
Ben, Tanya, and I made the trip. The trails were in mint condition, relatively damp, and scarcely populated. Magically, the weather felt more like early fall than mid-July. We put on about twice the miles given the fast conditions. We made the halfway-gas station by 10:00am! We rode all the way back to the pipeline and followed a bunch of signs to Logan's Roadhouse(?) on Hwy 32(?) Ben had the worlds largest Philly Cheesesteak. Back to the truck for a topoff, and back out on the trails. Ben let me ride his new 700cc Yamaha for a bit. Grown-up sized ATV's rule. Note to self: Metal show the night before and 4 hours of sleep are not recommended in the future. I was wiped-out.
George Carlin(RIP) accompanied me to Kewaunee's Riverview ATV Park for the first real warm-weather workout. There were some rough areas due to trenches dug to let the rainwater run off of the trails and the "intense use" area. Since I usually get there early enough that I am the only person riding, I'm able to let the Yam strech out a little on the trails. I came up on a family of turkeys and waited for them to make their way into the tall grass before proceeding.
Looks like they have built some new trails down by the creek between the parking area and the track. Lots of new rock and topsoil all over.
I thought I could get away with not fixing the broken battery cable by just tightening the remaining metal really hard against the battery terminal. The first round on the track proved me wrong. We'll see if I get it fixed in time for next weeks Suring trip. (Sun. 7/13) If not, I'll just have to be ready to jam the screwdriver in the terminals again.
I'm pretty sore so I must have been flooring it just enough.
After several riding attempts getting stifled by rain, floods, and moving, Ian and I went over to Kewaunee's Riverview ATV Park for a few hours.
System of a Down, Coal Chamber, and Pantera helped psych us up during the ride to the park. First we headed over to the relatively flat trail areas and the hill climb area. I pestered Ian quite a bit early on, repeatedly asking him if he was okay or if he was ready when we approached something potentially scary. His reply was "Yes. I'm ready for anything!" I guess Dad was more apprehensive than Ian!
Ian decided he liked the hills and the big mud puddles the most. We even had a chance to watch a sport quad take the jumps over in the "intense use" area. Ian sat on my shoulders and we stood near the biggest jump, cheering whenever the guy caught air.
We saw a family there with a little girl (probably around Ian's age) riding a 50cc ATV. Ian asked if his could be camo too. We'll see...
The first snow ride(for me.) - Around 6:30AM, Ben, Trevor, Corey, Brett, and I departed the exit 152 park 'n ride. The weather hovered in the 20-30's and snowed lightly nearly all day. Thornton's Resort provided a place to park the truck and begin the ride. The Honda's were a bit sluggish to start, but we were off after some sparkplug swappage.
Riding in snow is basically a (hopefully) controlled skid. I also quickly learned that momentarily leaving the sanctity of the groomed trail results in instant stop-n-bury.
Snowmobiles...
I developed a cramp in my throttle thumb early on. I had to alternate between pushing the throttle with heel of my hand and reaching across with my left hand in the straights. Eventually I just had to stop and let go of the bars periodically.
At one point I had stopped and shut down the machine. Upon trying to restart it, no response. I thought the battery was dead. Brett quickly discovered that it was actually a broken battery cable. He jammed a screwdriver in to bridge the connection and I was able to start it back up. While not a show stopper, this ended up being a pain in the ass due to the number of times I killed the engine.
For lunch, it was the North County Inn. Cheeseburger + fries + Mt. Dew + water.
Out of gas... Trevor tows... Trevor out of gas... Ben, Brett, and Corey continued on to the truck to fetch Trevors gas can. Dark... Walking... Gas... No headlights... Loaded up the truck... The guess was 100 miles. Home by 9:30pm Overall, the first snow ride was a blast. Floating through corners, clear visibility, and twisty trail.The perfect ride! The entire trail system had been groomed within the past week, and a lot of rain had fallen since resulting in damp smooth trails. The rear-axle traction was a bit greasy in the corners at first, but as the day progressed and the trails began to dry out we could attack the corners as usual. The lack of dust and grit in the air allowed me to actually *see* the woods we were careening through. I did learn that bits of moist sand thrown into the air hurt more than dust clouds when they hit exposed skin. Doug's Yamaha was down to 2 bolt on the drive sprocket. By the end of the day, he managed to loose another. Another rider stopped and took a bolt from his atv and finagled it onto Doug's so he could get back to the truck. Around this time, I noticed that my motor was just sitting in the frame having snapped both of the top engine mounts. Oh well. At least it happened at the very end of the ride. With Stabil in the tank, the Warrior prepares for a long wait in the garage until the next ride opportunity (likely to involve snow)
Since I couldn't make it to Black River Falls with the usual suspects, I, Sevendust, and System Of A Down made our way to the Kewaunee County ATV Park by 6:30am. I was happy to see that many new trails have been blazed all over the park. The woods/creek area is nearly impassible by a 2WD ATV. I got stuck twice! I bet that area is tons o' fun on a utility quad. The hill climb area and surrounding trails have been re-grated and re-done. My favorite part was the completely redone "intense use area." New jumps, better jumps, and fewer short, abrupt jumps. I've gotten pretty comfortable with small scale jumps. I was consistently able to get into 4th gear on the approach for the first jump. I'm pretty sure I was catching 6 ft of air and landing maybe 15ft away. The jump was sloped with a very even approach that then tapered off for a long distance. Almost a table-top jump, but with no real "flat spot." I spent a lot of time on that jump.
After about 4 hours of fun, my body was punished enough to head back to the trailer. About 5 minutes out of Kewaunee, I blew the passenger-side tire on the trailer. "F*CK" I think. I have no spare and it is Sunday, and I don't know much about the Kewaunee tire/service shop scene. A quick cell call to Amy resulted in a couple of leads. Before I called the first one, it occurred to me that the "donut/service tire" on the mini-van may be a similar width at least. I was in luck! The bolt pattern matched, so I gave it a try. I was happy to see that the lug wrench for the 2003 Chrysler did not fit on the old trailer lugs. Surprisingly, the ATV lug wrench fit perfectly. Metric!? Anyway, the 16 inch tire just fit where the 13 inch flat had once stood. So, I hop back into the driver seat to get started home again. Luckily, in my haste, I had left the ignition on and the fan was running the whole time while I changed the tire. The damned van wouldn't start. So, I moseyed over and asked a nearby homeowner for a jump start.(and some jumper cables which I of course did not have) So the guy drives his vehicle over, hooks up his cables to my terminals, while I jump in the driver seat. I tried to start it. The thing turned over after 2 starter wind-ups. I hopped out and said, "Thanks man!" He's standing there looking at me funny. "I haven't connected the cables to my car yet." Genius. We both muttered something about letting the battery sit for a few minutes was enough. What a day.