WINTER
ORBA.BIZ
other two had worked their way out along the road. Thank goodness the owner had brought some spare parts and was able to get the axle assembly back together. Once they had everything under control we decided to continue on in hopes of making the next checkpoint on time. As we pulled up to the Oark General Store many of the challenge participants were there, filling up their vehicles outside and their tummy inside. This store has been in operation since 1890, the oldest such place in Arkansas. Inside everyone was having breakfast and swapping stories of the challenges they had encountered thus far. Some were planning out the day’s route mile by mile. We finished breakfast and were back on our way. We still had a lot of miles to cover to get to the finish line by dark.
We made it to our last optional trail and then on to Shore’s Lake, the last required checkpoint before the finish line. We arrived at Shore’s Lake by 2pm and even though we had all our required checkpoints there was one more optional checkpoint that looked like we might be able to do without adding any additional mileage to our trip as it was in the general direction we needed to travel to get to the finish line. It also had a 2.5% mileage reduction with indicated it might be a little more challenging than the other trails we had encountered thus far on our second day. There was some question as to whether the closest trail that would take us to the challenge trail was even open though. The decision was made to at least go to the trail head and find out. As it turned out the trail we wanted to take was in fact gated and by the time we would get to the alternate route we were concerned that we would be late to the finish line and it would probably add more mileage than the 2.5% reduction provided by completing the trail. At this point we decided to play it safe and backtrack the 1.2 miles back to our original route and head for the finish line. As it was this 2.4 miles would come back to haunt us. We pulled up to the finish line about 3:30pm on Saturday afternoon. The finish line was on private property just west of Winslow, AR. Our official mileage was 153. We had also accumulated reduction points of 8%. We made our way down the trail to the camping area for the night. As more teams arrived the stories abounded! Everyone enjoyed the pork BBQ dinner provided and then it was off to the campfire as the temperature had dropped into the 40’s and the bonfire was the place to be. Tomorrow would bring a hearty breakfast followed by the awards ceremony then for those that wanted to stay there were several optional challenges including the teeter-totter, the winch challenge, the blind driver course, bridge building, and one last challenge trail. Daylight came early and everyone was up making their coffee and warming by the fire while breakfast was prepared. After a good breakfast it was time to find out if our route and resulting mileage and discount percentage would land us in the winner’s circle. As everyone gathered around the first place winners were announced, it would be OGE4x4 hailing from Venezuela by way of Miami Florida with a total mileage of 151.2 and an accumulated 11.75% reduction for an adjusted mileage of 135.3. The second place team was the Mudbloods with a total mileage of 148.57 and an accumulated 5.75% reduction for an adjusted mileage of 140.49. Our team, The Ozark Navigators took third place with a total mileage of 153 and an accumulated 8% reduction for an adjusted mileage of 141.6! Not bad for a field of 13 teams, and yes we all wished we had those 2.4 miles back! There was also a Camaraderie Award that went to the team that helped out other teams the most during the event. This award went to the Mud Crawlers. Here is the way everyone finished. All in all it was another great event and I want to thank Jayston Landon for creating this event, and the rest of the staff members that helped with this event including Violet Westrick, Rick and Nickie England, Tod Dudley, Tony Natali, Les and Lesia Griffin, Kole Wade, Joe Ison, Nathan and Jami Travis, Spencer Robinson, and Will Cody. My hope is that this event will continue to grow and would become one of the premier events of this type in the country. Until we ride again,
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