Tim Horton's^® has not taken over the world...

As you may imagine, I travel around North America quite a bit. At one time most of my travel consisted of my wife and I driving my Z28 up and down the west coast visiting unique towns and touristy stops. These days, most of my trips are to odd little places that have big rocks and cool trails tucked into the hillsides that no one can see.

On a recent trip to Colorado I visited and passed through some really neat small towns with great "old west" heritage. One problem – they want Wal-Mart^®, Home Depot^® and all the other big box stores too – or so these big franchises would like everyone to believe. So in Leadville, a town dating back to the Gold Rush in 1860, there is a historic town core that is great to see. Unfortunately on the edge of town is chain store hell, with all your typical names including Wal-Mart^®, Subway^®, Safeway^® and more.

I find this incredibly unfortunate. I don't really travel all that way to see another big corporate sign and parking lots the size of Lake Winnipeg. What we we're looking for as we travel is ever-changing vistas, like the deserts of the USA mid-west, the red rock of Utah, the drifting sands of the Oregon Dunes, the deep root-filled forests of the northwest, the deep snow of the Rockies, Alberta muskeg and more. The landscape is different from one area to another and our 4x4s can take us not only to see it, but also to experience it. If there is one thing we have going for us as we travel to four-wheel is the fact they haven't figured out a way to franchise our rocks, mountains and trees.

Or have they?

Over the past few years competitive rock crawling has brought out some amazing technology for us off-roaders to use in our own rigs. The competitors' vehicles have gone through a metamorphosis every year and what is being used today was nearly unthinkable only a few years ago.

Now, I am not shy about the fact that I am not a big fan of "cone" wheeling, as I call it. In many cases, the placement of the cones forces the vehicles to be small, with little power and a high reliance on gearing. Don't get me wrong – I like competitions, and I agree it can be quite exciting for those folks that are into it. I just prefer competitions in a different format – after all, we've based this magazine on real-world vehicles and events.

As the sport is progressing, so have the attempts to make the competitions more viewer-friendly (i.e. more profitable). Man-made courses are springing up everywhere, made of concrete pipe and rocks covered in sprayed cement. While the feedback from the drivers has been good, this takes rock crawling into the realm of "same thing, different place", kind of like the McDonalds^® of Wheeling.

This really detracts from what I think of as a major attraction of wheeling: that every area you visit has a distinct topography, the scenery is different, and the obstacles vary everywhere you go. Rocks change, they move, some fragment when you drive on them, others stick like glue to your tires. Snow can add great challenge to your favorite hills, and mud can bog you down. This kind of variety is the 'spice' of wheeling.

I realize that I might be offending some folks with this point and that's okay – everyone has their thing. One of mine is going as fast as I possibly can in six feet of snow, a little departure from rock crawling, that's for sure. But it is part of the reason why I was once really interested in Rock Crawling as a sport but never really pursued it as a pastime. (That, and the fact that the rules change yearly). Though we originally conceived the Kanadian Krawler project with rock crawling competition in mind, I am glad that it serves its purpose for all kinds of 'wheeling.

Nonetheless, on the weekend before this year's SEMA show in Las Vegas, I plan to attend the Super Crawl, which will be on a man-made course of concrete. I don't know – maybe my mind will change, but until then I will stick with my franchised Timmy's^® coffee and driving to my favorite wheeling around the continent!

Albert Vandervelde
Editor, 4WD Magazine