Off-road adventures await the adventurous who feel hemmed in by city steets and want to travel on roads with lots of mud but no other barriers. (Courtesy of www.offroadmaster.com) Unfortunately for drivers, traffic jams control roads in Kyiv. One has to always be ready to waste some time in them regardless of the route and weather. But the truly free-spirited drivers dare to make their own rules and enjoy the road adventure of their own choice. In Ukraine, off-road contests, rallies and carting are widely available to all those who love being on the move even in their spare time.

An old Slavonic proverb says that smart guys never climb the mountain, but go around it. Ukrainian Automobile Trophy Raid Federation would disagree: extreme uphill and downhill rides, as well as rides across misty, swampy meadows and mountain rivers, sands and forests are their hobby.

To become a member, one should start with buying a car: a quad bike, a motorcycle, or an off-road automobile. If the driver plans to take part in off-road competitions regularly, sometimes most of the original spare parts in the car are replaced in order to guarantee the safety of a team of two to four people.

Competing teams follow a specially designed route that includes various challenges and has to be completed over a certain period of time. Sometimes it takes a whole day to go through just a few kilometers. Each team is supplied with GPS maps that help with the route. Upon reaching special marks on the road – logs, trees, or posts – one of the team members must get out of the car and touch the mark. The challenge is to hold on to your vehicle with your hand or with your foot while stretching to touch the mark. Another team member must take a photo of you making sure he also gets the car plate in.

When the time is up, winners are picked by analyzing how far they managed to travel and how good their tactics were.

Ukraine has an extensive list of off- road driving clubs despite the novelty of the movement. You will find links to all the main clubs in the info box on the left. Each website contains information about a certain club: its rules, meetings schedule, requirements for participation, photos and written reports of previous rides. A great advantage of this type of sport is that you can do it all year round, whatever the weather.

Basically, this is a type of a hobby, which takes up a great deal of time, energy and money for those who are not afraid of freezing in cold temperatures or getting stuck in mud with little chance of an easy rescue.

If slow and mucky rides are not for you, you might want to try rally contests and carting: they’re all about high speed and open roads without barriers. Quick reaction is crucial here. Another issue that sets rallies and carting apart from off road contests is publicity: crowds of cheering fans are an essential element at those events.

The main Ukrainian rally portal is www.rally.in.ua. It offers fresh news, articles, results of the latest contests, interviews with drivers and links to other resources that might be interesting for racers.

One of those is www.2108.kiev.ua/rally/. You can register with this club by submitting an online application. Membership gives you special bonuses such as discounts at service centers, the right to take part in contests and rides, and bumper stickers to prove that you belong to a road community. The website offers information about upcoming events, photos and written reports of races that have already taken place. The only disadvantage is that the majority of Ukrainian rally websites don’t have English versions.

Another option is carting. It’s open to anyone – men and women of different ages and physical shape can compete. All you have to do is rent a cart at any of the carting centers for Hr 70-110 per 10 minutes of a ride. One can learn how to drive it properly, get all the necessary equipment, train and participate in contests. So if you are into extreme car sports, Ukraine gives you plenty of options to practise your hobby.

Off-road websites:
http://www.road.net.ua
http://ukraine-trophy.com
http://offroad.lviv.ua
http://offroad.net.ua
http://www.krym4x4.com


Rally:
http://www.rally.in.ua


CARTING:
Need For Speed carting centre
9 Hlushkova Avenue, 526-06-31, http://karting.com.ua

Terminal entertainment centre
Brovary, 316 Kyivska, 200-1400, http://www.karting-center.com.ua

Chayka carting
Chayka sport centre, 247-06-67, http://go-karting.com.ua


Yulia Blindyuk can be reached at blindyuk@kyivpost.com