The Ultimate Adventure: A week of road tripping and hard-core trail riding, all in the name of fun. It's 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine's signature event where we tackle the best trails in the country, with no whining allowed along the way. If you caught us last year on the road or trail our adventure took us over 1,200 miles from the Rubicon to the Bitch trail in Canada. This year our motley bunch started in Cedar City, Utah, traveled to Moab, hit Montrose, Colorado, and ended up in Canon City, Colorado, with another 1,200 miles on the odometer.
But this Adventure was expanded from our standard format of friends, staff, and sponsors. This year we selected two readers to wheel with us, and they came through with flying colors. While veterans of the Ultimate Adventure knew the routine and what to expect, Greg Schaefer of Commerce City, Colorado, and Donnie Roebuck of Deltona, Florida, were magazine-run virgins. These readers were selected from tons of entrants vying for a spot on the trip, and didn't know what to expect other than what they had read from previous coverage. Along with veterans of Ultimate Adventures, Greg and Donnie joined our growing group of sponsors-BFGoodrich, Tuff Country, Flowmaster, PIAA, Warn, Trailready, Avalanche Engineering, AGR, Off Road Unlimited, Rhino Linings, ARB, Dynatrac, Makita, and ATS. We even had a professional video crew along, and that footage should be airing soon on Xtreme Sports TV (XSTV), which runs on Fox Sports East and West, Sunshine Cable Network, Comcast, and the Action Sports Network, with special segments on TNN's Truck TV. A videotape of the saga will also be available from Off Road Unlimited in late November.
Our rules for the trip are simple, starting with the "No Whining" concept that works so well. We also eliminate trailers and wimps, and state that vehicles and occupants must be self-sufficient in repairs and parts.
Our game plan was to have check-in, inspection, and registration completed on Saturday so we could leave fresh for wheeling on Sunday morning. Once in the beautiful town of Cedar City, the host hotel parking lot was jammed with 27 rigs, some of which were having last-minute modifications made, such as cutting fenders for more clearance and replacing water pumps and radiators. As the weeklong thrash and funfest unfolded, more repairs and mods were made on what was the best Ultimate Adventure yet. Check out our trip this year, and think about applying for next year's run, which promises to be even better still.