Posted: 7/30/13
RECON G6 Challenge - The Search for South Bay Bessie
Presented by Average Joe's RC
Vineland, Ontario, Canada - July 13, 2013
Story by Matthew Soileau / Photos by Anthony Rivas
The RECON G6 Challenge had their first excursion outside of the USA to Vineland, Canada. Vineland is located in Ontario and is one of the provinces of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounting for nearly 40% of all Canadians. Vineland is only a scant 2,500 miles from RECON G6 Headquarters in Reno, Nevada. I decided to tag along with Brian Parker to see some Canadian's become RECON G6 advocates first hand.
Parker picked me up in an empty truck and we quickly went back to RECON G6 Headquarters to load it up.
The bed of the Red Rocket filled up quickly with luggage, trail markers and swag. Once loaded, we were off to pick up the third member of the RECON G-Crew.
As we rolled through Wyoming on our way to pick up the other member of the RECON G-Crew, a tractor trailer threw a retread strip at us. It hit the windshield and flew off. Startled but unbowed, we pushed on.
As we pulled into pick up Anthony of Rivas Concepts, we noticed him looking at the Red Rocket funny. Seems the retread caused a little damage to the Red Rocket.
No worries, though. Parker busted out the 10,000 mph tape and fixed her up.
Thanks to PIAA and Rigid Industries, the Red Rocket had more than enough lumens remaining to light the road ahead.
We pushed on through the night until finding some comfortable accommodations. That's right, The RECON G-Crew slept under the stars right here. Yes, right here! This is not a mistaken photo... that is the ground in the middle of nowhere! Parker is all about 1st class accommodations! He provided me the use of a very nice mil-sec sleeping system aka: three season military sleeping bag complete with cordura bivy cover in camo!
Refreshed after a quick three hours of sleep, the RECON G-Crew was off again.
We drove through the day and night. Somewhere around Iowa, we spotted a familiar building.
It was Antique Archeology, home of the TV show American Pickers. We stopped to check it out and to check Parker's 10,000mph tape job.
We pushed on into the night until we hit Lake Michigan. We got a quick three more hours of sleep before waking up on the beach, well, close to the beach.
We grabbed our rigs and explored the Lake Michigan sand and surroundings.
The beach was marked as RECON G6-Ready.
Parker made me jump in because, well, you never know when you'll get another chance to swim in Lake Michigan.
By early evening we reached the Canadian boarder.
We stopped for gas in Canada, and I spotted this moth. They don't grow them like this in Nevada. Does it look like an alien spaceship to you?
Around two in the morning, the RECON G-Train finally reached it's destination. We were at the home of Joe Ferguson of Average Joe's RC shop. You may know him from his YouTube reviews. We caught him making his newest video.
The next morning, Average Joe took us on a mountain bike ride of the local trails. It was good to stretch the legs after three days in the Red Rocket. The trails were muddy and rooted. I wondered what the G6ers would think of the mud.
Finally, Saturday arrived and we were set for the first ever Canadian RECON G6. Parker finalized the setup of the RECON G6 signature course. Parker was in setup isolation as registration is usually on site of the event and he gets a sense of how many people are showing up. As the registration was at Average Joe's RC shop, Parker sent me to handle all that and I too was a little apprehensive of what the turnout would be. My fears of nobody showing were alleviated as we pulled into the parking lot. It was already full. But, I was still a little worried about the mud situation... hey, I live in Nevada!
After a quick registration, we all headed out to RECON G-Central complete with Axial tent, sponsor flags, banners and the Canadian flag on top.
Parker did his usual drivers meeting to explain rules and challenges of the course.
As Parker talked, I looked around at the machinery these guys would be piloting today.
Pink car? I know what that means, the first female Canadian G6er must be here.
Yup, there she is.
This sweet Rover caught my eye.
Southern Ontario RC Crawlers was there in full force.
A quick group shot of the first ever Canadian RECON G6'ers before they were off.
Boom! The first wave of Canadian RECON G6'ers are off!
