Getting into the adrenaline fueled joy of off-roading
Taking your vehicle off the road and into the wild can be one of the most exhilarating experiences known to man.It’s hard, dirty and potentially dangerous to navigate two tons of steel where instructions of how to drive isn’t just laid out for you with road markings and guiding signs. When driving off-road you have to plan ahead and really think about the obstacles that lay before you, strategies have to be planned out to overcome them and an intense focus is required. Even though an average offroading speed clocks in at 5km/h on certain trails, the adrenaline fueled joy of off-roading is comparable to taking a racing car around a track at an incredible speed.
Becoming one with your vehicle
The intense focus required for driving off-road is a large part of what makes this experience so thrilling, bringing you car over obstacles with careful navigation of the pedals and wheel gives you a connection to the car like no other. Through your hands and feet you link yourself to your car, feeling every bump on the road and each cycle of the engine vibrating throughout your body to finally forget that your brain is telling your hands to rotate the steering wheel to turn your tires and you become one with your car. You just know how much power is required to overcome the obstacle and how to rotate the wheels so as to not overturn or fall back down, the same way your legs automatically know how to climb a staircase without calculating how much muscle is needed to extend your legs above the first step. Becoming one with your car is an experience many car maniacs and thrill seekers desire to the point of danger, and make no mistake- off-roading is potentially dangerous.
How to minimize the dangers of off-roading
The general rule of off-roading is to never go at it alone. Everything’s better with a friend, especially offroading as this friend could potentially save both you and your car plus, when you’re alone out in the wild without anyone knowing, a single mistake could be detrimental. Getting your car stuck in the mud in the middle of a forest means that you’ll have to walk back if no one has your back and can help you pull your car back and maybe even use their own vehicle to do so. With that said, even if you bring a friend you should always tell someone back home and bring a device for contacting the outside word just in case anything happens to the both of you. Still, you should alway prepare for the worst by having a couple of days rations and clothes befitting the climate you’re offroading in. Ultimately, the most important thing in off-roading is you and second to that-your car.
The right vehicle for the job
As you are the most important variable in a successful off-roading experience there are a couple of things to always have in mind. First, safety comes before anything and as a driver you should always show respect to the trail as you never know what obstacles it might throw at you. Secondly, act smart. Never panic if your car starts to flip, calmly try to prevent it and if all else fails hopefully you followed the precautions and brought a friend with you. A flip or fail shouldn’t be detrimental to the experience, instead it should be a part of it and give you some good memories of solving the problem. With practice comes experience and you can’t expect to get better at off-roading without any failures, soon you will have a sense of how to navigate every obstacle with ease and get this exciting feeling of becoming one with your vehicle. When doing this, of course, you’ll want a vehicle worthy of becoming one with and often times different vehicles will suits different styles of driving but all of them need to have some aspects specifically outfitted for off-roading. These important things include: the gearbox and suspension, which have the most impact when driving offroad but since there are many different types of offroaders you’ll need to find the right one for you.
Welcome to the world of off-roading
Hopefully this brief introduction to the world of offroading and the exhilarating moments interlayed in it can give you an indication that offroading is one of the most thrilling things a person can do and the connection between person and vehicle is hard to find elsewhere. Whether you’re reading this as a first time off-roader or as an experienced one, Off-Roaders World has everything you need to get into off-roading or upgrade your travels to the next level.
