Off Road Driving
Off road driving or off roading, as it is more popularly called, has become a craze in the modern society. It seems that people are bored of driving on smooth roads. Now they have turned toward the rougher patches. Off road driving includes driving on surfaces like rocks, sand, snow, mud, gravel, and other such natural surfaces.
Off road driving is an adventure sport, where you undergo the risks of driving through challenging terrain. For off road driving, you need special vehicles like mountain bikes, snow mobiles, heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles, SUVs, and ATVs. Sometimes, normal vehicles are modified with various special tires and controls to make them suitable for off road driving. The more the control, the greater are your chances of winning the off road driving competition.
Off road races are common phenomenon in Europe and North America. Off road racing took a different dimension from mid 20th Century. Associations like National Off Roading Racing Association were formed in North America. Such associations shouldered the responsibility of organizing and encouraging off road races. The cross country rallies are very popular in Europe. They have desert race and rally raids known as Master Ralyee and Paris Dakar.
There are various types of off road driving. Dune bashing is a popular kind of off road driving, where you have to drive over sand dunes. This is usually seen in the Middle-east. The Imperial Sand Dunes of California and the Silver Lake Salt Dune of Michigan are important venues for dune bashings in the United States.
Greenlaning involves driving through forests and paths that are not paved. You have to drive through roads that have not been in use for a long time. This is one of the least challenging off road trips. Greenlaning is mainly done to soak in the beauty of the country side or to travel through old roads.
Mudding or Mud Bogging is one of the interesting types of off road driving. The person, who is able to drive the maximum distance in wet clay and mud, wins this race. This requires special kinds of tires called Mud Terrain tires. The vehicles used here have to be prepared for taking up the challenges of driving through mud.
Rock crawling is comparatively difficult among the other off road driving options. The vehicles are fitted with huge stick tires and suspension components. The vehicles in this case require the perfect ratio of low speed and high torque to see through till the end of the race. Rock racing is a variation of rock crawling. This involves driving at a higher speed and not having to face penalties for winching or hitting few cones. For driving through sand and gravel, one has to participate in Formula Off Road events.
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