Where can an engineering degree, a bit of boredom, and some video recording equipment take you? Quite far, apparently. Especially if your name is Ed March, and you run the C90 Adventures YouTube channel.
If that name sounds familiar, you might have heard about March's trip around the world on a C90 (and if not, you can check out aaaaaaallll the videos on said YouTube channel). But in the past few years, he's switched from two wheels to four for his adventures.
That's right; somewhere along the way, the British adventurer found himself in Utah. More specifically, he found himself in possession of a mini-Jeep. The ride-in toy kind, that most people relegate to their young kids (if those kids are extremely lucky).
And then, he wondered aloud if he could take the tiniest of Jeeps to Moab.
In stock form, the poor little mini-Jeep had very little horsepower (low double-digits, if I recall). It also had very low ground clearance, no suspension, and 2WD. In other words, hardly the ideal vehicle for tackling any part of Moab--which, of course, is what made the idea fun in the first place.
After all, lots of people take much more appropriate things to the desert. It takes a special kind of mentalist to try it with something that clearly wasn't meant to do more than go around the block a few times in a secluded suburban cul-de-sac.
Mini-Jeep, Meet Honda Quad
For Season Two, Ed decided a bit of a change was in order. While he wasn't ready to give up his mini-Jeep travel dreams, he did what most people would probably do after discovering their new toy wasn't fit for the task they'd set for it.
That's right; he modified the heck out of it.
While he himself studied engineering at school, he was also smart enough to rope in some friends with different categories of expertise than he has, all so they could help out. One buddy is good at fabrication and was instrumental in combining the Honda quad that March bought with his mini-Jeep, so it could become a more capable 4x4 with bigger wheels and more appropriate tires.
They also put a proper suspension on the thing, which instantly helped.
Did We Mention That It's Radio-Controlled?
March also got some robotics expert friends to help him turn his new mini-Jeep build into a radio-controlled vehicle. Sure, it's fun, and you can do silly stuff with it like tow yourself down a snowy mountain, as he does in the video.
But it has a practical side, too. See, March plans to ride from Moab to Area 51 on his newly-upgraded mini-Jeep, just because. He says it's because he wants to ask the aliens to explain if they're the ones who made him the way that he is, but who knows what'll happen when he gets there?
Part of his route is taking him along some snowy mountains in Utah. While the mini-Jeep may not weigh as much as a real Jeep, it's still easy enough to sink into the snow and get stuck. Hopping out, getting on a sled, and redistributing your very real adult male weight so it's not on the little mini-Jeep that could is a legitimate possible solution to getting yourself unstuck.
And it's also fun. That part certainly doesn't hurt.
This is only the first chapter of March's new series on the upgraded mini-Jeep and its travels. Over the course of a few more chapters, we'll find out how he gets on with riding to Area 51. Do you think he'll make it? It certainly seems more likely than it did with the stock version of the mini-Jeep.
