RallyVenture 2014 - Silver State 4WD & UTV Jamboree

Carrera Del Diablo RallyVenture 2014

VIDEO: Larry's re-cap of RallyVenture from the historic Bucket of Blood Saloon in Virginia City

VIDEO: Video clips and highlights from the 2014 Carrera Del Diablo RallyVenture

Carrera Del Diablo was the historic first running of RallyVenture™, an exciting new motorsport that combines off-roading with orienteering, wayfinding, problem solving, testing of various skills, and social engagement. The course covered hundreds of miles of back roads, goat tracks and even some pavement, among the mountains, valleys and deserts around Sparks, Nevada. Poison Spyder would like to thank Jeff Knoll and his team for putting together such an awesome event, one which we believe has a very bright future that we're excited to be a part of and help it grow. Check out the videos at right for Larry's quick re-cap of the event from the historic Bucket Of Blood Saloon in Virginia City, as well as our clip of highlights from RallyVenture:

Check Out Our Photos From RallyVenture 2014!

Here are a few of the best photos we have from RallyVenture 2014. We wish we had more, but the RallyVenture itself kept us so busy driving, navigating, getting required photos and posting, that we didn't have much time to take the occasional non-required shot. But we managed to grab a few, so here they are, in chronological order throughout the day. "Mouse-over" to read the caption, or click on any image to see the original in full-size.

Little Blue loaded on the trailer and headed up Highway 395 toward Sparks, Nevada, for the inaugural running of RallyVenture!

RallyVenture boss Jeff Knoll laying down the law at the drivers' meeting the night before RallyVenture.

Ryan Taylor was chosen by Poison Spyder fans to join us as one of the Reno Originals. He and his co-driver Doug Kennedy won the Golden Ticket to race in the first RallyVenture event!

Poison Spyder's team for RallyVenture included Dusty Sharp - navigation, photography and social media; Johnny Wilkinson - videography, navigation and social media; and Larry McRae - driver and social media, and of course Little Blue, our Poison Spyder equipped 2-door Jeep Wrangler JK.

The lineup at 5:30 AM, getting ready for the 6:00 AM start. Team Poison Spyder and Little Blue are in the second starting position, set to leave the line at 6:01.

Every team had to have the proper RallyVenture badging.

First checkpoint at RallyVenture was at Moon Rocks, where the folks from Axial were set up for a special challenge for each team.

Most of the pack had not spread out much by the first checkpoint. In later stages we would have long stretches of the trail to ourselves.

Axial's challenge at the first RallyVenture checkpoint was an RC Crawler course, where Larry felt right at home at the controls of the 1:10 scale Poison Spyder equipped Axial SCX-10 Jeep!

The first social media engagement exercise during RallyVenture was to post a shot of your vehicle posed at Moon Rocks. This shot we posted of Little Blue was the leader in Facebook and Instagram likes for most of the day.

Photo opportunities, both mandatory and optional, were scattered throughout the RallyVenture course. This one was located along the second stage of the rally.

Smokey Bear reminds us to be careful as we recreate in the forest.

Smokey also provided us with a rare opportunity to score some bonus points. The RallyVenture packet offered a whopping 5 bonus points for a photo of a charging bear. So we hooked our POD portable charging device up to Smokey and voila--Charging Bear!

This was a shot we had to duplicate from a sample shown in the RallyVenture packet for this stage. We had to find the exact spot and duplicate the pose. Nailed it.

Recreating the selfie shot on the shore of Lake Tahoe from the 3rd stage packet from RallyVenture. We were able to find the exact rockpile and shoreline for the background of the shot with Larry and Dusty.

Another shot mimicked from the RallyVenture stage packet. We managed to get this one in just before Nicole Johnson photobombed us!

Part of the RallyVenture route followed the course of the Little Truckee River, and this photo opportunity.

Johnny and Larry showing off the page from the RallyVenture packet that shows the example selfie shot we had to duplicate, standing in the same spot as the example.

Larry had to walk the tightrope before we could receive the course packet for stage 4 of RallyVenture.

Along this stage we were asked to post at least three shots of wildflowers from a group of sample shots in the RallyVenture packet. The photos in the packet were poorly mimeographed in muddy grays, so we took our best guess and just grabbed whatever wildflower shots we could find.

Duplicating another of the example shots in the RallyVenture packet for this stage. This was shot along the Genoa Peak trail, with Lake Tahoe in the distance behind Little Blue.

