5StarCustmSolutns
Full Access Member
A few weeks back, on June 27, while looking for "best size turbo for a 5.3" videos, I stumbled across this Drifting Appalachia video: 23min
It chronicles a drift race team on their journey from New England down to SE West Virginia for some of the best closed public road drifting you're ever gonna see! My first thought was "oh wow.....it's about flippin time the rest of the world get a glimpse of one of my absolute favorite things about living here!". That "thing" referenced is the plethora of black and gray ribbons of asphalt and concrete that twist and turn their way all over the state, and the region for that matter. Miles and miles and miles of them, laying in wait, ready to stand the hair on the back of your neck..... and arms..... and legs if you have the right vehicle 
[Seriously: There are countless stretches of road that, topographically, offer everything the Nordschleife has and then some.....the thing they lack, of course, is the ability to legally run them on the ragged edge.....or is it maybe better said: the thing they LACKED??]
At the end of the Drifting Appalachia video (and i'm paying extra attn bc I want to know who made this happen 1 hour from my house?) the dude gives some shout outs, one of which was to @BackroadsofAppalachia: https://backroadsofappalachia.org/
Over the next couple days I learned that BofApp is a non-profit .org created under the Appalachian Regional Commission(ARC), with the goal of bringing people (money) to the Appalachian region, and benefiting local charity organizations, by way of Adventure Motorsports. Which couldn't be more perfectly grooved in my wheelhouse (punn intended).
Aside from a year in Louisiana and a year in Texas, I grew up in WV, and I've heard all the stories and seen all the aftermath of how, over the last 100yrs or so, this region has been ***** and pillaged by the gov and the robber baron's, then abandoned and left to deal with the socially and physically toxic aftermath. No place has been hit harder than West Virginia with all 55 counties falling within the borders of what the ARC has deemed "Appalachia". WV is only state with ALL of its' land inside the ARC's borders. The amount of salt, timber, coal, and natural gas freight trained out of here during the 19th & 20th centuries is STAGGERING! It made a very very few, very very wealthy, and it helped power, fuel and build the country and world we live in today. WV may have seen the worst of it, however we weren't the only victims of these parasites. The ARC includes counties in North Georgia, much of Northern Bama, NE Mississip, East Tenn, the Western portions of both Carolinas, Western VA, Eastern KY, Western MD, Eastern OH, a large part of PA, and from the mountains over to the Finger Lakes in NY state.
Because, I've spent my entire life participating in, involved with, following, and/or daydreaming about Motorsport. From the decade of Kart Racing I competed in as a youngster, to the thousands of miles I've logged on a dirt bike, to the near triple digit number of F1, Indycar, Sportscar, NHRA, Off-Road and even a few Nascar races I've attended as a fan, to the uncountable number of times I've straightened out a curve; when I finally figured out that the dude at the end of the Dirfting Appalachia video was saying BackRoads of Appalachia.......I couldn't type into the search bar fast enough!
The first result from that search bar was a video from the inaugural 24 Hours of Appalachia- Run for the Hills which took place earlier this year on Feb 4th
** Upon seeing this, I was literally sitting on the edge of my chair, in front of my laptop, mouth open, and in the early stages of shock over learning that a 24hr Off-Road Endurance Challenge, a full on Amateur Rally, had taken place in MY BACK YARD w/o me even having a clue about it ** The 24 Hours of App is a Rally event organized by BofApp that takes place on a designated course. The goal is to complete said course in under 24hrs. The course, with exception of towns and intersections is solely compiled of rural county roads, gravel roads, back roads, 4x4 trails, logging roads, mountain goat paths, creek bottoms, and private land; as any good rally should be.... The first was 599.6 miles from Seneca Rocks to Pt Pleasant, WV
about- 3min teaser- 3min
After 2 days of reading, listening to podcasts, and watching everything I could find about BofApp and the 24 Hours of Appalachia Rally events.....annnd talking it over with my better half.....I sent the Director of Operations an email asking "How can we help?".
On June, 1st I received a reply from one of the other organizers of the event (the Dir of Oper I emailed had a run-in with a deer on his CRF 450RL while cruising home from an evening of trail scouting a couple months earlier and was recovering in a VA hospital). The email stated, in a nutshell, that it was great to learn of our willingness to help out, and they would love to have us on board, but they needed to make sure that we were up to the task. Not only mentally capable, with enough experience on trail to actually help out, but did I have a vehicle capable of helping out? The last thing they need is to deploy a rescue rig to go get an overly eager, in over their head, volunteer!
My reply email listed all the mods I've made to my GMT900 platform Chevy Avalanche and explained how I'd spent the majority of my life navigating rough terrain on/in just about everything you can name that has a motor and 2, 3 or 4 wheels; and how I've dealt with getting stuck-unstuck-stuck-and unstuck again......and how here, in these hills and on these mountains off-road driving is all about: 1. tires- the heavier you are, the better tires you need 2. taking correct angles 3. using the correct amount of momentum. A few hours later I received a reply welcoming Amanda and I to the team!
The first event back in Feb had 70 full size rigs, 5 SidexSide's and 3 media vehicles.
The second event, which took place last weekend, was a 455.6mi course broken up into 5 stages that started and ended in Hinton, WV. It was titled 24 Hours of Appalachia- Miners and Loggers Delight. This one featured 50 Bikes, 50 SxS's, and 100 Full-size vehicles. The application period was open from 2/15-3/30. They received 150 applications in the first 5 days...
