Off-road enough for all
12.07.2005 Novye Izvestiya
The selection rounds of the transcontinental automobile race “Expedition-Trophy 2006” were held in Dmitrov district of Moscow Region. The entries for the race had to change their specialization – instead of jeeps there were provided with quad bikes and sent to a 24-hours drive through forests, mountains and swamps.
The challenges and dangers of such trips were suffered by the reporter of “Extreme” Nikolai Bogomolov.
Reporters at the sharp end
The Organizers of the “Expedition-Trophy 2006” are definitely not to be denied originality. Instead of describing the main points of the selection rounds to the reporters, they provided the latter with quad bikes and suggested that they should themselves try accomplishing the tasks, prepared for the participants of the race.
The additional difficulty consisted in the obligatory presence of a “the weaker sex” representative in the team alongside with two men. Our girl had never ridden a quad bike in her life, but after a short instruction started to operate the vehicle as a true racer.
The task seemed pretty easy in the beginning – we were supposed to drive about the surroundings, searching for the control points with the help of GPS-navigators and get photographed with our quads nearby.
In the intervals between those “trips” we were required to pass through special zones, built up in hollows, rivers and hills not far from the camp.
Presently after the start we understood: there is no way of getting off it lightly. In the forest the GPS failed to locate the spot accurately. Two navigators set next to each other could show opposite directions with the difference of hundreds of meters. In such conditions it was hard to find an orange paper sheet, nailed to a tree in the middle of windbreak.
Having found 3 control points within 4 hours, we returned to the camp and decided to do away with another special zone called “stream-crossing”, where we needed to drag all three quads to the other side over two swaying logs. At the crossing we found our competitors – their first bike nearly reached the other bank and fell into the water. For a few hours “the stronger sex” part of the team, tumbling about in the ice-cold water, tried to push the three-hundred-kilo quad onto the steep bank.
The other bike, that pulled the rope through a pulley tackle, suddenly fumed and pot out: its variator belt burnt down. Having watched our colleagues’ drudgery for some time, we simultaneously decided to give up the special zone and get back to searching for control points. But nothing good came out of it as well: in the fog all the navigators failed to work. For several hours we drove around the dark forest and succeeded only once. By morning the unfortunate “stream-crossing” submitted to only one team – for hours in a row two men had been binding logs up and digging them in, while the girl was providing them with hot tea and sandwiches. Such division of labour proved to be more than effective – all three quads landed on the other bank.
«Only the old campaigners go into the assault…»
A week later the selective round of the “Expedition” started up on the well-known track. At the starting line there were 6 teams, among which we found the “old campaigners” of the “Expedition-Trophy” race that is to be held for the third time this year. Only then I realized that the Organizers had spared the reporters: the real special zones were much tougher than the test ones. There were more river zones: in addition to the above mentioned “stream-crossing” appeared “the raft”. The entries had to construct a floating craft out of logs and ropes, put a quad on it and drift it down the river. The fact that it had been raining for several days in the region added its charm to the “dirty work”. The areas that could have been skipped without delay a week before, now turned into deep sticky swamps.
The “Off-road Wolfs” team, consisting of the two winners of the “Expedition-Trophy 2005” Sergey Savenko and Evgeniya Gerasimova, had properly prepared for the race. While the other participants dived into the ice-cold water wearing T-shirts and jeans, the old campaigners put on waterproof overalls and got through the water and dirt dry and warm. The crossing was overcome by the experienced racers in a breeze.
The onlookers, expecting a spectacular show with flipping over bikes and diving sportsmen got a bit disappointed. Some diversity was created by the tourists, rowing down the river in kayaks and twin-decks. Apparently they didn’t expect to encounter an original installation made of logs, ropes and quad bikes in the middle of the well-known scenery. The “Wolves” heels were snapped by another team of “veterans” – “Lukashev.ru”. And still they didn’t manage to catch up with the leaders: “Off-road Wolfs” became the first team that won a free car, provided by the organizers for the February race. The other participants will be defined in the course of further qualifying rounds that will be taking place in the largest regions of Russia up to November 2005.
And then we counted the losses…
Even during the test tasks we could see that riding a quad bike is not at all a safe occupation: a few vehicles got seriously damaged in the ardor of battle. One of the participating girls step down on the throttle too hard and drove over a tree that straightened up a moment later and flipped the quad over the girl, who had fallen out of the saddle. The diagnosis was the concussion of brain and severe bruises. While reporters tried to spare the machines, other entries, being captivated by the fight, completely forgot about all safety rules and regulations - hinged joints flew out, plastic broke to pieces, wheels got loose, variator belts burnt down and so on. The special zone called “logs”, strewn with huge wood clogs, turned out to be the most fatal for the vehicles: some machines didn’t survive such heavy blows and broke out in the middle of the artificial windbreak.
Fortunately people proved to be stronger than machines: the qualifying rounds didn’t entail any serious physical injuries.
Nickolai Bogomolov
