The story of the Damn Locals

 Here on the Mountain..or Cumberland Plateau if you prefer...we are known by other 4x4er's' as "The Damn Locals". All of us are from the Tracy City, Tennessee area. All of us have been offloading most of our lives in some form or fashion. Between all of us..there is probably not a place on this mountain that we have not been. It might have been on a motorcycle, an ATV, a four-wheel-drive vehicle,or maybe even on foot, but we have been there...done that. We are quite proud of the title, "The Damn Locals". As to how this title came to be....read on. 
  Several years ago I was riding my ATV out in the nearby area. I was alone and was just enjoying myself and the ride. As I came up to the trail that leads down into a valley, I happened upon some 4x4 rigs stopped at the trail.As usual, I stopped to talk and offer some directions since it seemed that the group was un-familiar with the trail they were about to take on. Most of the people in the group were friendly and courteous and seemed interested that I was willing to offer some advice and some directions. I went on to tell one of the group that his his rig, and possibly another in the group, might not be able to make it through a section of the trail. I went on to tell them about the trail and where the easy part of the trail was and even offered to lead them down if they did not want to follow the bigger rigs. Now...I said "most of the people" were friendly and seemed interested that I was willing to lead them down the trail. There was one in the group, which I assume was the trail leader, that was not quite as friendly as the rest. He began telling others in the group that I was just one of the "damn locals" and for them to not pay any attention to me. The guy really had some nerve! He did this while I was standing right there in front of him! I..again..told him that I was just trying to help. He still ignored me and kept telling the others to ignore me. He then told his group that he and his girlfriend were going to walk down the trail and scout it out. I told him(I wasn't angry yet)that I knew the trail well and there was no need for them to walk. He ignored me..again. The others in the group just stood there and said nothing. At this point I became a little irritated. I told the guy that I had spoken to at first that if he followed my tracks that he should be O.K. As I rode down the trail I came up on the guy that had insulted me and just rode on by as I flipped him off. To beat it all...the guy that called me a damn local was from a club that was located only about 15 miles away! Can you believe that?!?
  I told my friends about the incident and I was still pretty angry about it the next day. As a joke, we started calling each other "damn local" and pretty much made fun of the guy that called me that the first time. As time wore on, others began to call us the "damn locals". Our friends from other 4x4 clubs(none as rude as the one I spoke of above)and offroad shops began calling us by that name. In 2002 Monkeywrench and I decided to compete in the TOR Offroad Challenge. The organizer wanted us to use the name "Team Damn Local". We decided not to and just used Team #4 instead. During this event there were those in the crowd of spectators that were cheering for "Team Damn Local". I guess it was about that time that we figured that being called a "Damn Local" wasn't such a bad thing. We now are proud to be "The Damn Locals". There are 5 of us in the Damn Local group right now. TNMAN, Monkeywrench, Bones, lurch82, and Possum..and we all live here "on the mountain". A lot of people may not know our names, but they know that we are "The Damn Locals"and that if they ever need any help or directions that they can call on us. We wheel here on the Mountain regularly...so..if you ever run up on us out on the trail...give us a shout...just don't be rude to us. Remember, when you came here to wheel that you are riding in our "backyard".