are along. It's amazing how a good woman with a tow strap can keep a Rover nut's dirty side down !)
   Anyway, as it turns out Ernie and Chris had been working on a solution to the same problem within the West Connecticut Rover Club; How to run a successful club event with trucks and drivers of mixed ability and experience. We talked about how boring it was when too many rigs ascend on a trail that some aren't prepared for. But we also talked about our first outings when we were the ones who were unprepared.
   We decided; that if it's a Club Event, it has to be open to all. That a Club should do it's best to generate enthusiasm amongst it's membership by making all events safe, comfortable and enjoyable regardless of the participant's equipment or experience. We decided that to accomplish this we would have to break the participants into teams of 4 or 5 vehicles. Each team would consist of a Team Leader ( a driver with a capable Rig and experience, who had also run the trail) and then a mix of vehicles from stock to extreme and everything in between. We would also try to get at least two winches per team.
   The next thing we needed was and appropriate trail. Chris Browne had suggested Old Florida Road. No luck, Florida Road is seasonal and closed on November 1st. We enlisted the help of Dave Brill (Region 'D' Land Use chair for East Coast Four Wheel Drive Association and President of Eastern Four Wheelers). Dave suggested MaBell, he thought it would be a perfect trail for our intended use. It has some very severe obstacles, but also has legal go-arounds. Chris, myself and Wilson Bullard did a pre-run of the trail the weekend before the event and it proved to be suitable. So we were set.
   I would like to take this opportunity to extend a sincere Thank you to Chris Velardi for his help and also for putting together a 30+ page hand out dealing with Off Road Techniques titled "Chris V's Cliff Notes". A very informative compilation containing information on everything from tire pressures and spotters hand signals to first aid supplies. Nice job Chris! (I'm sure if anyone wants one, Chris would assemble some more).