Here is a little of what I experienced:
Drivers Meeting:
The Starting Line:
Some of the field:
A few of the SxS's:
A few of the Full-sized field-
continued on next post....only link 5 pics
[Seriously: There are countless stretches of road that, topographically, offer everything the Nordschleife has and then some.....the thing they lack, of course, is the ability to legally run them on the ragged edge.....or is it maybe better said: the thing they LACKED??]At the end of the Drifting Appalachia video (and i'm paying extra attn bc I want to know who made this happen 1 hour from my house?) the dude gives some shout outs, one of which was to @BackroadsofAppalachia: https://backroadsofappalachia.org/
Over the next couple days I learned that BofApp is a non-profit .org created under the Appalachian Regional Commission(ARC), with the goal of bringing people (money) to the Appalachian region, and benefiting local charity organizations, by way of Adventure Motorsports. Which couldn't be more perfectly grooved in my wheelhouse
(punn intended). Aside from a year in Louisiana and a year in Texas, I grew up in WV, and I've heard all the stories and seen all the aftermath of how, over the last 100yrs or so, this region has been ***** and pillaged by the gov and the robber baron's, then abandoned and left to deal with the socially and physically toxic aftermath. No place has been hit harder than West Virginia with all 55 counties falling within the borders of what the ARC has deemed "Appalachia". WV is only state with ALL of its' land inside the ARC's borders. The amount of salt, timber, coal, and natural gas freight trained out of here during the 19th & 20th centuries is STAGGERING! It made a very very few, very very wealthy, and it helped power, fuel and build the country and world we live in today. WV may have seen the worst of it, however we weren't the only victims of these parasites. The ARC includes counties in North Georgia, much of Northern Bama, NE Mississip, East Tenn, the Western portions of both Carolinas, Western VA, Eastern KY, Western MD, Eastern OH, a large part of PA, and from the mountains over to the Finger Lakes in NY state.
Because, I've spent my entire life participating in, involved with, following, and/or daydreaming about Motorsport. From the decade of Kart Racing I competed in as a youngster, to the thousands of miles I've logged on a dirt bike, to the near triple digit number of F1, Indycar, Sportscar, NHRA, Off-Road and even a few Nascar races I've attended as a fan, to the uncountable number of times I've straightened out a curve; when I finally figured out that the dude at the end of the Dirfting Appalachia video was saying BackRoads of Appalachia.......I couldn't type into the search bar fast enough!
The first result from that search bar was a video from the inaugural 24 Hours of Appalachia- Run for the Hills which took place earlier this year on Feb 4th
** Upon seeing this, I was literally sitting on the edge of my chair, in front of my laptop, mouth open, and in the early stages of shock over learning that a 24hr Off-Road Endurance Challenge, a full on Amateur Rally, had taken place in MY BACK YARD w/o me even having a clue about it ** The 24 Hours of App is a Rally event organized by BofApp that takes place on a designated course. The goal is to complete said course in under 24hrs. The course, with exception of towns and intersections is solely compiled of rural county roads, gravel roads, back roads, 4x4 trails, logging roads, mountain goat paths, creek bottoms, and private land; as any good rally should be.... The first was 599.6 miles from Seneca Rocks to Pt Pleasant, WV
about- 3min teaser- 3min
After 2 days of reading, listening to podcasts, and watching everything I could find about BofApp and the 24 Hours of Appalachia Rally events.....annnd talking it over with my better half.....I sent the Director of Operations an email asking "How can we help?".
On June, 1st I received a reply from one of the other organizers of the event (the Dir of Oper I emailed had a run-in with a deer on his CRF 450RL while cruising home from an evening of trail scouting a couple months earlier and was recovering in a VA hospital). The email stated, in a nutshell, that it was great to learn of our willingness to help out, and they would love to have us on board, but they needed to make sure that we were up to the task. Not only mentally capable, with enough experience on trail to actually help out, but did I have a vehicle capable of helping out? The last thing they need is to deploy a rescue rig to go get an overly eager, in over their head, volunteer!
My reply email listed all the mods I've made to my GMT900 platform Chevy Avalanche and explained how I'd spent the majority of my life navigating rough terrain on/in just about everything you can name that has a motor and 2, 3 or 4 wheels; and how I've dealt with getting stuck-unstuck-stuck-and unstuck again......and how here, in these hills and on these mountains off-road driving is all about: 1. tires- the heavier you are, the better tires you need 2. taking correct angles 3. using the correct amount of momentum. A few hours later I received a reply welcoming Amanda and I to the team!
The first event back in Feb had 70 full size rigs, 5 SidexSide's and 3 media vehicles.
The second event, which took place last weekend, was a 455.6mi course broken up into 5 stages that started and ended in Hinton, WV. It was titled 24 Hours of Appalachia- Miners and Loggers Delight. This one featured 50 Bikes, 50 SxS's, and 100 Full-size vehicles. The application period was open from 2/15-3/30. They received 150 applications in the first 5 days...
Here is a little of what I experienced:
Drivers Meeting:
The Starting Line:
Some of the field:
A few of the SxS's:
A few of the Full-sized field-
continued on next post....only link 5 pics
