Monsters & Mud

So, just over 2 months since Phil's birthday, and that means that today we finally get to go Monster Trucking for a couple of hours. I bought Phil a "Maxi-Monster Trucking Experience" for his birthday, but the waiting list was huge when we rang up, but finally our time has come.

A nice early start then... and we head off towards East Grinstead which is about 95 miles away, towards the South, roof down all the way (which may I say, is a very handy way of getting your hair dry) :).

We arrive a little early, and whilst we are waiting for Richard to arrive (who is coming along as a spectator as well as myself) we get refreshments and have a look at the Monster Truck that Phil will be driving at some point - and it's HUGE! I don't think you can get the full scale of these things when you just see them on TV, but to give you and idea, each tyre is about 1 metre across, weights about 900kg and will set you back about £1200. Apparently it doesn't do any miles per gallon either, but gallons per mile instead, and you can probably understand why when I tell you that this monster has a 7 litre v8 chevvy engine in it and weights about 8 tonnes. You also need a step ladder to get into it.

After a short briefing of what not to do and what to do when driving Phil gets underway with the first of 4 events that he'll be doing today, which is an off road drive in Black Ice, which is a European Spec Monster Truck (so smaller than the US one). From what Phil tells me, it has the turning circle of a combine harvester and is quite a tricky drive over the rough terrain and steep inclines that he has to battle with.

Next up was a drive in the US Spec Monster Truck, aptly named Grizzly. A couple of circuits later and some scrap cars have neatly hit the dust and been driven over which is great fun to watch and provide ample photo opportunities! Though I have to say I'm glad it wasn't me that had to get in and out of it, it looked like helluva job even with a ladder!

We then head off into the "Jungle" which is a section of the course which is very muddy, narrow, rutted, wet, steeply banked and has lots of inclines and sharp declines. To tackle this, Phil has to drive an only slightly modified Daihatsu 4 x4 - and after a very near collision with a post he makes it safely back in one piece - and is surprised by the agility of a car, which IMHO looked slightly beyond its best. But it's performance is unsurpassed and makes mince meat of all the obstacles thrown in its path.

Finally it's a drive in a modified Rally Buggy, which from what I can see is basically a stripped down 4 x 4 with a roll cage. For this task, Phil has to make his way around a really twisty and steeply declined track and then drive into a forced roll where he'll end up with the car on one side. So after a brief encounter with a tree, he does the roll with the ease of a professional stunt driver, and then is promptly rescued by a mini digger :) hehehehe :) I tell you what, I'd have done anything to be in the buggy on the way back up the track because it was like climbing Mount Everest!

After a couple of hours of climbing hills and basking in the glorious weather, we decide to head off to a local pub to grab a late lunch and some drinks... all very nice too, and now fed and watered we make our way home.

I'd recommend anyone to do a day out like this, it really is something different to do rather than sitting around doing the SS on a DD, especially when it comes to weekends. The other bit of advice I'd give anyone wanting to book an "experience day" is don't book through the ordinary channels (such as an agent)... if you've the time to do a bit of investigation and find out who it is exactly thats offering the service, then go to the company direct because more often than not you'll save money.

For anyone thats interested, the people we used to go Monster Trucking were Leisure Pursuits, who provided a fab day out with fun and hospitable instructors.

Posted by Abi on the April 30, 2005 10:44 PM

sjon at May 2, 2005 7:39 AM