Back Forty Magazine

Side by Sides~ Why Ride?

Why Ride?

Article: February 2016

Is it feeling like you are one with nature; being able to drive as fast as you want; feeling like a kid again because you are hitting every mud hole you come across big or small; Is it because if you want to you can do donuts like a teenage boy in an empty parking lot ~ or is it the comradery of riding with others that “share the love” for ATV’s of any sort.    Why ride?   Maybe it’s all of those things or maybe it’s something totally different but one thing is true~    you are able to drive around in a buggy and do things that you could NEVER do while driving down an open highway.

My first taste of ATV's was when as a newlywed he came home excited to tell me that he had found the perfect racing bike "for us"! A beautiful Yamaha Banshee ~Red, White and Blue with nitrous go fast.  I didn’t ride, much less race but somehow he convinced me it was a great deal so he was having it shipped from California.    The real "surprise" was when he said "hey I'm going racing now".      So I'm driving down a dark country road to a little small town destination somewhere in E. Texas and get a phone call saying "HURRY he just crashed on the track and appears to be out cold".    I get there, jump out of my car and go running across the outdoor track as fast as I can to see that he is awake but clearly in a lot of pain...

That would be our first trip to the ER.

A few races later we end up at an indoor track just outside of Fort Worth. Looked like somewhere I would have gone to watch a rodeo with just an old wooden fence between the bleachers where I was sitting and the old dirt track.      My confidence in being a spectator was back and I was excited to watch the race. Gunshot sounds~ and they’re off!      Within a flash (still not sure exactly what happened) the fast moving ATV behind him clipped him from behind and he went flying across the track.    Within a flash this little girl had pushed her way through the crowd crawling over people’s heads and had scaled the wall of that old fence ... Oh wait, you mean there are rules against that?!?X#

We kept at it and fast forward a year of watching motocross four wheelers I find myself on one of those outdoor tracks that is just so big that you can see part of the race, but not quite all of it.     I was finally getting into this “racing thing” a little bit and was starting to have some fun with it… even had found the most perfect red, lightweight jacket that just looked like something you should wear to a race.      Watching ~ cheering ~ just seemed like such a long race that day. I’m the type of person who can lose attention pretty quickly so next thing I know there is the Checkered Flag ~ I remember thinking

“ hmmm .. Where did he go?” All of the other back runners seemed to have passed by already.

Wait a minute ~ when I look up and his buddy who is the flagman is "GONE" it dawns on me that he must be in trouble.

The good news is he was okay for the most part (just glad I didn't see it) because as we were about to haul him off to the ER (for about the 3rd visit)

a random lady says "Excuse me".    She wanted her little girl to see that "the guy who flipped his four wheeler in the worse wreck they'd ever seen not on TV" WAS still alive.

Of course he was OKAY but that was just a bit too intense for me thus ending the "racing years" stage of our life.

Now I'm sure many of you still race your ATV'S like crazy embracing the power and excitement of it all but for us "today" we just really want to be the ones either just sitting back watching the show or riding down an open trail somewhere. I love relaxing and being a spectator!

It’s not long… and this time he comes home with a Suzuki King Quad that he bought for "me". This poor country girl had never been on a four wheeler before. So all I could tell you was that it was big, blue and had a nice cozy seat.   He told me it was “real easy to shift” but truth be told I don't think I really ever understood which way was which~ or why.   Either way, I pushed and pulled until that big blue quad would go.     We lived in small town suburbia at the time so we ended up riding in the fields out behind our house.
Very quickly one ATV wasn't enough so he brings home a Yamaha Four Wheeler and soon we found ourselves riding anywhere that we could find. He would throw a big blow up mattress in that white box racing trailer and presto we could camp anywhere. Tents, campfires, beautiful trails and nature-- this was life for us for many years. Bottled water showers eventually just weren't as fun anymore so we decided to invest in our first real camper and bought a set of matching Kawasaki 650's one in red and the other camo green.

So for the first ride on the New Kawasaki’s it ended up being a "guy ride" at a park that was way too advanced for my non-existent riding skills. So what did I say - I'll stay home to make everyone dinner and have the girls over to help out.

Late in the day we get a phone call from the buddy who borrowed my New Red Kawasaki and somehow he rolled it down a mountain -- whaaaaat?

First question from his wife was oh s@it! Is the four wheeler okay?!   Luckily he was okay and the ATV was "fixable". We spent years riding after that - mainly in the trails of Clayton, Oklahoma~ Broken Bow, Oklahoma and after too many of our favorite trails were shut down we ended up riding primarily in the Mena, Arkansas~ Wolf Pen Gap Area.

