Posted: 4/20/10
OC/RC Raceway is known locally as one of the go to places for indoor off road racing. Recently they turned some extra space they had into a virtual crawler playground. The terrain ranges from ultra traction surfaces like cement chunks and volcanic rock to more challenging surfaces and obstacles. The ‘random height cylindrical wood pile’ was quite the challenge allowing you to easily get hung up on a diff or high center.
This is the start of the course. There are a few ways to do it but if you have a stock SCX-10 Trail Honcho I would avoid the ‘random height cylindrical wood pile’.
Once you get past the first section you arrive at the base of the volcano. With its very porous surface grip was not an issue. The SCX-10 Trail Honcho could easily negotiate it. The Honcho was able to get up to the volcano by starting at the cement blocks. I even witnessed a Honcho go from the cement blocks at the bottom to the top of the volcano in about 10 seconds. Line placement was crucial along with staying in the throttle plus a dash of luck but it was impressive to watch.
Next up is the teeter-totter under the OC-RC Mining building. When you come off the volcano you’re at a very steep downward angle. After a little repositioning you can line up on the railroad tracked teeter-totter going up and over. Then you arrive at the ‘Indiana Jones’ style wood planked bridge that runs right above the water. Mistakes on the bridge could be costly! The track owner told me that some guys would cross over the water and then drop off the bridge to the rocks around the water. They would do this by making about a 20 point turn to position themselves perfectly and then use the bridge’s support rope to help hold a rear tire while the front tires made it to the rocks. Needless to say but that’s one route I chose not to take……yet.
Here’s a close up of the teeter-totter. Notice there is an L-shaped piece of aluminum butted up against the left rail. For 1.9 sized tires, like those on the Honcho, you must put your left side into this channel while your right side rode on top the rail. If you want to see if your rigs heavier than your buddies this is the place to do it!
Once across the bridge you come to an island. From here you can go down the wood rails on the left side or traverse the R/C version of tightrope walking. It connects the island to the rock pile table but is hardly visible in the picture. Once past the rock pile there was another set of tightropes taking you back down to ground level finishing off the course.
The SCX-10 Trail Honcho was a little on the narrow side but still able to make it across. If you have a mini crawler the center rope and the rope on the left would be used as they were closer together. Or you could do what I did and slide your Honcho down the narrower side riding on the axles which was fun to do.
Group Shot! In the back is a 2.2 Competition Crawler. On the bottom left is a mostly stock AX-10 Scorpion and the red SCX-10 Trail Honcho is totally stock.
This little guy got totally hooked on the SCX-10 Trail Honcho. At 4 years old in a matter of minutes he was grasping the concept of crawling pretty well. The stock Honcho took quite a beating, repeatedly rolling down the rock pile, but kept coming back for more!
Another group shot with a few stock SCX-10 Trail Honcho’s and a 2.2 Comp. Crawler. The volcano was about to erupt so we high tailed it out of there to the tetter-totter. The fog machine added a really cool element to the volcano.
He better be careful or the contents in his cooler might spill!
SCX-10 Trail Honcho about to negotiate the waterfall.
All in all it was a great trip and a blast to play on. I’ve done my fair share of racing at OC/RC, which is fun, but the crawling ‘playground’ kept a grin on my face from ear to ear providing hours of entertainment. Aside from having to tighten a few set-screws here and there nothing broke. I had a chance to chat with Robert, the track owner, and he informed me that he may have bigger plans for the course. It’s only going to expand and get crazier from here to which I say bring it on!