What the heck are they looking at? Oh yeah, a culvert. Parker loves to make you drive in the dark.
Remember that mud? Remember how I was worried? Here is the line at the first bog.
I was a little concerned about how the participants would take it.
Are those toes I see? Yup. I didn't have to worry. The Canadians took to the mud like pigs to mud, except they weren't pigs, just hard-core enthusiast!
They loved the mud. They covered themselves in it.
We dubbed this mud the Niagara Nasty. Look and see why.
The Niagara Nasty created tough vacuums that sucked kits in a didn't let go. The Canadians embody the true spirit of the RECON G6! They helped each other through it. Lots of tow straps were used here.
Once the Niagara Nasty was cleared, the trail got a little smoother or is that rougher... the mud is smooth and rocks are rough... you know what I mean!
Look how green everything is. Looks a lot different than Nevada's RECON G6 events.
I see the first Canadian kid G6'er and he was smart to wear his mud boots.
It was a little hike to the top of the hill.
What is this guy laughing "aboot"? He just accidentally drove his kit off a 200 foot cliff!
Luckily, the first Portuguese Canadian RECON G6'er hopped down to retrieve it for him.
Let's go up some more.
That guy in the white hat looks familiar, I'm sure I'll remember his name later.
I always figured Rodney was a Toyota man, but I noticed his namesake on this Chevy shirt. Maybe he has some long lost family up here?
Time for some log crossings.
There was a huge gap in these logs. Average Joe was kind enough to let others go KOH-style over him. A-THANKS JOE!
Remember this kid? Notice he changed his shoes? That's right, his first RECON G6 and he came prepared with boots for the mud and shoes for the trail. he must have been reading up on Parker antics at previous RECON G6 events...
Time to make the decent now.
Who is this guy watching the action? If you are ever at a RECON G6 and see something that looks out of the ordinary, pick it up and make a note on your scorecard. You will probably get a reward for it.
Looks like someone found him because he's now gone.
Sketchy Trail? Sounds like fun.
What? Still no shoes? This guy walked the whole trail barefoot! That's a serious mud lover.
After Stage 1, there was a little Canadian cookout. They hooked theRECON G-Crew up with some great BBQ! THANKS GUYS!!!
You best believe there was Canadian bacon there.
And Maria, the first female Canadian G6er cooked up some proper corn.
During the BBQ, some interesting kits showed up.
This thing was HUGE! Canada seems to like their monster trucks!
I finally remember who this is... it's Ice T! Coco's husband and famous rapper and TV actor! Dang! I left my CD's home - I could have gotten them autographed!
After dinner we relocated and made ready RECON G-Central for the NIGHT portion of the event!
Here's Parker discovering a Canadian secret, Tim Horton's coffee. Starbucks takes a backseat to this stuff.
The Canadians admired our kits we brought along with us and they have a fondness for Parkers woodland camo'ed Axial EXO.
Here they ignore Parkers Little Lexus to inspect a real man's kit. Yea, you know it! they are checking out my rig!
Once it got dark, the lights and lipos were lit.
The first Canadian Night Stage!
After rolling over some mounds of dirt, the trail led down a green tunnel to the beach of Lake Ontario.
Once on the beach, there was sand and more logs to contend with.
Fight through it Maria. Remember, finishing a RECON G6 is winning a RECON G6.
Watch out for the tide rolling in.
Drivers had to time this section to make sure their carburetors didn't get flooded or worst didn't float away.
The turn around spot at the beach and its back to RECON G-Central to finish your first Canadian RECON G6!
The first Canadian RECON G6 is now in the record books thanks again to Average Joe's RC shop with huge success, tons of fun with lots of laughs and many memories made. I know it was a hit, because the Canucks immediately started their trip planning to AXIALFEST2014! I think we may have started the Canadian Invasion! Think of is as more of the extended brotherhood of the RECON G6 and AXIALFEST as the annual family reunion.
Thanks to all those that showed up and had a good time. Special shout our to Steve for chauffeuring me around and to Average Joe and his wife for the hospitality. We'll see you next year. Bet on it!
