1. What is your full name? Troy D Graham

2. Where were you born? Kalamazoo, Michigan

3. How old are you? 36

4. Any brother’s or sister’s? 3 Brothers, 2 Sisters

5. Where do you currently live? Northern Indiana

6. Where do you work? Liberty Homes

7. What do you do there? Director of Design

8. Do you have a nick name that you go by? TD

9. How long have you been into the sport of off-roading? Bikes 27 years, trucks 10 years

10. Who or what first got you interested in the sport? My best friend, Claude Reeder

11. Are you involved in any off-road club’s, and if so what is the name of your club? iZook & Rider's MC Club (AMA District 15)

12. What is the year, make, and model of your current off-road 4x4? 1987 Suzuki Samurai Tintop

13. How long have you had it? 2 years

14. Why did you choose this particular 4x4? It was FREE (and rust-free, and I wanted a nice tintop daily driver/trail truck). It's been my experience that the Samurai works best in the predominantly tight trails around here. They're also by far the most fuel-efficient and economical-to-operate, trail-capable 4x4 around.

15. Is this your first off-road 4x4? Nope, fourth or fifth.

16. What’s the scariest moment you’ve ever had off-roading? Hanging by my winch cable at the top of Hangman at the Dakota Territory Challenge 2000. Climbing a 60% grade while overdriving your winch cable and doing a wheelie, with a 200-foot drop behind you... WILL make you pucker.

17. What was the funniest? Rolling, and falling out of, Mazuki I on flat/level ground at the top of Purgatory in Attica. I had just finished crawling up Purgatory, then parked at the top to run back down and spot my buddy Tom up. When he got close to the top, I hopped in Mazuki (no seatbelt) just to move her out of Tom's way. A front wheel dropped *just* the wrong way into a hole between some small rocks and over she went on the driver's side. Not being belted in, when the truck landed on its side, I fell out. Still shaking my head over that one.

18. What have you learned from the sport that you can apply to your everyday life?
Life is about the experiences; stop talking yourself out of doing them.

19. When did you first get the idea for ZookiMelt? Back in the spring of 1999, Bill Maulding and I started kicking around the idea of trying to get as many Zook people together at one time as possible.

20. When you first got together with that small group for the first ZookiMelt, did you picture it becoming what it is today? Not at all. In fact, we were surprised we got 16 at the inaugural event.

21. Why choose Attica Indiana over say, Tellico, or even Moab? Pure geography:
Attica is under 3 hours, Tellico is 12, and Moab is 24. Other than that simple fact, it doesn't boil down to a matter of 'choice', per se. Each area has something unique to offer, and for someone who revels in trying new things, that's all it takes. An adventure... "out there".

22. If you could sit down and talk to anyone, past or present, who would it be and why? Marilyn Monroe. (Why not?) Seriously, Leonardo di Vinci would probably be my first choice. The man was a genius centuries before his time, and across so many
disciplines: Architect, Sculptor, Artist, Inventor, Engineer, Chemist, Physicist, etc. Pure creative thought.

23. What was the name of the last book you read? Leanings, by Peter Egan

24. What was the last movie that you watched? In the theater, Matrix Revolutions

25. What is your favorite style of music? Rock

26. What do you like to listen to on the trails? Friends on the CB... Murph comes readily to mind, for some reason?

27. When you're not off-roading, or working, how do you like to spend your time?
Riding my enduro or roadracing bikes, sailing, hiking, tinkering on the neverending Mazuki X project, or listening to my daughter play piano or saxophone.

28. If I gave you a plane ticket to visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
New Zealand

29. Name someplace that you have visited that you would love to visit again.
Charleston, South Carolina

30. If you could give one piece of advice to any future off-road enthusiasts, what would it be? Stockers Have More Fun.


TD, thank you for your time, and you are now... off the hot seat!