Old Guys Summer Camp

The 2017 Rat Race Final Edition needs a little hype to get everyone's juices flowing. This year we have a big group invading southern Oregon for what Alex has deemed 'Old Guys Summer Camp'. Where all you care about is yourself and your friends for a full week of fun.

Pete ' Reaper' (not 'Raper') Michelmore is headed back for the umpteenth time as safety director for a week of Pluckin 'em and Suckin 'em. That refers to pilots and beers, in that general order. Just a  little tip, you want to see him for sucking, not the plucking part.

Most awesome is Thom 'The Phoenix' (formerly Sidehill) Therrien, has rallied back from a year off and will be there at full power competing in the Sprint under a brand spanky Rush4. It is fantastic to have him back and to turn over the crown as the loudest guy around.

John ' Frosty Balls' Todd will be there, he is always entertaining and up to something, I spent 3 days with him in Switzerland a few years ago and came back with a months worth of stories,

Geronimo and June are there, both alumni from the old days, still charging and having fun,

Courtney and Joe at the Rat from Kauai. I haven't seen either of these two at a comp, but I expect a lot. They bring a lot of energy.

Maui has a bunch of pilots there, they always perform well. Igor is probably the top seed of the Hawaii pilots, he has been charging and has really improving tremendously as a competition pilot. The time he spends with Brad G. has really honed his flying skills, without tremendously affecting the rest of his life. I will be flying a Zeno this year and have promised myself to go pulley to pulley as much as possible, maybe I have a chance of keeping up with Igor.

JK is in, he is a charger and will definitely be up there in the standings, as will Claude 'Scrappy' Phillips. Hopefully Scrappy and I can avoid GPS problems that plagued us last time we were there. fortunately I have been flying with an Oudie the last couple of years, which is basically automatic and pilot proof.

The newer Monkey meat will be competing: Marc, Drew, Kevin. It expect these guys will do well, hard charging definitely helps at the Rat.

Motorhead Paul and Pat will be there with JK's motorhome, volunteering to drive and retrieve, Imagine driving a van to pick up grumpy and complaining paraglider pilots on the perfect flying day, with no pay. Sound like a great job, sign up today! Without volunteers like Paul and Reaper, I couldn't get to do the thing I like to do, which is fly far with minimal worries.

The free flyers and hangers around list is long with Ike, Superman RD, Shawn 'of the Dead' Garrett, FlyStrong, a few wives. So when not flying we can enjoy margaritas and tacos in Jacksonville.

See you all there!