1st Annual New to Offroad Driving plus Eat-n-Greet Event

awesome news about the sponsorship. My vote has been cast and the wife and I are in! Looking forward to meeting people.

Already cleared the date and it will be me and the wife! We plan to make it to dinner as well! Can't wait, it's gonna be great time!

Southeast Overland will also delivery anything we have in stock for free to the event. (aka: free shipping)  Give us a call at 864-280-4238 or email Sales@SoutheastOverland.com and we might even be able to do some event specials.

Been a while for me to URE....plus I'm always up for a meet and greet, then you through in food...Im there.

Thanks Mike, let me know if I can help in any way.

I'm not sure if this has been covered yet or not, BUT it might be helpful to have a rough timeline for the day besides the meet up time at the outpost. i.e. trails from __am-__pm, dinner at ___pm. If that makes sense. It will make planning easier for those of us coming from 2+hrs away.

CarolinaCruiser15 wrote:

I'm not sure if this has been covered yet or not, BUT it might be helpful to have a rough timeline for the day besides the meet up time at the outpost. i.e. trails from __am-__pm, dinner at ___pm. If that makes sense. It will make planning easier for those of us coming from 2+hrs away.

 I'm working on that with Mike now. :-)

Steve, David B., a few others and I are working as hard as we can to get things in an orderly manner.  What we dont want is dead time between "classes" so to speak.  Steve is working on a "curriculum" for his classes. We also have the opportunity to get a lecture so to speak on the "TREAD LIGHTLY" program from an actual representative of TREAD LIGHTLY.  That is going to be a very informative session.  Depending on what the other event sponsor has and wants to do there will be time for that also.  We also are working on tje actual venue itself and hopefully the folks at URE will lend a hand in that area.  We seriously have big plans and hopefully half come to fruition.

I know this is a "New to Off-roading" meeting, but I would like to ask about how much emphasis there is on the "new" part. I will be offroading for the first time in my UZJ100, but my daughter will be offroading for the FIRST time, ever, outside of my own property. She will be a brand new Driver License holder on September 16th, so it will be one of her first legal driving experiences as well. My hopes are that she can learn the limits and proper control her vehicle, and that it may make her an even better driver on the road.
We have two vehicles and 3 drivers, so anything she may be uncomfortable with can be assisted by one of us. I just want to make sure you guys feel it is appropriate to allow her to drive the trails
before I get her hopes up.

MR2 Guru wrote:

I know this is a "New to Off-roading" meeting, but I would like to ask about how much emphasis there is on the "new" part. I will be offroading for the first time in my UZJ100, but my daughter will be offroading for the FIRST time, ever, outside of my own property. She will be a brand new Driver License holder on September 16th, so it will be one of her first legal driving experiences as well. My hopes are that she can learn the limits and proper control her vehicle, and that it may make her an even better driver on the road.
We have two vehicles and 3 drivers, so anything she may be uncomfortable with can be assisted by one of us. I just want to make sure you guys feel it is appropriate to allow her to drive the trails
before I get her hopes up.

 Since I will probably be doing much of the teaching I'll give my 2 cents.

This event will not make someone who has never driven off road, or someone who has barely driven off road, and off road expert or even an intermediate driver. That is not possible - but - there will be a couple hours of familiarizing you with your vehicle, showing you how to prepare yourself and your vehicle for going off road, and covering some basics of off road driving. Due to the size of the group I won't be able to do "ride alongs" with everyone but I will work with everyone the best we can with time and space constraints. I've taught people how to safely off road over the course of multiple days and seen TONS of progress in their capabilities but this will only be a couple hours of instruction followed by a trail ride as it is currently planned.

