An elite squad of heavily-laden ruckers converged at Ruckhenge for the first leg of our OTB adventure. Before we could even leave the lot, an FNG-to-be chased us down to get the download on F3 and assured us he’ll be joining us soon. En route to the railroad track a second FNG-to-be stopped the march to also get our info. Seems daytime rucks might just be a great recruiting tool! We traveled a total of about 2.2 miles, and YHC felt very much like a sorry pack mule carrying a cooler of beverages in addition to the usual 50 pound ruck. But we arrived exactly on time at Machismo’s 12 acre paradise, and promptly dropped rucks and crushed a beer.
For the second part of our adventure, Machismo marched the PAX back into the woods and toward the railroad track where a number of old, mostly rotten, railroad ties were piled up. Dookie briefly danced with a copperhead, but no harm to either dangerous creature transpired. So two mostly whole railroad ties were shouldered, 3 men to a caber, and carried back to the ranch. We deposited the cabers next to Machismo’s log splitting arena, and took turns competing with splitting speed and maul VS axe. The clock face splitting for speed was particularly fun, and Machismo leaving the ground to split a gnarly bit was epic (see picture) – no wood can resist the power of The Flying Chad. We concluded our pre-dinner activities by being entertained with DTH and Machismo’s efforts to walk a giant wooden spool (see picture).
For our third quarter of this epic event, the PAX pulled up camp chairs, cracked beers, told stories, and watched the meat wizard (Machsimo) go to work. With a smaller number of PAX than expected, these lucky few HIM’s engorged themselves with triple portions of tomahawk lamb steaks, sandwiches of Brazilian-style steak & chimichurri on toasted baguette, and a couple massive steaks provided by Dookie. After devouring some of the meat Purple Rain asked if Machismo would have him for his wife, but he was quickly declined. The PAX got to meet the lucky M toward the end of our dinner and she agreed Machismo’s meat is the best.
For our final leg of the OTB adventure, Machismo (and his sweet dog) led a very jolly and stuffed band of ruckers back through the darkening woods to Rockaway, and then even remained with the PAX for the full return journey back to Ruckhenge. YHC was under quite a bit of weight, and found the return trip, all up hill, to be quite daunting. At the time of this writing, YHC is completely stiff and sore all over. But the PAX was very encouraging and all HIM’s completed the 2.5 miles trek back to Einstein safely.
If you’ve read this far, thank you. Even with many weeks to plan/prepare, not many PAX prioritized participating in this epic event, and it’s likely even fewer will choose to read about what we’ve accomplished out there. As with all things in life – you’ll get out what you put in. Be there next time fellas! Yours AYE, DTH
