Commencement of the event came after a thank you to our troops over seas and those who have served followed by our National Anthem.  After competing in 95 degree weather all season, moderate temperatures were welcomed by the competitors and spectators both Saturday and Sunday.  Everywhere you looked there were spectators of all ages, some as young as 11 days old.

Once again Lil' Rich put our vehicles through hoops.  The courses were technical with single and double vertical climbs of 10' to 30', as well as, ravines and 45º side hills.  There were four courses per day with a shoot out at the close of event on Sunday.

On Saturday, we started our day off a little ruff.  On A4 we found ourselves upside down in a moderate ravine...not where we wanted to be.  We put our vehicle back on her wheels and moved onto the next two courses of the day.  Our last course, A2, was very technical with a number of climbs and tight turns.  After clearing our third set of gates, we had a double climb, pushed against a huge rock on the drivers side with a ravine below.  We found our drivers, front tire stuffed into the ravine and the passenger side climbing a ridge.  The tire finally freed itself, but not before sustaining some damage to the axle housing.  The exit to A2 was a 15' vertical descent and a tight driver's turn to the exit.  Ron was concerned that he would sustain more damage to the front housing, but Melanie was determined to complete the course.  Ron, against his better judgment, listened to Melanie and completed the course with no additional damage.  We repaired the damage Saturday night and prepped for Sunday.

Sunday was off to a great start!  We cleared B3 with little difficulty and moved onto B4, where once again the terrain would claim our buggy.  B4 had a spectacular bonus line.  A vertical 30' climb.  The intended route was a deep ravine that had to be straddled.  The drivers wheel had to follow a ridge and the passenger side had to skate horizontally along the 30' optional climb.  The strategy was to crawl the intended route.  We cleared the first set of gates and lined up for the crawl.  Melanie was at the top of the ravine explaining to Ron where he needed to navigate to negotiate the course with as little points as possible.  All of the sudden the engine roared, the crowd was on it's feet and Ron shot up the course.  He managed to climb 6' up the ravine before sending himself to the bottom.  The front of the car stood 8' off the ground and rolled with so much force onto it's top that it bounced twice upon impact before settling.  Ron worked the wheel attempting to upright the buggy.  The crowd was out of control, cheering and yelling for us.  There was nothing for the wheels to hook up on and we ran out of time.  Ron exited the buggy and the crowd showed love for his efforts.  We completed the weekend with success.