The everyday wheelchair was a great invention for the mobility impaired. Over time the wheelchair got lighter and lighter; exotic materials like titanium and carbon graphite were used to create light weight wheelchairs with exciting designs. But the wheelchair, while granting mobility, was mostly effective on a hard surface. Softer surfaces like grass were possible to navigate, sand was next to impossible to move through, and any deep woods type terrain was absolutely out of the question. Inevitably, athletic individuals who had a desire to hike, camp, and generally go where the mere wheelchair could not go, developed adaptations to the basic everyday wheelchair to make off-road terrain more navigable. The first addition was the 26" knobby rear tire taken from mountain bikes to add in traction on soft, wet, or difficult terrain. Following that, the front casters became larger to decrease the chance of getting stuck on small rocks and sticks. Sublte but necessary changes took place to the everyday wheelchair until the every day wheelchair frame itself needed to be redesigned. Today there are several classes of off-road wheelchairs. From the everyday wheelchair with knobby tires and rear wheel suspention, to the hard core, high speed, independant wheel suspention off road warriors, the off-road wheelchair has finally come into its own. The off-road wheelchair now competes side by side with mountain bikers in dual slalom and down hill events reaching speeds well over 50 miles per hour! As this sport grows in popularity so do the off-road wheelchair choices. Check your local sport organization for this exciting new sport. Some may even have an off-road wheelchair you can try.