As far as one's comfort level that is up to each person driving to decide when they are no longer comfortable and then to speak up. We will not push anyone to do anything they are not comfortable with. With that being said I am not comfortable taking someone off road in a group setting who is a brand new license holder. Now a one-on-one setting is very different. I have seen vehicles roll over off road with brand new drivers. These young drivers simply don't have enough experience behind the wheel to control a several ton vehicle. I'm more worried in driver safety and others safety than anything else and a brand new driver off-road is not a good idea in my play book. I suggest your daughter get significant on-road experience before she try driving off road. I'm not trying to be harsh but I want to be realistic and safe.

MR2Guru.  One of the main goals of this event if not THE main goal is SAFETY.  As much as I personally would like to see your daughter conquer off road driving I must agree with Steve on this issue.  Now bear in mind if you would that is not to say that Steve wont have some extra time to possibly spend with her on a one to one basis.  This however is going to depend on the time that we have.  Confidence is the key and that goes both ways. Driver confidence and teacher confidence.  I personally would not get her hopes up but I would also keep it in the back of your mind that we MAY be able to something for her.  I certainly hope this does not  discourage you and your family into not attending. Everyone will learn something at this event.

Wanna say thanks for you guys putting in all the leg work on this one.... it looks like it is really turning into a nice event. Im planning on coming for sure. Just wondering Steve will you be doing anything concerning winch/ and or recovery? To me this seems to be when most offroaders can never be too safe. We've all seen our fair share of "sketchy" recoveries!!

JiveTurkey0514 wrote:

Wanna say thanks for you guys putting in all the leg work on this one.... it looks like it is really turning into a nice event. Im planning on coming for sure. Just wondering Steve will you be doing anything concerning winch/ and or recovery? To me this seems to be when most offroaders can never be too safe. We've all seen our fair share of "sketchy" recoveries!!

 We will be dedicating a portion of the instruction time to how to perform safe recoveries. I also have seen way too many dangerous recoveries that have caused injury and damage to vehicles.

Im off that day I hope to be able to join, could always learn something new. Just got to see if the boss lady wants to join as well

bring every one you know!! LOL...hope the wife can join you.  I know Angie is looking forward to this.  She especially likes it when wives/girlfriends/significant others are there!~!

I'm planning to attend the ride and dinner (depending how far dinner is from CLT), and I'm going to drag the hubby along 

bigdogdewey2 wrote:

bring every one you know!! LOL...hope the wife can join you.  I know Angie is looking forward to this.  She especially likes it when wives/girlfriends/significant others are there!~!

 Ill never forget the first year OBX trip on the beach in Corolla when the ladies took the FJs while we were all standing around. Next thing we know, theyre hauling Buh-tox down the beach laughing out the windows at us. lol

(Side note: just found out that the Forum autocorrects "a**" to "Buh-tox". LOL.... funny

yes i remember that Rolando...that was a great time!

Looks like this is going to be a GREAT event and turnout! Can't wait to meet new members!

Guess what folks!!! Anyone wanna guess who will be the corporate sponsor for the 1st Annual new to off roading and Eat-n-Greet??

Hows this, why dont I just tell you!!

MIDSTATE TOYOTA in Asheboro, NC.  

I will have more good news tomorrow night about an opportunity for everyone attending this event to rub elbows with some pretty big names in Off Road driving.

YEAH, BUDDY!  Dewey doin' work!

bigdogdewey2 wrote:

Guess what folks!!! Anyone wanna guess who will be the corporate sponsor for the 1st Annual new to off roading and Eat-n-Greet??

Hows this, why dont I just tell you!!

MIDSTATE TOYOTA in Asheboro, NC.  

I will have more good news tomorrow night about an opportunity for everyone attending this event to rub elbows with some pretty big names in Off Road driving.

 Bring it Mike!!!!

WOW 23 vehicles already!! wow this is gonna be awesome!! i seriously cannot wait.  im actually kinda giddy right now...LOL...

24...BOOM!

Another question..... Is the class mostly specific to the FJC, or will it be just as useful to others (Land Cruisers)? I assume a lot will be general knowledge, but I also know most attendees will have FJCs since that is where this meet and greet is based.... I just wonder if the majority will be vehicle-specific. Thanks!