And here we go..
EMTP = EMTP579 = Dan
Rob = MachZrider
RJ = OldCatRider
Arcticcatmatt = Matt (of course)
The other two guys are not on SF "yet" I don't think.
There is a little local forum here called twin tier sleddin ran by Rob. We decided to get together for a ride.
Rob and EMTP come arrive up at my place and we leave around 8.15 a.m. to begin. I took them up to one of the nice views here to get our sleds warmed up then we headed out boondocking to the trails. Pictures from that area can be seen in my other ride report on here called "come explore with me". A link to it is in my signature. We took them same trails I made.
Rob almost got stuck on a hill but all was well. Here is our tracks to meeting point at the dryden VFW
The hammond hill area had a ton of snow (which is the same hill as my area). Speaking of that. Here is a elevation graph for the entire trip from my place to preble. The highest elevation was here.
We arrive at the VFW at 9.10 and medic and BOB was there. He reads the TTS forum but doesn't post. He wanted to come along
. We hang around till 9.30? and RJ arrives. We then hang out till about 9.45 and the others he invited did not show so we took off on the new Dryden/Groton trail with RJ leading the way.
Here is the route from the Dryden VFW to where we went (Preble) and back to the VFW.
Trails started out with only a 2 inch base or so. Rough cornfields. (total snow cover varied from 2 feet to 2 inches)
We went over a neat old railroad bridge I have seen from the road many times.
The following picture is from RJ
We crest over a hill and see about 60 turkeys
I see a tom in there.. suprising as I never see them around here :-/
RJ wanted me to take this picture
We then come into Groton and are outside the old caboose ice cream station. Too bad they are not serving loctite ice cream.
We get fuel in groton and head out on the trail north.
Going down the trail I see EMTP stop and pick up an idler wheel and keep going. 50 yards later I see another one and we pick that up. RJ is loosing parts.
They were not critical wheels so off we go.
Later down the trail we are coming down a snow covered road that ends at a snowbank. We all jump off the snow bank and I am behind EMTP. Just as I land I see him stop. Uh oh.
Lost a suspension bolt. He put it in I guess last week after it falling out on him before but I don't think loctite or torque wrenches were involved ;D
We have a new rule since my broken belt over the lake up north. You break down on the trail you have to take a bite out of the part that caused it ;D :D
We arrive in preble at the mountain view rest. Here are the guys heading across the field to it
The boys in blue have dropped from there
There is a big charity ride meeting there today. Looks like they are coming
Great food there. Pulled pork, real frys, amongst many other good things. We were too early for the pig roast.
Someone with a funny helmet in there
I guess this is a groomer sled? I am assuming it goes ahead of the groomer to warn people? Neat
We then leave there and take a different trail home. My GPS has decided to work again. Neat quick setup since it has the NYS trail system in it from last year
We stop for fuel in Homer and I realize that the bolt holding my oil injection tank has come off. So I fixed it quick with the metal ring on my keychain
I also realized that Rob sled is using more than 2x the amount of fuel as my ZRT. Wowzers. It's running so rich that we can smell raw unburnt fuel coming out of it. I don't know how it runs without fouling a plug. On the plus note I am still getting around 12 mpg with a rippin 600 trip trip trip.
My new clutch spring rips hard. Engages at 5800 rpm. Bam - Gone. Overall I am happy with the clutch kit, some trails are a little tricky with it.
Group shot here in Homer that we got a stranger to take for us
We head for RJ's house back in Groton and we see a groomer
Guys remember that field full of the turkeys that I drove around the edge of next to RJ's house and rob came over? Here in RJ's picture my sled is the one with the headlight
Here is the google overlay of my GPS tracks, yes its slightly off but it is probably because of the snow in the air. I love this stuff (especially for deer stands)
Back at RJ's
We get a tour
We should have raced these in the icy driveway
We head out and RJ is going to take us to Groton and we are on our own from there. We come across a landowner that RJ is friends with and we stop for a bit
RJ was talking about seeing this 4 wheeler of his neighbors out in the fields. We then see him tearing down the snowmobile trail. RJ went after him and lectured him, the kid went home
RJ takes us to a little play area by him of a nice big hill. We all jumped off the top of it. I got a picture of RJ
He took a picture of me but its just me after I landed. I think somewhere around here (I know I am slightly out of order) RJ went back home and we kept going toward groton.
We then go by some animals.. I had to take a picture and post it just to give some guys some new ammo to use on razzing me ;D
Ugly bastards I tell ya
We get to groton. We are all good on fuel but Rob has to get some in order to make it home ;D. I know dan is showing "3" here because triple but dan my triple is getting almost the same fuel mpg your twin I keep passing ha! So what I think your 3 fingers must mean is "This is three carbs that need tuning ;)" Poor Rob, probably gets his fuel gage confused with his gas gage.
We leave for the Dryden VFW
Does this fall under weird things seen while on the trail?
Right after this I cannot get my d**n coat zipped. My cat coat has a JUNK zipper design. One of the guys takes a sneaky picture of me messing with it over and over.. I dont' have that picture yet. But I do have a broken zipper now. I have to get that fixed.
We come across the field where I got in my nasty wreck 3 years ago. A little re enactment to make light of the situation.
I'm ok this time.. I came prepared ;D
Very odd driving thru there for the first time.. big deja vue. I had to stop and take a few pics.
Medic and BOB and us depart ways at the VFW. Great 2 guys there. Both are very quite and are very respectful riders. Its now dark and we have a 1 hr ride in front of us. Its snowing so bad we can't see more than 20 feet. Why does this happen to me when I get by the VFW all the time? It was like that the night of the bad crash.
Anyways I made a small wrong turn up there but knew it in 100 feet but the trail was so tight we could not turn around. Had to go for about a mile to turn around. We end up on the right trail and then have to take a trail called "Rabbit Run" on C2b towards hammond hill. We sat at the intersection there and remarked about how bad it was snowing, how cold it was, how dark it was, and how cool it was to be somewhat disoriented in the middle of nowhere and happy as could be. I could have sat there for hours. Its times like that when the ride turns into an adventure
Here is a view of rabbit run area and the wrong turn (satellite pictures here for this area are not detailed). The GPS tracks in the picture are zoomed out so far it looks straight but its a tight twisty up down trail for what seems like miles about 3 feet wide, never any more. The yellow dots are the route we took getting there, the teal line is the GPS tracks coming home, you can see where we/I missed the turn. Thats ok because a few extra miles in hammond hill and rabbit run was fun.
The blue dots is the start and finish of rabbit run. It was my favorite part of the day. We encountered 2 sledders coming at us in there, that was tricky but we got them by.
Back down our boondocking trails for a few miles and we were home.
Getting Robs sled on the trailer was a treat
Didn't get a picture of dan trying to turn around with his trailer. But thats ok, I don't think my 2 gig SD card was big enough for all that!
I think total miles for us three that started at my place was 130-140 hard earned 12 hours of riding. It was a great time! I met alot of great guys and only managed to hit myself in the ribs (tekvest) once coming off a hill in a cornfield.
It was nice riding with such a good group of guys and I can't wait to do it again.. but who knows whats going to happen with the 2 days of high temps this week.. blah.
Hope you all enjoyed the report and the ride as much as I did!