Years of trail riding later I end up with a new Cherry Red Suzuki King Quad 700. My not much over 100 pound self felt like a speed racer and I thought it was the greatest ride EVER!

My super driving skills kicked in (the skills that just don’t exist) and while following the group along the trail, as I slowly went up the... ~ well can't call it a boulder, or even a very big steep hill.   In reality~ it was just a very small elevation I suppose. Being the smart rider I am, I didn't quite drive "straight" up the hill for some reason (a lot of bike for me) and next thing I know I started to v-e-r-y~ slowly lean to the right.    In a moment of panic for some crazy reason I grabbed onto something --OH WAIT that's not something to grab onto for help that was the gas throttle and next thing I know I was surely going over fast!

Who grabs onto a throttle because their four wheeler is tipping?   Apparently I do!    So I end up on my back on the ground and all I can think seeing that pretty red new ride was Dear Lord please don’t let this beast roll on top of me.          That day ended my streak of solo trail riding and after that I decided I only wanted to ride with him on the back of the ATV. When riding double you want to be sure and think about safety.... use caution and wearing a helmet is always a good idea because just like in my situation what seems like a simple maneuver could end up being not so simple.

So for the next several years other than riding it by myself to take out the trash at home, I decided that I was OKAY with just being a passenger.

Now we went through other four wheelers in the years that followed.      Lots of years, lots of stories and lots of four wheelers later we end up buying a used Side-by-Side Polaris RZR 800.    My first thought was NO~ I only love four wheelers but then I had a chance to be a passenger in IT. About 30 minutes into the ride I started thinking to myself I love this   …and the love of our my first side- by- side was born.

We always ride together so what a great way to be able to talk, listen to music and for me personally really feel like I had finally found a very comfortable way to ride.    I even had a cup holder! I just want to sit back drink in hand enjoying the ride.   If it’s cold I take a blanket ~ so it’s perfect for someone like me that wants to just sit back and have fun. It's just like driving a car so I could drive if I wanted to and will on occasion. If you both like to drive then there is always the option of HIS and HERS.

For him it’s perfect because he is still able to have the same fun riding like he did in the four wheeler but from the comfort of a buggy.    So when the Artic Cat Wildcat 1000 came out we just had to have one....White, black and orange.      Now this was a sweet ride.      Awesome sound system, 2 cup holders, throw in some "flashy lights" and this girl was in heaven.        Soon many of our friends had gone and bought Cats too and let the fun and games begin.   Now we had a big awesome group of side-by-side riding friends with one common goal~ simply to have fun.    Our SXS craze had begun.   We had Wildcats, RZR's, Can Am's and ever now and then someone will join in with a Four Wheeler or some other type of UTV.      Let the good times roll. We went to Mud Parks for years with the ATV's but taking the Side-by-Sides out with a big group of great friends has been extremely fun.

The ATV playing field has evolved over the last several years and Side-by-Sides seem to be the wave of the future. Call them UTV's or SXS...we often just call them buggies because that's what they are. Personalize them, customize it with all types of accessories, make the tunes loud and with the added touch of flashing lights and lighted whips on everyone’s buggies it looks like a parade at Christmas. After years of riding four wheelers which I found incredibly fun ~ there is probably nothing better than the comfort of a SXS. I finally feel safe, I don't have to worry about rolling out because if I want to I can wear my seat belt. I am warmer or cooler depending on the season and can just sit back and enjoy the ride.

So I ask myself ~ Why do we ride? It’s not about the destination of where we are riding to. It’s the journey.

It doesn’t matter if we are riding for 200 miles or 2 miles it’s the comradery and the fun that we have with our friends during the journey. It's pulling each other out when someone is stuck or sometimes stopping to help strangers. Getting lost on a trail, building a campfire just to hang out for awhile.   We can be in a traffic jam with hundreds of people or somewhere riding in the middle of nowhere and it always turns into a great time.      I think our group sometimes rides for 5 or 10 minutes then stops to socialize for the next 40 minutes.

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere we will be riding, getting stuck in the mud, building a bonfire when possible, making new friends and listening to the loudest music we have.    Don't need a fancy club or a vacation to have a good time... take us out in the "stix" and it will be the best time you have had in a long while.

So we will be watching the ever evolving world of Side-by-Sides and can’t wait to see the improvements that are in store for the future!

In the meantime, we will be out somewhere in the BACK FORTY having a good time!

Somewhere in the Back Forty.....