Febs
25-10-2010, 03:21 PM
Hi guys,
Some of you might remember VooDoo's post (http://trackchat.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=3715) about a year ago, with a video of a pretty insane rock-crawling / desert race called King of the Hammers. Basically one of the biggest races on the desert racing calendar next to the Baja 1000.
A mate of mine from Sydney owns a rock crawler in the US and competes in KOH and other races when he can (living in Sydney makes it a bit difficult, but he's managed 5 races this year). We're both over here for work and managed to squeeze in a weekend in the desert so I could see what it was all about. :)
It was a bit of an organisational effort - with his dualie, trailer and buggy all parked in different parts of California...so we started on Friday night, picked up the dualie, stayed at a hotel, got up at 8am Saturday morning...and still didn't hit the desert (Johnson Valley in the Mojave) until about 2:30pm Saturday arvo. Not to worry - we unloaded the buggy and got straight into it. :D
Now I can see what all the fuss is about. That thing is wicked! There were buggies of us out there - my mate's (LS1 with a small cam, 4L60) and another bloke with a turbo'd LS1...pretty nuts. We started off with the "whoops" - continuous bumps of probably 60cm in height...get the thing fast enough and it just glides over them, smooth as anything! Then we moved onto "backdoor" (seen here - http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HvMmPKzE7CM/0.jpg) which is one of the tougher rock trails in KoH apparently. We got up it reasonably easily - a combination of picking the exact right line, and sheer horsepower!
Next up was a dry lakebed (which borders a military zone - if you cross into it, the choppers arrive!) where we did some top speed runs. Couldn't get more than 115mph, but 115mph with no windscreen is pretty insane! Felt like the helmet was going to be ripped off my head! It was actually weird, because the lakebed was so wide and flat, the sensation of speed wasn't really there. No way would you pick that we were going almost 200km/h.
By that stage it was getting dark (and the bikes with us didn't have headlights), so we all headed back for a few beers. Then around 9pm...back into a serious rock crawling trail. Thought we were going to flip a few times, but nope. Just some insane angles and a lot of wheelspin. See photos below.
Then I had a drive - took it pretty easy, but wow, even the cold wind at 50km/h is enough to make water practically run from your eyes. Definitely need to wear helmets/goggles with these things. Bloody quick though, and with the engine right in front of you and exhaust right under you, incredibly loud too!
All up, an awesome weekend. My mate's actually moving to the US soon, so will be out there practicing pretty regularly. Looking forward to him getting a lot more podium finishes in the coming year. :D
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs904.snc4/71697_10150304471605501_780750500_15530717_8057239 _n.jpg
Not what you'd call a "compact" setup...
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs783.snc4/66328_10150304471675501_780750500_15530719_61757_n .jpg
On the way out to Johnson Valley
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs151.ash2/40896_10150304471845501_780750500_15530724_7196999 _n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs398.ash2/67665_10150304471905501_780750500_15530726_6055570 _n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs766.snc4/66673_10150304471945501_780750500_15530728_7101978 _n.jpg
"Backdoor"
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs897.snc4/73023_10150304472220501_780750500_15530737_7372799 _n.jpg
Lake bed we used for the top speed runs
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs457.ash2/73001_10150304472370501_780750500_15530741_1702277 _n.jpg
Typical track
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs409.ash2/68762_10150304472810501_780750500_15530755_4548292 _n.jpg
LOTS of fun
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs398.ash2/67627_10150304471400501_780750500_15530710_4177444 _n.jpg
Un-related, and the photo doesn't really show it, but it had an airbrushed lion on the front bonnet. Haha, world's most expensive boganmobile? :lol:
Cheers,
- Febs.
Some of you might remember VooDoo's post (http://trackchat.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=3715) about a year ago, with a video of a pretty insane rock-crawling / desert race called King of the Hammers. Basically one of the biggest races on the desert racing calendar next to the Baja 1000.
A mate of mine from Sydney owns a rock crawler in the US and competes in KOH and other races when he can (living in Sydney makes it a bit difficult, but he's managed 5 races this year). We're both over here for work and managed to squeeze in a weekend in the desert so I could see what it was all about. :)
It was a bit of an organisational effort - with his dualie, trailer and buggy all parked in different parts of California...so we started on Friday night, picked up the dualie, stayed at a hotel, got up at 8am Saturday morning...and still didn't hit the desert (Johnson Valley in the Mojave) until about 2:30pm Saturday arvo. Not to worry - we unloaded the buggy and got straight into it. :D
Now I can see what all the fuss is about. That thing is wicked! There were buggies of us out there - my mate's (LS1 with a small cam, 4L60) and another bloke with a turbo'd LS1...pretty nuts. We started off with the "whoops" - continuous bumps of probably 60cm in height...get the thing fast enough and it just glides over them, smooth as anything! Then we moved onto "backdoor" (seen here - http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HvMmPKzE7CM/0.jpg) which is one of the tougher rock trails in KoH apparently. We got up it reasonably easily - a combination of picking the exact right line, and sheer horsepower!
Next up was a dry lakebed (which borders a military zone - if you cross into it, the choppers arrive!) where we did some top speed runs. Couldn't get more than 115mph, but 115mph with no windscreen is pretty insane! Felt like the helmet was going to be ripped off my head! It was actually weird, because the lakebed was so wide and flat, the sensation of speed wasn't really there. No way would you pick that we were going almost 200km/h.
By that stage it was getting dark (and the bikes with us didn't have headlights), so we all headed back for a few beers. Then around 9pm...back into a serious rock crawling trail. Thought we were going to flip a few times, but nope. Just some insane angles and a lot of wheelspin. See photos below.
Then I had a drive - took it pretty easy, but wow, even the cold wind at 50km/h is enough to make water practically run from your eyes. Definitely need to wear helmets/goggles with these things. Bloody quick though, and with the engine right in front of you and exhaust right under you, incredibly loud too!
All up, an awesome weekend. My mate's actually moving to the US soon, so will be out there practicing pretty regularly. Looking forward to him getting a lot more podium finishes in the coming year. :D
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs904.snc4/71697_10150304471605501_780750500_15530717_8057239 _n.jpg
Not what you'd call a "compact" setup...
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs783.snc4/66328_10150304471675501_780750500_15530719_61757_n .jpg
On the way out to Johnson Valley
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs151.ash2/40896_10150304471845501_780750500_15530724_7196999 _n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs398.ash2/67665_10150304471905501_780750500_15530726_6055570 _n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs766.snc4/66673_10150304471945501_780750500_15530728_7101978 _n.jpg
"Backdoor"
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs897.snc4/73023_10150304472220501_780750500_15530737_7372799 _n.jpg
Lake bed we used for the top speed runs
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs457.ash2/73001_10150304472370501_780750500_15530741_1702277 _n.jpg
Typical track
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs409.ash2/68762_10150304472810501_780750500_15530755_4548292 _n.jpg
LOTS of fun
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs398.ash2/67627_10150304471400501_780750500_15530710_4177444 _n.jpg
Un-related, and the photo doesn't really show it, but it had an airbrushed lion on the front bonnet. Haha, world's most expensive boganmobile? :lol:
Cheers,
- Febs.