May 2000

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR

TRAIL REPORTER - Jan Langtry of the Napa Valley Jeepers

TRAIL ARTIST - Carolyn Bloom of the Mendocino 4x4's

Escarabajo Buggy Club Virginia City Rally

A group of Cal 4 wheel clubs attended the Escarabajo Buggy Club event in Virginia City, Nevada last Memorial Day weekend. Diablo 4 Wheelers, Napa Valley Jeepers and Mendocino 4 Wheelers and others formed a cadre of Cal 4 wheel members who enjoyed a weekend in historic Virginia City, Nevada.

We arrived in Virginia City on Friday about noon. There were many options for overnight accommodations in Carson City, Virginia City etc. We had chosen to stay right in Virginia City. Friendly proprietors at the Comstock Lodge greeted us and made room for the extra vehicles many of us sported (not all buggies are street legal and many are trailered). The check in location for the rally was in the Delta Saloon on Main Street (at the back of a small casino and bar), lots of atmosphere and memorabilia from the time when Virginia City was the site of the richest mines in the world.

The whole town was taken over by the rally participants with support from the local merchants. Local parking areas in town were turned into RV dry camping areas, the only RV campground was full of participants, the Senior Center became the dinner/breakfast headquarters and the City park was a great playground and barbecue area.

Four wheel drive friends met in the local restaurants and saloons to talk over rally preparations. Restaurants stayed open to accommodate the extra overnight crowd (Virginia City is a day tourist area visited by Reno and Tahoe tourists).

The morning of the rally dawned clear and cool. There was a drivers meeting to reinforce the rules (this was a rally not a race, timed in and out, don't take/create cutoffs, watch highway crossings, follow tread lightly and land use ethics, etc.). Our Rally Master, Lorry Noble, set the theme in a 200 Gallon hat, and chaps.

The run started in downtown Virginia City. Our three clubs gathered near the start finish line. With fourteen jeeps, Toyotas and pickups we formed the largest non buggy contingent. We decided to wait until all the buggy, rail, motorcycle and quad entrants had begun as they traveled more quickly over the same terrain. While we crept and crawled over anything, they charged fearlessly and lost traction in the dust or on steep terrain if forced to go our speed (very interesting difference in approach to the same obstacles).

Virginia City was the location of the Comstock Lode, the richest mining area of it's era. The high desert area is pock marked with mines clearly visible along the route of the rally. We traveled through dry creek beds, across barren hillsides past long shutdown mining operations. As we traveled up to the crest of the hills we had sweeping views back towards Virginia City and out over the Carson Valley.

There were several steep hill climbs and short steep drops into dry and wet creek beds.

The buggy club hosted a hotdog lunch at the second checkpoint giving them a manned point to help with breakdowns on the run. There were several vehicles needing assistance, both jeeps and buggies. The jeeps extra room for carrying tools and spare parts helped some them recover on the road and to help a few buggy owners in a pinch.

Everyone checked in at the finish line, got their poker hand(s), purchased t-shirts and started the guessing game of whom might be a winner. The 106 registered rigs were divided into five groups; sand rails and tube framed cars, Baja bugs and 2-wheel drive cars, jeeps and 4-wheel drive cars, quads, and motorcycles. To select the winners in each class they recorded starting and finishing times for each vehicle. They then calculated an elapsed time for each vehicle, the total elapsed time for all vehicles in a class divided by the number of entrants in the class determined the average time. The entrants in each class who finish nearest the average time were the winners (1st, 2nd & 3rd).

The Escarabajo Buggy Club hosted an excellent steak and chicken barbecue and awards dinner that evening. Good fun and great food prepared by the Buggy Club members. The dinner and the breakfast served the next morning matched some of the best restaurant meals we've ever experienced.

Next morning the group formed up for a Grand Parade through Virginia City. Led by the sheriff through town and back. The family parade of kids, dogs, on and off road vehicles celebrated OFF ROADERS!

While this was not a challenging run when compared to the Rubicon it was fun, varied, and scenic and a true family event. The unmanned checkpoints had old west scenes, collections for the poker hands, kids items and general overall fun. The Buggy Club hosts were friendly and did a great job. Next year will be their 25th annual Virginia City, NV Off Road Rally and we can sincerely recommend it as fun family event!

More of Carolyn Bloom's artwork can be seen at

http://www.carolynbloom-artist.com/index.html

The above artwork was truly amazing being it was done in a moving vehicle!!!