by Big Jake's ATV Rentals.  You got all your buddies and their ATV's ready

to join in on a FUN-tastic, FUN-FILLED weekend.  You got loads of time and

even more 93-octane ready to roast in your 660cc power-plant.  Nothing's gonna

get in your way of experiencing the ultimate thrills of roaming God's gorgeous country.

Nothing between you and the glorious landscape but 600lbs of 4-wheel-drive

MUSCLE!  Below are some tips to keep your head in the clouds and your knobbies

in the DIRT, and to ensure that your ultimate riding experience is in fact the

ULTIMATE riding experience!

    CURVES:  When driving into a turn or curve, lean to the INSIDE of the turn.  If

you'regoing around a right-hand curve, lean to the right. If its to the left, lean to the left. This

will keep the ATV balanced properly, providing better safety and performance.

    HILLCLIMBS/ASCENTS:  Lean FORWARD when driving up hill, especially

steep inclines.  Again, this will keep you more safely planted on the ATV, and make it

less likely to take a backwards tumble, most likely on top of YOU.  And with 600lbs 

of angry ATV landing on your torso, even with chest-protection, you're gonna feel it.

On really tricky uphill terrain, engage the 4WD and crawl up in low-range.  If its a

hill that gives you that "oh-crap" feeling, think really hard before making the climb. Take

a deep breath, a deep thought, and determine whether its really worth climbing.  Always

remember, its much smarter to avoid something that could ruin your trip, or

even ruin your life.  If you see a group of ATV enthusiasts climbing a hill that

looks like Mt. Everest and you feel uneasy about trying it yourself, then don't

do it.  Even if your buddies are all doing it, it just ain't worth it when the EMS

is scraping you off the side of a mountain and hauling the chunks of the ATV off

in  Zip-Lok bags.

    DESCENTS:  Lean BACK in the seat when going down steep hills.  Apply

the rear brake instead of the front break to keep the ATV from nose-diving.  The EBS

(engine-braking-system) will help slow the machine down. If you're crawling down some

really tricky stuff, engage the 4WD and low-range to give the engine even better braking

power.

    MUD:  Mudding can be a lot of fun, or a lot of not-so-fun.  If you're ATV

is setup with the right wheel/tire combination, a winch, a lift-kit, snorkel, and a lot of

buddies who are willing to help out, then you can be an "unstoppable" mud-maestro.

However, with the ATV's offered by Big Jake's ATV Rentals, the machine is pretty

much stock, and is setup for more universal riding styles.  In 4WD, low-grange, with 4WD

 Interlock mode engaged, the Grizzly 660 is a force to be reckoned with, but remember

that even a military-tank can get stuck if you try hard enough. So, proceed into those mud-

holes with caution, 600lbs is no fun to drag out by hand.

Now what could possibly adversely affect such terrain-torching bliss?  Two

words: Monkey-Butt.  What the heck is Monkey-Butt?  Read on for more details on

Monkey-Butt and other nasty afflictions that can be avoided and again, to make sure

that your ultimate riding experience is in fact the ULTIMATE riding experience!

 realm as MBS (Monkey-Butt Syndrome), this is a hateful affliction that affects your

nether-regions (think groin, rear-end, inner-thighs, etc,) in a very uncomfortable

manner.  It is normally caused by excess moisture between your

seat/pants/underwear junction and is worsened by wearing loose underwear,

blue-jeans, or any pants/undies that would normally cause "chafing" when performing

anything that involves friction.  Take my word for it, after one experience of MBS, you'll

probably wanna sit the ride out, marinating in diaper-rash cream.  Alot of people

don't like talking about this stuff, kind of like under-arm crashes.  But for those of

us who actually like having a great time without all the avoidable side-affects, it always

pays to prevent, rather than lament. How do you avoid it?  Invest in

some "riding pants," pants designed for riding ATV's and dirt bikes.  They offer

much better sweat/moisture control, have a very comfortable liner, and they even look

cool (unless you dig the retro-zebra-stripes look).  They also offer better crash

of riding without gloves.  Unless you work with your hands a lot and are used to

having tough skin on your hands and fingers, you're probably going to experience

Raw-Paw.  This is when your hands get raw and blistered from the handlebar

grips.  It doesn't matter what kind of grips are on the ATV, anyone whose been

riding for any period of time will tell you that without gloves, your hands are going

to be punished.  So, the obvious solution is to buy yourself some gloves.  I

highly recommend actual riding gloves, since they aren't much more

expensive than a decent pair of work gloves, and are much more

comfortable, have better grip, have good ventilation, and again, they

thirsty that you could literally suck the fluids out of your own radiator just to get

some relief.  You'll even start longing for the juice in your buddy's

chewing-tobacco-spit-cup back in the truck!  This is especially prevalent in the summer

 when not only is the hot sun baring down on you all day, and not only are you working

harder than you think to control your ATV, but you're steadily sweating your body's

hydration away every minute.  What's the solution?  There's several, actually.  The most

simple solution is to purchase a belt-strap-mounted water-bottle.  These can be found

at pretty much any sporting-goods store.  Better yet is the COBB-APPROVED

product called the Camelbak^®.  It is a plastic bladder that holds water and keeps it cool

in a nice backpack that's low-profile and very comfortable/non-intrusive to where while

riding.  It has a tube that latches to your collar so anytime you get thirsty just bite down

on the tube and suck down all the water you crave - while you're RIDING!  I fill mine

with ice and then top it off with water so it stays good and frosty.  Some people go

as far as strapping a cooler down to the rack of their ATV and filling it with their

beverage of choice.  Some people dig "thirst-quencher" type drinks, but there's

you too can be constipated.   Anybody whose ever ridden any amount

of time after eating a super-sized value meal knows all about this.  What happens

is this:  You eat on the way to the trailhead, usually something quick, easy, and

enough to fill up your gut so you'll last through the day without starving. Next,

you suit up and hit the trail. never making that ever-important trip to the john.

All that bouncing, jarring, lashing, and whipping wreaks havoc on your

intestinal tract like a ramrod stuffing a canon.  Not giving your gizzard

enough time to properly digest will leave you extremely uncomfortable, to

say the least.  You'll grit your teeth every time you run over anything

larger than an ant's butt, knowing that its going to feel like you got an alien

trying to rip its way out of your gut like in the movie.  So how do you avoid

getting internal-impact?  Give yourself time between your meal and your ride.

If you're just snacking all day, you're fine.  But if you eat a full-course meal,

just grab your favorite magazine and pay the stall a visit.  Also, avoid too many

carbonated drinks, as they don't help with constipation either.  Drink plenty of

water and take it easy on a full gut.  Again, this is something most people don't

really want to hear about, but for those of us who really enjoy a good ride on

GREAT ride?  Click on the flying e-mail link below, ALL of us in the off-road