So where are you guys thinking of having the MAR this year?

Most of our crowd wasn't too impressed with Oak Ridge - it just didn't seem to have the flavor of the old MAR of years past - although I enjoyed the event. I tried to get more participation in the RTV from our group as that is always one of my favorite activities at MAR. We did miss our old camping spot at Pearls Pond.

I imagine that the cost of holding MAR at Oak Ridge was pretty high and that it might preclude any return. What alternatives are there?

Wherever it is I better be able to bring my Boler trailer.....

We have not signed any contracts yet, that is the first order of business at the moment. The Board has stated that if improvements can be made to the previous event at Oak Ridge that we would like to return. I will post up as things develop. I am looking forward to posting details of the Summer Rally as well, we are working on a new location for that.

I don't think I've ever sent my feedback to the board/MAR committee, so here it is (please note, this is MY feedback based on MY experience and I might be the only one with such experience! ). Sorry if this is not the right place to do this.
- Kids' area: my wife complained that there was nothing organized for the kids. The kids were 1.5 year old at the last MAR and there was not much going on for them. They did spend some time looking at the vendor (Rover north?) that had brought some toys. Anyway, my wife is willing to help out so kids activities happen this year, not sure who I should mention this to. Being able to come with my family is important to me, since they will likely not come to the trail rides, I'd like to make sure something is there for them to do between the naps.

- ability to bring support vehicles to be parked closer to the event. We were "lucky" this year my wife had injured her foot and she could not walk far so we got a special permit (thanks guys!). But (again) with two young kids you want your "stuff" (where they will nap, where they will have drinks, food, diapers, change of clothes, etc) to be close by and since we were not camping (or maybe that would not have changed anything) her LR3 would have been parked way out there in the field and having to run for a diaper, bottle, take the babies for a nap and whatnot would not have been convenient. Of course, we could have paid for another vehicle to get in, but since the LR3 was never going to do anything/go anywhere (not even the RTV course, nothing) but only parked next to the big tent, the entry fee seemed a bit steep.

- RTV Course: that was great, we should do more of those! It’s challenging, family and picture friendly, you go at (almost/wished) your own pace. It’s just pure fun.

- Trail rides: not enough diversity. If I remember correctly, there were three levels. I think I only did two trail rides (maybe three) and I know I ran the same trail twice. I understand that Oakridge has a large variety of trails and I'm sure we can run different trails all "event-long" versus repeating the same trail rides. I also realize that a few inches of rain would have render those trails much more "interesting", but still, running the same trails over and over does not seem right. Not sure if that was me or not, but I felt like we waited too long in the staging area (the guides mentioned that during Camp Jeep, they did not wait that long, you were either on time or out). Maybe less waiting and more wheeling options? I wanted to attend a few non-wheeling events like hearing from Bill Burke and ended up “loosing” pretty much ¾ of the day because I could not attend the first run and the second, only the last one (my memory might not serve me well).

- Trail guides: they were very courteous, never bad mouthed the Land Rovers, they never said that Jeeps were better (might have thought it at times! ). Great personal experience there, tidewater did a great job if you ask me. Of course I would have preferred them to drive Land Rovers, but just having 4 wheelers with us does not matter and bring another perspective, plus we can try to convince them that they should buy rovers (BTW, I wheel with a club with 2% are Rover owners, so I’ve learnt to be part of the exceptions! ).

- After trail runs: The raffle took too long to complete. Raffle and auction brings two different crowd expectation and those expectations don’t mix well together. There has to be a better way many do the raffle then the auction? sorry… not very constructive since I don’t provide much better options. I remember being very very hungry during that combined event and having two wild children that just wanted to go to bed but wanted to see if I’d get lucky and win something and did not have an auction budget (or anything I could make use of actually)
I did not attend the dinner so I can’t comment but I heard it was quite nice.

I have only attended 3 MAR events so far. One with a stock D90, one with a stock D90 and no way I was going to go anywhere with the rain we were getting and this last one. So far, I always hoteled it since this is a condition for by CFO to come along, so I can’t comment on the camping side of things.

In short: my family and I had a good time and are looking forward to MAR 2009 with the hope that a few things improve but anyway, we will be there to meet other Rover owners and share a good moment!

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. MAR is item #1 on our agenda. I have had a lot of comments both positive and negative, and they all help us to put on a better event. Last year had a steep learning curve- new location, different format, etc. We took a lot of notes all weekend. As soon as we have a final on a site we will announce the location. At that point the next step will be to deal with many of the issues you brought up as well as the comments of others. It can be tough to meet the needs of every segment of the club in one event, so I planned the Spring Rally with the intention of giving the more built vehicles a chance to play to the limits of their vehicle while providing others a chance to challenge their driving skills.

Keep the comments coming...

I talked a bit with Jack at Uwharrie and the subject of why we are not having the MAR at Pearl's Pond was brought up. ROAV has been blessed to have access to that property for many years, and we are very thankful to the Adamsons for their willingness to host us. The reality is that the event had outgrown the property in terms of participants and the property was taking a beating. We were invited last year to hold the summer rally there, and if at some point the owners would like to host us for a similar event we would be excited. At the moment we have nothing planned there.

Chuck, any update on location for MAR? Is the Nuts & Bolts rally going to happen this year?

Thanks

nothing confirmed for either yet.

has any one talked to the people at the 'Cove', in Gore, Va? I know Big Dogs has 4 or 5 events out there a year. Great place to wheel and camp. Hot showers and real toilets. I go camping there all the time. Beautiful place. Might be worth looking into. Hope this helps.

We have, and many of the folks here have attended events there. It offeres some really challenging trails along with the lake.

i'm going to be attending Big Dogs Spring Fling, June 5-7. would be nice to have a couple Rovers out there w/ me since it's mostly jeeps at Big Dogs.

I've attended quite a few big dogs events over the past 10 years. Not sure if I can make the spring fling.

We did take a group of club reps up there for a day to see the place last year. Wouldn't hurt my feelings to see the event held there.

The spring fling looks like fun. How modified of a truck do I need to run on these trails? I have a modified LWB and a fairly modified D-90. I was thinking about bringing both.

Going on to the Big Dogs website it looks like the runs are guided. Guided runs can be fun or they can be extremely slow. Any idea how it goes with this group?

There are trails from green (easy - stock configuration works) to difficult (black - body damage mostly likely).
The disco on that page www.offcambercrawlers....lendar.htm is 100% stock with worn out street tires and made it a green trail (ok... strapped! ;-)) after heavy rain. Trail was off camber and very slippery.

Speed of running the trails? As fast as the slowest vehicule in your group. Typically large groups (> 8 vehicules) will be slow since it is tempting to stop, walk and watch the other guys go through the obstable(s), then walk back to you vehicle.

What do you guys think about starting to attend all of the Big Dogs events as a group. I plan on attending all of these. Doesn't effect any of ROAV's events.

-Big Dogs Spring Fling Winchester VA June 5,6,7 2009
-Big Dogs Summer Slam Winchester VA August 22,23 2009
-Big Dogs Main Jambo Winchester VA September 18,19,20 2009

I am trying to work it out to go to attend the Spring Fling.