Editor's note: A version of this article ran in the July issue of BRAIN.
DENVER (BRAIN) — A Colorado business is offering short term rentals of fully outfitted overlanding vehicles for visitors and locals who want to go offroad camping with all the toys, including bikes.
Titus Adventure Company rents Toyota 4x4s set up with Kuat bike racks, bike tools, pump, Park Tools apron, and camping equipment including a roof top tent and cooking gear. The company can coordinate bike rentals or visitors can work with a local bike shop to ship bikes to Colorado ahead of time and TAC will have them waiting for them. TAC can deliver the vehicles to Denver's airport so visitors can start their adventure immediately.
Daily rental rates start at $210.
While the burly vehicles — TAC offers Toyota Tacoma, 4Runner and Sequoia 4x4s — are far from the greenest machines on the road, the company says its business actually benefits the environment. That's because TAC buys carbon credits to offset the impact of each trip. And the service could encourage some Colorado residents to avoid buying a large vehicle for everyday use and instead rent a TAC vehicle for occasional adventures.
TAC was founded last year by Travis Titus, a Colorado native and passionate mountain biker.
Titus said the business "taps into the momentum of the Sharing Economy and the Overlanding movement, while at the same time helping a growing number of Colorado transplants experience the West's wild places without adding to the congestion of the Front Range.
"We know close-to-home adventures and human-powered adventures will only become more important in the coming months," he said.
Besides the carbon offsets, TAC donates $10 from each daily rental to various nonprofits, including the Colorado Mountain Club, which is developing an app to inventory and report public lands use, including the kind of dispersed camping that overlanding enthusiasts favor.
More information: tacrentals.com.
