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Trailridge Runners 4WD Club
Longmont, CO 80502
June 2025 Newsletter
Club forum, email to forum@trr4wd.com, which will go to all TRR members
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| Club Business |
Club Meeting
Wednesday June 11th, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Moose Lodge #1548, 2200 Pratt Street, Longmont, CO 80501
Open to all members and guests.
The lodge is one street west of main, between 21st and 23rd on Pratt Street.
We'll be in the middle hall. Folks who arrive early will need to enter at the main entrance. In the lobby the rear left double door is the middle hall. The front door is a key card door but there is a button for the bar tenders to open the door. Those that arrive early can prop the door open on east side of the middle hall so folks can park on the east side of the building and enter through that door.
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| Next Meeting |
6:30pm to 7:00pm - Social Time
- 40th Anniversary committee meet.
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7:00pm to 9:00pm - Meeting
- Introduce guests.
- Welcome new members.
- Treasurers report.
- Club Express update.
- Board meeting update.
- New/Other business.
- Trivia questions done by Rich H.
- 40th Anniversary update and planning.
- Land Use update.
- Planning for Middle St. Vrain and Coney Flats.
- Planning for Deer Creek and Saints John.
- Planning for one day and weekend trips.
- Review Memorial Day Picnic.
- Close meeting.
- Open discussion / presentation.
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| Past Meeting Minutes |
Past Board Meeting Minutes
- Memorial Day Picnic will be at Gary Bs house. Volunteers will be needed for different tasks. This will be a pot luck style picnic. To volunteer contact Gary B or Jana C.
- Discussed having Keith Douglas from COHVCO talk at our meeting in April.
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Past Meeting Minutes
- Thanks to Adam M and Paula K for bringing meeting snacks.
- No guests.
- Welcome to new member Dean Mickelson.
- Treasurers report was given by Rich H.
- No Club Express report.
- Land Use update was given by Adam M. Blue Ribbon Coalition is litigating the BLM Henry Mountains travel decision.
- Trivia was done by Kathy H who gave a nice history of the Jeep Rubicon creation. (See her writeup below in Club News). She gave a description of the link between the Jeep Rubicon development and the Rubicon Trail in California, which is 22 miles long. The Rubicon Jeep was introduced in 2003. The question that was answered for the trivia was, “What are the letter designations of the Jeep Wranglers”. Answer YJ, TJ, JK, JL given by Rich H, who won the gift card. Rich H will be doing the trivia question at next months meeting.
- The Memorial Day Picnic will be at Gary B’s house. We will need volunteers for the many tasks to put this event on. Contact Jana C to sign up. Picnic will be on Memorial Day from 12pm to 4pm.
- The 40th Anniversary event, which will be September 21 to September 27, 2025 in Salida Colorado. Please register on our web site so we can get a count of how many will attend. Wanda C is working on the antenna flags. The Four Seasons RV Park in Salida is one location where attendees will be staying. The Baymont Hotel is another option at $138.43 + tax per night. Need to book through the hotel, not online. Register as soon as possible. See general forum post for details. The group dinner will be at Robin’s Restaurant in Salida on Saturday September 20 at 6:00pm with cost of $20 to $25. Meet up each morning will be at the Wal-Mart parking lot.
- Review of the Longmont Cars and Coffee event. John G and Ray C went.
- Planning for the Deer Creek trip.
- Motion to close meeting, Paula K, second by Larry M.
- Video presentation of the Blanding Utah trip by John G.
- Open discussion.
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| Deadline for next Newsletter is June 26th |
| Club News |
Trivia Writeup
TRR Trivia, March 14, 2025
The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is named after the famous Rubicon Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. This trail is known for extreme difficulty, steep granite ledges, deep ruts and massive rocks.
Meanwhile at Chrysler, of the 10,000 engineers, less than 100 would call themselves off-road enthusiasts. And, even fewer could claim to own a modified Jeep that was useful off-road. So, that meant that only a handful of people intuitively understood that there was a significant number of people willing to pay thousands of dollars more for the ultimate off-road Wrangler. That’s a pretty small cheerleading section up against the corporate bean counters and marketing folks.
Anyone who was a credible off-roader was tagged as part of the “lunatic fringe.” Their ideas were biased and their opinions were often discounted. It was thought that being part of that fanatical group fogged a person’s thinking beyond what mattered to customers and what was beneficial to the company. Ironically, the “lunatic fringe” became a coveted group. But, Marketing wasn’t buying it and for the number crunchers, the sales volumes were a complete guess. It was a huge battle. The cost to the company for production quality 4:1 transfer cases, rocker panel protection, selectable lockers and other unique components was a BIG number. If you could sell 30,000 of them, the finance guys were happy, But, if you only sold 1,000 of them, somebody gets fired. And, the execs knew that larger wheels and tires are almost directly opposed to a good ride and handling.
So, how do you convince the management team at Chrysler that this would be a good idea? The traditional sales pitches weren’t working. Then somebody figured out the trick was to do it backwards. So, instead of words and fancy graphic presentations to convince management, they decided to build the vehicle and let the driving experience prove it.
Two engineers, Dave Yegge and Mike Gabriel led the charge on behalf of the lunatic fringe. The first vehicle didn’t have everything, but it had a 4:1 after-market transfer case that was put into a TJ. At that time, the execs took an annual trip on the Rubicon Trail and they all noticed that this TJ was easier to drive on the trail. The engineers did the same thing a second year adding new enhancements – and by now, there was a growing fan club, including execs who were noticing the difference. Eventually, they had executive blessing, funding and people to work on it. And the rest is history. 3 years after the first unofficial prototype and 12 months after the official start of the program, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon rolled off the assembly line in Toledo, Ohio.
Questions:
1. Some of you have been on the Rubicon Trial. How many
miles long, is it?
Answer: 22 miles long
2. In what year was the Jeep Rubicon introduced?
Answer: 2003
3. In what year was the most expensive Rubicon introduced?
Answer: 2023 – 20th anniversary
4. And, if you wanted one, how much did that Rubicon cost?
Answer: $115,000 give or take
5. Jeep Wrangler is a series of compact and mid-sized 4WD offroad SUVs currently in its 4th generation. Name the 4 generations from first to current.
Answer: WJ (1987-95), TJ (97-06), JK (07- 18) and JL (Nov' 17-present)
6. What is the meaning and significance of the name Rubicon?
Answer: Reflects the idea of crossing a point of no return, a commitment to tackling challenging terrain without turning back.
Historical Perspective: Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in ancient Rome, a decision that marked no return and a commitment to war.
Jeep Heritage Perspective: It’s a tribute to the Rubicon Trail and its challenging nature, which has been used by Jeep engineering to test and develop off-road capabilities.
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Club Refreshments
The following people are signed up to bring club refreshments for the club meeting.
2025
Jun – Larry and Paulette McGimsey
Jul – Kyle Houghton
Aug – Gary B and Jana C
Sep – Dan Taber
Oct – Matt and Carol Anne Schwall
Nov – (Planning Meeting)
Dec -
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Meeting Night Dinner
There is a casual get together for dinner at 5:00 pm at the Las Palmeras restaurant in Longmont. Contact Greg B at 303-776-1148 or text message to 720-353-9416 to let him know you will be attending. Reservation is under “Greg”.
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| Recent Trip Articles |
See our club web page photo albums for pictures of trips.
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