OFF THE ROAD AGAIN : Invasion on Wheels: Pursuing the Great Outdoors With a Roar
The mechanical behemoth lurched on its left side and roared, all the time spinning itself deeper into a watery hole. It spit mud and belched smoke toward the crowd that lined the banks of a rut-filled road-to-nowhere the big truck had carved for itself and now struggled to leave.
Giant tires clawed for solid ground. Onlookers oohed and aahed with each attempt, but no one moved to help. When the truck finally escaped, they screamed and clapped, they smiled and waved to the driver who pumped his arm victoriously outside his cab window--a conquest shared.
Just a cutout from another weekend at Azusa Canyon Off-Road Vehicle Park in Angeles National Forest. The increased popularity of the park--an estimated 3,000 vehicles converge on Azusa Canyon each weekend--coincides with the rapid growth of off-road riding in general.
In the past six years, sales of off-road vehicles have skyrocketed.
American Motors Corp., manufacturer of Jeep, reports a 400% increase in sales of four-wheel drive vehicles in California since 1981.
Toyota--national leader in sales of small, four-wheel drive pickup trucks--sold 104,255 four-wheel drive trucks nationwide in 1985 and is certain it will easily pass that mark this year. Honda’s national retail sales for three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) grew from $321 million in 1982 to $990 million in 1985.
“Its possibilities for growth seem unlimited,” said Tom Cepek, president of one the nation’s leading off-road outfitters.
Off-road riding is a sport on the move. And with popularity has come a diversity of backgrounds, tastes and approaches to riding.
Though some revel in the mud available at Azusa Canyon--”It ain’t worth ridin’ if you ain’t covered with mud,” said one teen-ager--others prefer the sand dunes of Pismo Beach. Still others like the unpredictable desert ground of regions such as Glamis, just west of Blythe.
The sport first took hold in post-World War II America, when a few resourceful GIs managed to bring home the sturdy, Army-commissioned jeeps and began exploring regions theretofore inaccessible. Interest peaked in the early 1970s, before the Arab oil embargo. But when the embargo put gas prices at all-time highs, the sport became less attractive. Recently, falling gas prices and a desire for excitement and sights not available in the paved world have brought people back in droves.
Enthusiasts say riding offers a thrilling release from the dull duties of everyday living. Any weekend in Azusa Canyon can attest to that as Jeeps, trucks, ATVs and motorcycles scream and race in every direction in what resembles a dress rehearsal for the next “Mad Max” sequel.
With the rapid influx of people to the sport has come a diversity of reasons for and methods of riding.
“It’s mainly divided into two groups,” said Frank Gonzales, a Riverside deputy sheriff who patrols the Windy Point region just north of Palm Springs--an area that is legally closed but which still draws a significant number of off-road riders. “The older family types usually come ride for access to a place to take their family and have a picnic or something like that. The younger ones, though, usually just ride to ride.”
There is one constant: If you want to ride, you need something to ride in or on. You might hope to find an ancient four-wheeler in an abandoned barn or junk yard and try to rebuild it.
“It’s going to take you about six months,” said Ed Dunkley, an administrator with the California Assn. of 4-Wheel Drive Clubs.
“But a lot of people think that’s half the fun of four-wheeling.”
If you decide to rebuild, Dunkley estimates you’ll spend a minimum of $4,000-$5,000.
Purchasing a new four-wheel drive vehicle off a dealer’s showroom floor is the easiest way to get into off-roading. You usually can be sure of what you’re getting, and you don’t have to worry about the hidden damage many used vehicle buyers find after purchasing.
“Most times when a guy sells a used four-wheeler he’s usually beaten it up so bad that he’s just trying to dump it off on someone,” Dunkley said.
Buying new is convenient and safe, but it comes with a price tag--one that usually starts at about $10,000 (Three-wheel ATVs cost from $900-$3,000).
Add goodies such as special suspension, flood lights, special off-road tires--bearing such names as Gumbo Monster Mudders and Ground Hawg that cost from $70 to $300 apiece--and you can drop quite a bundle on this hobby.
New vehicle dealers point out, though, that unlike in the past, when recreational vehicles were used strictly for recreation, today’s four-wheel drive trucks and Jeeps are used increasingly as a main means of transportation.
“Monday through Friday I drive my truck on the freeway, to work and back,” said Dave Vernon of Orange. “On the weekend I just jump in it and drive the other way. After five days on the freeway, my truck and I really need to cut loose.”
WHATS AND WHERES OF OFF-ROAD RIDING
ACCESSORIES
All-terrain tires: $70-$300
Rims: $120-$200
Suspension kit: $9-$60
Roll bar: $95-$350
Fog lights: $30-$45
AREAS
Azusa Canyon--L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept., San Dimas: (714) 599-1261 or U.S Forest Service office, Mount Baldy (714) 982-2829.
Pismo Beach--Dept. State Parks and Beaches (805) 549-343.
Glamis--Bureau of Land Management office, El Centro office: (619) 339-4375.
INFORMATION
The Bureau of Land Management is publishing a map of open riding areas that may be obtained by writing: Bureau of Land Management, 1695 Spruce St., Riverside, 92507.
