Dr. Feelgood made the connect with Crowder’s Ridge in 2016 when he worked out a deal for us to stay at the cabins at Crowder’s Ridge for a #CSAUP event called the “Climb”. It was Veteran’s Day, Friday, November 16th and F3 Royalty and veterans Dredd and CSPAN came to the mountain for a Friday night talk. Saturday morning we were awakened at 0530 to the Miley Cyrus song “The Climb”, followed immediately by Iron Maiden’s The Trooper. Then a huge beat down with two climbs up the mountain and back and 8 memorable pain stations throughout the Camp which included Dolph’s World. This was a memorable event and there was some shared nostalgia as we entered the property and some clamoring for a repeat of the “Climb” in future months.
In any event, I inquired as to whether we could do an F3 Dad’s event at the Chutes. The Chutes are on a steep hill with four tubing lanes surrounded by fencing and football field AstroTurf. You slide down on a tube and walk back up the side on the turf. Employees have spray bottles of WD-40 or liquid graphite or H2O to help keep things fast. Crowder’s allowed F3 Gastonia its own slot for an hour of tubing. In typical manly fashion, not one person had purchased a ticket one week out from the event and my contact at the camp was concerned. However the hard commits starting coming in and when I arrived with my two 2.0’s the PAX and families kept coming.
The THANG:
After a safety video we made our way to the tubing section. We had a combination of PAX, M’s, 2.0’s, and friends. One lane was smooth, one had a small jump, one had a bigger jump, and one had a ridiculously steep jump that required lots of speed to get over. The teenagers and Squirt were the first to try that and got some big air. Little kids required a big push at the top to carry the speed down the hill. Everyone got the hang of it in short order and it was nonstop action for the full hour. The men of F3 were very much like the teenagers. Papa John ran downhill from outside the tube park to his tire to try to get more speed. Boudin’s 2.0’s and friends raced and actually had a pass on one run. Rubbing is racing!
There were a few mishaps at the bottom as kids were getting off their tubes and others were barreling down unable to stop. The Mayor came in hot and wiped out his 2.0’s for the spare! Other than a few bumps and bruises we managed to stay healthy.
When out time was up we posed for the F3 Dad’s team photo and some PAX left for the day. The rest went to the Gaga ball ring and it was on! For close to another hour we saw women and children and boys and girls of all ages playing a game with intensity and cunning to see who could be the last person in the circle. Who knew that Squirt, Billy Madison, Hipaa, and Billy Madison’s M would be such competitors!? YHC left 2.1 at Gaga ball while the 2.0 and I had two games of HORSE on the basketball court. Soon night descended and everyone went their separate ways. It was a successful and fun outing for F3 families.
I want to thank Crowder’s Ridge for giving F3 our own time slot. While we were still on the chutes there were several church buses coming in and the next time slot had a gazillion kids that would have made for some crowded tube lanes. We were able to tube as much as you wanted with no delays. It was awesome. Thank you Crowder’s Ridge!
Moleskin: If we are honest we know that F3 takes up our time away from our families when we are gone Saturday mornings or other times for various F3 events. When we put on events like F3 Dads the 2.0’s get to experience the same level of camaraderie, bonding, sharing, and fun that we have at our workouts. I know this was a great success when my teenager had as much fun as my younger one. It was great seeing the M’s sliding down and carrying their little ones back up the slopes!
The next F3 Dad’s (Gashouse) event will most likely be a spring workout, summer baseball game, and another fall workout. The greater Charlotte area F3 Dad’s camp will be at Camp Thunderbird sometime in August. Blackjack is the F3Dad’s Q for F3Nation. They are supposed to launch the registration for the Camp Thunderbird camp in March. I will do my best to get the dates and communicate that with you if you are interested.
Always a pleasure to lead!
