MICHELLE CHASE - OFFROADER AND FOUNDER OF RIGS & BREWS
One of the best parts of the off-road scene is all the amazing people you can meet. Wanderers and adventurers alike, this hobby is full of interesting and charming folks from all kinds of backgrounds. The only hard part is actually meeting those folks when they aren’t out a hundred miles out in the middle of nowhere.
Thankfully, there are people like Michelle Chase around to help solve that problem. As the founder of Rigs and Brews, Michelle brings us all together with the promise of comradery, libations, and cool gear, all wrapped up nicely with a bit of goodwill and charity.
What started as a few organized trail rides has morphed into a collection of events with vendors, charity drives, trail cleanups and more. If you find yourself near San Diego, you should really try to make it to one of the events. You are guaranteed to have a great time, see some killer rigs, and make a few new friends.
For her part, Michelle downplays the whole thing. “It really came about from other ideas and other events. A few pushes from some kind folks. I just organized some trail rides. I didn’t really think it would take off like it did.”
Outside of Rigs and Brews, Michelle still keeps herself plenty busy. She is an avid adventurer who loves camping and off-roading. Her current truck is a 2011 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro that is decked to the nines. She’s got a C4 Fab bumper, Cali Raised sliders, ICON suspension with Old Man Emu Springs, and she’s not even done with it yet.
“Yeah, the truck is actually in the middle of a pretty major setup change. The truck was designed around having kids and friends in the car. Now I am converting it to a dog rig for my German Shepard Bodie.”
She named him after Bodie State Park.
“Yeah, so I have the shell on top right now, but that is coming off and I am moving to the ACS Forged rack in the back.” It was an easy choice for Michelle to make after her experience with the ACSRoof, a topic she was happy to talk about. “Oh man I love the ACSRoof. First it looks amazing. The way it fits the truck is phenomenal, and with the GearPod Roof it’s the most amazing setup. Only takes me a couple of minutes to take the boxes on or off by myself, and it really gives me a lot of versatility. Plus it doesn’t make a lot of noise which is great.”
It turns out that this Tacoma is also Michelle’s daily driver and living in Southern California means she has a pretty hefty commute. “Yeah, I have to drive about 45-minutes each way, daily. So it’s nice to have a rack that is quiet. After previous racks and things I forgot just how quiet my truck could be on the road.” With a commute that long, we had to ask about mileage on her Tacoma. “Oh, I am closing in on 300k or so. But it’s fine. Toyota and all.” She couldn’t help but chuckle.
The truck is going to see its life get any easier. Outside the commute, Michelle already has plans this year to head to Big Bear, the Ruby Mountains in Nevada, and she’s going to hit the north rim of the Grand Canyon too. She finished her rundown of planned routes by letting a bit of her adventurous spirit shine. “Probably take a weekend or two, just head up 395 and see what I can find.”
If you want to meet up with Michelle or just check out all the cool happenings with Rigs and Brews you can follow on Instagram @RigsAndBrews or just come out to an event in person. The next one is Sunday April 7th at Duck Foot Brewing Company in San Diego.
Follow Michelle on social | @sexybeast_sd | @rigsandbrews
