Rovers Magazine Summer - Rackspace Hosting

“As slow as possible, as fast as necessary.” We're all familiar
with Bill Burke's constant repetition of this invaluable
lesson. These words rang true this February in Puerto Rico,
especially last February, when most snowbound Rover
enthusiasts planned winter ice events. Ricardo Gonzales
and Brenda Soto of Caribbean Rovers invited Bill to teach
two days of off-road training classes outside the city of
Naguabo for their annual “winter” event. With mountains
on one side and lapping ocean waves on the other, this
working cattle farm provided the perfect visual setting and
a fine place to live the Boricua (Puerto Rican stress-free
attitude) while receiving instruction from the Camel
Trophy legend.
The 1,500 acre farm with both beach and mountain
terrain on a tropical island looked fine for farming—flat
and free of obstructions—but Bill Burke needed to “fix”
it as an off-road course. Fortunately, Caribbean Rovers
had planned a scouting day, complete with a crawler
track backhoe. Bill saw things in the land that only
someone with his years of experience would consider as
“off-road-able.” He chose three main training areas, all of
which had been completely ignored by earlier scouting
trips. When the heavy equipment arrived he created a
driver’s nightmare of articulation and traction control
engagement with a series of fifteen holes, swapping from
the left side to the right, each separated by the wheelbase
of a Defender 110. He constructed a tight trail of blind,
twisting, high-centering drop-offs and inclines, and used
a natural rain gully formed in the hard terrain by flash
flood-style tropical rain runoff.
Each morning the groups met at the Palmas del Mar
hotel and resort not far from the farm to go over
introductions, basic driving technique, and spotters’ hand
signals. Each day’s groups had different personalities:
Saturday's group of 15 Land Rovers felt feisty, while
Sunday’s nine Land Rovers seemed tamer and more
studious. Bill gave each day's group an idea of what was
to come, but he wisely kept some of each day's secrets to
himself. When pounding tropical rain came through on
Sunday, for example, Bill claimed with a straight face that
he had planned these extreme conditions as part of the
training ordered by Caribbean Rovers. It's still unclear
whether or not anyone believed him, but it was clear that
the effect of the rain on the unavoidable ... um ... cow pies
... made for interesting driving.
Once the group caravans arrived at the farm they
climbed a curving dirt maintenance road up to the highest
drivable area. As they climbed, the view changed from
thick trees on one side and natural grassy wall on the other
to a beautiful view of a plantain farm field in the valley
below. Rising past the fields the mountainous backdrop of
the El Yunque rainforest (the only rainforest in the United
States) stood tall, and as if this wasn't enough to fill the
senses, the blue and aqua colors of the ocean shimmered
off to the horizon to complete the perfect vista. With the
scene set, the off-roading began.
Above top to bottom: Crawler track backhoe setting up the course - Bill Burke going over
basic driving techniques. - One of the amazing views from the farm.
rovers magazine / 59