Bryan’s souped-up Chevy tackles off-road terrain
|
It also doesn’t hurt to be a mechanic, as Bryan, the owner of Brakes-n-More off Sparta Street, knows all too well.
He spent almost two years and thousands of dollars transforming a 1988 Chevy S-10 Blazer from a $150 shell of a vehicle with a 2.8 V-6 engine into what it is today – an impressive piece of machinery with a 350 Chevy V-8.
He and a few other locals have joined the Cumberland Off Road Club headquartered in Cookeville. Club members coordinate rides that are typically located on private property such as old strip mines or abandoned logging roads.
“Everything changes,” fellow club member Zeke Newby of Warren County said of riding. “You go in and ride a place and you could go back in a month and it’s a completely different area. There’s always something new happening.”
Bryan rides in woods as close as Irving College and Harrison Ferry Mountain, and as far away as North Carolina. Some members pour hours of work into their vehicles, while some have a plain, old four-wheel drive.
“We go on some rides where you could take your stock truck and have a good time riding through the woods sightseeing,” Bryan said. “We’ve also got guys who have built trucks with 44-inch tires, military 2-1/2 ton running gear, and they pretty much go to the woods to see how much stuff they can tear up.”
After becoming interested in the sport in 1996, Bryan bought his first truck, a four-wheel drive 1972 Chevy Blazer. He started building on the 1988 S-10 after becoming involved with another club first in 1997 and wanting to tackle one of that club’s challenges.
“I actually built it to run one of the challenges, but I’ve not gotten up the courage yet to actually enter the challenge,” Bryan said.
Bryan is quick to point out some off-road enthusiasts today are spending $100,000 or more on top-of-the-line vehicles. As far as his vehicle, the Blazer is not a “monster truck,” a “rock hound” or a “mud puppy,” using terms for vehicles that perform differently in different types of terrain. Bryan says he has achieved a comfortable median between the vehicles suited for hugging rocks or sliding through mud.
Another false assumption would be that off-roading consists of a whirlwind race through the woods.
“Top speed is 5 miles an hour and that’s on a flat stretch of land where there are no obstacles,” he said. “Where you get into the rocky sections, you’re just at a crawl. We’ve got some guys that we ride with who have straight-shift transmissions and they can literally put everything in low range and walk faster than the truck is going.”
Bryan, who lost his leg in a logging accident in 1984, said he learned to drive a tractor when he was 8 and says it’s important to know the limits of the machine. And while it’s a slow-paced sport, as with any sport, there are dangers.
“In any off-roading situation, never go by yourself,” Bryan advises, adding a fire extinguisher and a first-aid kit are the bare essentials.
“There is a possibility of tearing up your vehicle or somebody getting hurt. Maybe you took on a little bigger obstacle than you should have and you’ve crashed your truck. There’s nobody there to help you get out.”
While it can be dangerous, Bryan said off-roading can be a family hobby. And he said it has given him a chance to enjoy the outdoors again.
“It kind of took me away from my roots by becoming a mechanic. And then I got back into it through off-roading, building my trucks and playing in the woods,” he added.