A wider angle of the Lake Tahoe overlook shot, with Larry and Johnny checking the maps to make sure we were on the right track.

Stage 4 of RallyVenture ended (and Stage 5 began) at the historic Genoa Bar, back down the hill in the Carson Valley at the foot of the Sierra Nevadas.

The folks from PRP seats were manning the RallyVenture checkpoint at the Genoa Bar.

Thankfully, RallyVenture rules included a mandatory 10-minute stop at the Genoa Bar, which gave us just enough time to enjoy their famous 14-ingredient Bloody Mary and check out some of the historical artifacts that covered the place from wall to wall.

Looks like they could mix up pretty much anything you wanted at the Genoa Bar. The RallyVenture notes hinted that there would be a quiz about the place once we got there, so we did some homework on the way down the mountain, watched a YouTube video about the place to study up.

One of the items of interest at the Genoa Bar is Raquel Welch's brassiere, hanging from the deer antlers high on the wall. There's an interesting story behind that, look it up! It was among the items covered in the RallyVenture quiz. And somebody needs to send the Genoa Bar a feather duster!

Before leaving the Genoa Bar, the PRP seats folks had some fun with the brassiere theme and presented Larry with an official PRP bra. Johnny couldn't keep his hands off. Dusty was pre-occupied with his 14-ingredient Bloody Mary.

Every time we posted a photo of Little Blue during RallyVenture, it seems most of the comments were regarding the prototype tire carrier we snuck onto the back of it just before RallyVenture. Thanks for the social boost, but we'll be talking a bit more about that carrier soon!

Leaving the little town of Genoa, heading out on Stage 5 of RallyVenture.

What do we have here? Out in the middle of nowhere, along the Stage 5 route of RallyVenture, are the guys from Billet Rifle Systems, set up with a pile of AR-15's, ammo and some targets!

Woohoo!! We all get to shoot! Wait, what? We're on the clock? Only time for Larry to shoot? BOOO!! LOL...anyhow Deadeye Larry got to do the honors.

According to the guys from Billet Rifle Systems, Larry was the leader so far, for the target shooting. We later learned that another RallyVenture team came along and beat his score.

RallyVenture features just about every type of terrain and landscape you can imagine. Most of these beautiful views we had to enjoy from inside the Jeep, in between glances down at the GPS, compass, Tulip notes, or whatever navigation device we happened to be using on each leg.

We saw lots of wild mustangs along several stages of the RallyVenture.

Coming to the end of one of the RallyVenture stages, stopped to close the gate behind us.

Uh oh, what's that we hear? This can't be good. Looks like the front passenger side axle u-joint has spit out a few bearing caps. Oh well, gotta keep going, there's a couple more stages left in RallyVenture!

Be careful, Wiley Coyote. Somewhere an anvil is going to drop out of the sky onto your head. It can happen, I've seen it on TV.

More wild mustangs, this one a bit closer up. RallyVenture is a lot of things, including wildlife safari.

Nice specimen of California King Snake taking advantage of our Rigid Industries LED lights to see his way across the road during the final stage of RallyVenture.

The sun setting on the final stage of RallyVenture as we worked our way down from the hills into Reno/Sparks. It was a LONG day, but chock full of fun, adventure, and challenge. We can't wait for the next one!

After the event, our contest winner Ryan Taylor was selected as the

Congratulations Ryan Taylor For Joining the Reno Originals!

One of the cool things we did prior to RallyVenture was to offer up one of our entries into the event to a deserving Poison Spyder fan and his or her co-driver. The following video explains what we wre looking for and what the lucky winner of that "Golden Ticket" would get. Part of the selection process included gauging support from each entrant's friends and colleagues, and Ryan Taylor was the hands-down winner with loads of support from many respected individuals from all over the country and across the off-road industry. Ryan and his co-driver Doug Kennedy won the opportunity to be among the "Reno Originals" for the very first running of RallyVenture, and we also covered their accomodations for three nights and the steak dinner after the event. To top it off, Ryan was selected by his Reno Original peers in the RallyVenture as the Hard Luck winner, having suffered several setbacks throughout the day. But despite a few mechanical issues, Ryan and Doug managed to complete the course, and were awarded an Axial SCX-10 RC Crawler to acknowledge their perseverence. Below are the videos we released prior to the event to solicit applicants for this special opportunity: