As Douglas McColloch indicated in the previous blog, today was an interesting day at FWOTY.

We began our day in the motel parking lot in Ridgecrest, California, where FWOTY coordinator Sean Holman outlined the days itinerary.

Sand testing was the first order of the day so we convoyed out to Olancha Dunes near Olancha, California.  This test turned out to be a real eye-opener as a few trucks were gobs of fun while others floundered in the sand.  This is a great test for engines, cooling systems and tires.

After a quick lunch we hit the trail and explored Last Chance Canyon.  This ended up being the last breath for one of our rigs tires, and this caused our whole days schedule to crash and burn since we were fresh outta spare tires for that vehicle.   But hey, that's how wheeling goes sometimes, right?

As McColloch mentioned, we had to abandon one of our FWOTY vehicles and head to Ridgecrest to buy a tire.  We then assembled a rescue crew (three of which are shown here happily belted into the back seat of one of the FWOTY rigs) to head back to the trail, swap on the new tire and get the SUV off the trail.

In the end everything worked out and all the rigs returned safely to Ridgecrest.  Aside from some vehicle inspections in the morning and some judging book completion, FWOTY is officially done for this year.  Naturally we'll have the full story, and name the Four Wheeler of the Year winner,  in the February '09 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine.