Fortunately for me, I was hired because of my journalism background and online production experience. If the powers that be had been looking for an experienced ATV rider, I wouldn’t be writing this article.

However, since I do, in fact, work for ATV.com, I thought it would do me some good to spend some time on the trails.

After getting in touch with Mike Carr, a Polaris district sales manager in northern California, he arranged a day of riding.

I met Carr at his house just outside of Sacramento. We hopped in his truck and headed north upstate about 85 miles and met up with the rest of our party in Chico. After gassing up the vehicles, we drove into the hills about 35 miles northeast of Chico to our starting point in a place called Butte Meadows.

On this November morning, there was still a little chill in the mountain air, but the temperature would climb to a comfortable level in short order.

I started the day on the Sportsman 800 and we headed out into the woods on some fire trails. I was a little tentative at first, but I managed to squeeze the throttle enough to reach about 45 miles an hour. This is far below the Sportsman’s capabilities, but I figured I should at least get comfortable before going all out.

About 15 minutes into the ride and before hitting the rough trails, we stopped and did a head count. It seems we were short two riders.

Glende assumed they had taken a wrong turn, but after waiting for a while with no sign of them, Carr headed back in the RZR to see what he could find. He returned a few minutes later, followed by Peter Schmitz on a bike and Ritchey, who seemed to be driving his Outlaw with one hand.

Turns out Ritchey switched off his trusty Outlaw and took a turn on Schmitz’s motocross bike. Apparently it’s difficult to make that particular transition and Ritchey crashed the bike after hitting a rock on the fire trail. His hand now resembled an inflated rubber glove and his arm was broken.

Ritchey was offered a ride back on the Ranger XP, but he said he didn’t want to ruin everybody’s day so he hopped back on the Outlaw with one hand on the throttle and the other in a makeshift sling made out of a fleece jacket and drove back. Schmitz followed on his now damaged bike to help him load up the truck and suddenly our party of eight was now down to six.

Before leaving, Ritchey, who has been riding for 20 years, insisted that this was the first time he has ever been seriously hurt. That news was small consolation for me. If a rider with 20 years of experience can break his arm before even getting to the rough trails, what does that say for my immediate future? Also, if I broke my arm would I have to man-up and drive back on my own with one hand? Before Ritchey’s display of machismo, I would have thought being airlifted out by a helicopter while sobbing uncontrollably might have been an appropriate response. Guess not.

After Ritchey’s mishap, Carr told us all about the time he crashed his ATV, rolled about 90 feet down a cliff and suffered three broken ribs. Perhaps I should have just gone back with Ritchey.

Slightly more scared of embarrassing myself than crashing, I decided to continue and hopped back on the Sportsman. Before we got to the rough terrain, I switched off and decided to ride shotgun in the Ranger RZR. Not only does it look cool and have speed to burn, but it also comes equipped with seat belts, a roll cage and a grab bar for the passenger–features that became much more important to me in the following 30 minutes.