The Perils of Off-road Riding

It's an all too familiar story - RVers pull into the park thinking they will spend a relaxing winter enjoying the warm southern Arizona weather. However, after a month or so watching others ride out the back gate in their ORVs and then return later in the day covered in dust/dirt and grinning like school kids, they succumb to the fatal attraction and purchase their own ORV.

This week two of my neighbors did just that and bought Polaris RZRs. Recognizing that this is becoming an epidemic in senior communities across the state, I decided to write about the perils of off-road riding.

It begins with you taking short rides where the trails are flat and easy but the scenery is exotic - you are seeing all kinds of cacti, critters, and panoramic vistas. You are amazed at how beautiful the desert can be.

Next, you find yourself joining a gang of rowdy seniors and taking longer, more challenging rides. The trails are getting steeper and the rocks are getting bigger. What started out as a harmless hobby is fast becoming an addiction. You are on your way to becoming an "adrenaline junkie".

Ultimately, you hit rock bottom... literally. You find yourself upside down in your machine at the bottom of an insanely steep series of rock ledges. You are okay but your ORV is toast. It's then that you realize you have a problem. If you are lucky, you find a local AA (ATV Anonymus) group and begin your twelve step program to recovery.

Got anything steeper?