Terry Madden

Winging It and Loving It

Terry Madden is as easygoing as anyone and shaped by his life experiences. Whether it’s as a “sheltered middle-America” child, or as an eight-year US Army veteran, Can-Am racer and unofficial King of the Hammers spokesperson, Terry has made it a habit to turn strangers into lifelong friends.

Head out where the pavement ends to meet a no-nonsense rider who calls life a hobby and who believes in exploring the outdoors to connect with the land and other off-road riders.

Safe Choices Lead to Safe Results

By his own admission, Terry Madden is not a planner — except in one way. A Can-Am racer, Terry plans his year around races like BAJA 1000 and King of the Hammers. All in all, he has identified the six to eight biggest events on the racing calendar, around which everything revolves. “And I make sure,” he says, “to live in the space between each.”

His normal day starts like anyone else’s. “I get up and spend time with my dog in the morning,” he says. “Then I get at the shop by 9 a.m.” The shop is HiRôAD, his “home space” in Yucca Valley, California. “I put a lot of history and culture into the place,” he says. “I want it to be bigger than me.”
But after 9 a.m.? When it’s not racing season, his schedule each day is wide open, and he only wants to do what he enjoys, not what he’s expected to do.

Terry doesn’t follow expectations often. “Worry about what you enjoy, not what other people think,” he says. “If I’m comfortable with me, then that’s all that matters.”

When Pushing Further Is a Lifestyle

Terry grew up on a farm with “little entertainment beyond anything with a motor,” he says.

He has loved racing and riding all his life, but he only picked it up at a later age. After high school, he “felt stuck in a small town” and joined the US military as a way out. Terry keeps specifics about his eight years of service to himself but calls his time within the ranks a good life experience that taught him discipline and allowed him to travel and see the world.

From there, he worked in the oil and gas industry before giving racing a try. “I feel very fortunate that I can call my hobby work, that I’m able to make money doing something that I love,” Terry says.

What he prefers most is the off-road lifestyle, exploring the outdoors to connect to his land and meet off-road riders. Breaking it down, he says, “I do the racing stuff because it helps me stay relevant and allows me the opportunities to do the fun stuff.”

When it turns into a job, he says, it’s no longer fun. That’s why Terry sees racing as a means to an end. “I love to race and win, but it is a tool that allows me to enjoy the other parts of it.”

In Terry’s world, you ride hard to play hard.

Adventure Is Relative to You

Terry is adamant that Where the Pavement Ends is much more than a Can-Am series. “It’s directly relevant to me,” he says. “It’s where the fun starts. My best times have not been on the pavement.”

Terry’s definition of adventure is less about the adventure itself and more about the memories you make along the way. “It’s about the people,” he says. “An adventure doesn’t do the same thing to you if you don’t have someone to share it with.”

This doesn’t mean that Terry absolutely must head off-road with friends or family; he’s fine leaving on his own because he knows he’ll meet other passionate riders like him. “I can take off by myself, but nine times out of ten, I come back with someone,” Terry explains. “Some of my best weekends were with strangers.”

He continues. “There’s something about putting a helmet on that makes the rest of the world go away,” he says. “You can solve life’s problems.”

It’s liberating.

Looking to Change Problems One Ride at a Time

What Terry enjoys most about riding is freedom and the lack of structure. “I’m really good,” he says, “at grabbing a backpack and not knowing where I’m ending up.”

Inevitably, he will find a way to make his journey and destination feel like home. Terry thinks off-roading can break down barriers between strangers. In fact, it has helped him find a new community. “It’s a way to connect with like-minded people,” he says. “We’re all there because we love the same thing.”

Terry says that many of the choices he has made in his life might not have made sense on paper to others, but riding Can-Am vehicles does.

Can-Am Is About Family.

Riding Around and Calling It Work

Teaming up with Can-Am was easy. “It’s a true professional team,” he says. “We’re never fully competing against each other. The family aspect is really special.”

The partnership came because he had friends on the factory racing team, which gave Terry a peek into the Can-Am family. “I get to work with my friends. Or rather, I get to play with my friends and call it work,” he blurts out.

Ask him what his favorite Can-Am vehicles are, and Terry’s answer is twofold. “I can’t give up speed and fun, so the [Maverick] X3 is forever my favorite,” he says. But it’s not that easy. This year, Terry got a Can-Am Defender Limited — he loves the side-by-side’s HVAC system.

Either way, Can-Am vehicles impress him for what they are straight from the factory. They’re scary, but in the best way: they’re the closest thing to a million-dollar trophy truck straight out of the box.

Who knows where his adventures will take him next.