Roy Hoglund loves to crawl his dune-buggylike sand rail over the toughest, roughest, lumpiest terrain he can find. Hoglund is a “technical climbing” enthusiast, an off-road riding style that involves low-gear creeping over obstacles that look impossible to negotiate.
Debra Campbell makes a family event out of the dust-raising sport. Last weekend, about 20 of her relatives gathered at Frank Raines Regional Park in western Stanislaus County for a weekend of camping and competition.
“It’s about us competing against one another,” she said. “We cook breakfast together, sit around the campfire at night. It’s all about family, just being together.”
Both are users of Stanislaus County’s two off-road vehicle parks, at Frank Raines in Del Puerto Canyon and at La Grange Regional Park just south of La Grange in eastern Stanislaus County.
The La Grange Off-Highway Vehicle Park has milder terrain and is a good place for newbies to practice. It includes a motorcycle motocross track, where race promoters stage races, and areas for younger riders to learn the ropes of dirt biking.
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