I went to John A. Phillips Preserve in Old Bridge, NJ today. It was a trail run more than anything. There wasn't too much that was challenging, but it wasn't totally flat land either. Most of the challenge came from all the leaves on the ground. A lot of the water crossings are impassable either through the water or over the foot bridges, so I had to pick the truck up sometimes. I ended up missing the trail that leads to Route 18, so I went on another trail loop which was pretty fun.

I went out to the John A. Phillips Open Space Preserve hiking trails with a fellow RC offroad hobbyist. It was a lot of fun! East met West on the dirt with my Toyota and his Chevy. I was impressed by his big tires and wide stance, and he was surprised by how capable my very scale IFS rig was. Terrain was conquered, trucks were broken and fixed, helpful pushes were given, good stuff! We were going to go on an unmarked trail, but we decided against it when we saw signs saying that hunting could be going on there. We went back and went on another trail instead.

I went to NJ Devils Way early this morning while waiting to pick my dad up from the doctor. (He's okay.) I had a nice little trip around the park. I think a part of the woods is opening up now. I didn't want to go exploring deep in the woods today because I knew I was going to get a phone call to pick my dad up, but I was able to get my Trailrunner up a hill that has been inaccessible since last spring. The leaves don't help, but they're not going to keep me from exploring that spot some more next time.

I went to Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve today. It's the coldest I've been out for Trailrunner trailrunning in a while. I went the opposite direction I usually go, so I got to see a couple side trails that I don't usually check out. I had to give it a few more hands of god than I would have liked due to all the leaves obscuring a lot of obstacles, but it was a good outing. There was one really great sandy area. It wasn't too wet and it wasn't too dry. It was pocked out from horses galloping through it, and it was a great challenge area to drive through. It went on for several hundred feet, but I had to go slowly so I didn't high center and get stuck. I was choosing my lines carefully and not going in too fast so I would still be able to back out if I got stuck. It was a great challenge, and I didn't have to rescue the Trailrunner once in that spot.

This year's Christmas Eve outing was decidedly less dangerous than last year's. There was no driftwood with rusty nails sticking out of it that I almost slipped and fell on! I went to Frost Woods today. Frost Woods is more of an easy hike than anything else, but there's some fun to be had there. It has one big trail loop, but there are additional unmarked trails within the loop. Some of those trails opened up with the change of the season. I found a couple really fun little spots because of this. There was one spot with a bunch of built up hills. They're probably for jumps for bikes, but they were nice little things for my Trailrunner to drive over. It would actually be interesting to drive that trail with a trophy truck or a buggy, something fast to get some air. One of the other trails still had green leaves! It was like I wasn't in Central NJ at all!

I decided to try some SXT Slime tire prep last night and SXT Baja traction compound before I went out. The Baja stuff is more for racing, but finding traction is hard this time of year with all of the leaves on the ground. So far I don't know how much it did to help, but I didn't often have problems finding grip, so maybe it is helping, just not blowing my mind.






I also got up to some truly stupid crap: Enduro Trailrunner - 12/24/21 - Frost Woods | Gamma'='Ray | Flickr

I went to the beach at Keansburg today. Specifically the area west of the amusement park. I was going to walk all the way east, but I found out that the beach directly behind the amusement park is private property and is fenced off. Oh well. Walking back and forth on the west end took about an hour anyway, but the dunes are the best part. I should go exploring on the dunes some more next time and then maybe park east of the amusement park and see what's going on over there.

I did not have a good sleep last night. I couldn't get to sleep until 3:30AM, and then I didn't wake up until 11:00AM. So what's a guy to do to help tire himself out today so he can get a better sleep tonight? Go on a later day hike in the winter, of course!

I took my Trailrunner to Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve again today. I intended to take the trail that led to the little bridge, but I turned right when I should have turned left and took another longer trail towards the police shooting range. I didn't want to go all the way to the bridge after taking that wrong trail, so I headed back along a different trail instead. I ended up finding the sandy challenge area from last time and took a video of it. I got stuck at the very end of the video, but I blame trying to drive one handed while taking a video at the same time. I meant to go slowly to the right, but it's hard to control everything with nuance one handed.

I went out for my last outing of 2021 to Walter D. Faith Memorial Field and had a pretty easy but fun time. I actually busted my motor a couple days ago and had to fix it which sent me down to Toms River to get a new ESC because I thought that I busted the ESC. The motor is only a couple months old, and the ESC stopped beeping when the battery got connected. Apparently it won't beep when there's a motor problem. It was just that I blasted the motor with muddy sand, and the brushes took a hit. It's a rebuildable motor, so I was able to clean it out, but I don't know if it's any hardier than a conventional motor. At least I learned some things and I might have a temporary in the field remedy the next time it happens. My gear mesh is okay now. It's a little looser than I usually like it, but I did the paper trick and it's still holding onto the paper without tearing it and also not letting the paper fall out. I am a little concerned I overtightened one of the bolts that holds the motor in place, but nothing has shifted yet. At least I have a couple of spare holes on the motor to use to mount the motor so I can be more careful screwing it in place next time. I just hope it doesn't slip because I'll tear up a spur gear, and the reason I wanted to get so tight on those bolts is because I lost a spur gear in the past due to the motor slipping.







And here's a video of my truck getting wet: