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Doo’n the Snow Dance

WE RIDE!!!

Finally some white stuff in the northwoods.  With Michigan opener just 2 days away, and Northern Wisconsin opener in a little over 2 weeks, Time for this stuff to start falling. Forecast starting to look on the better side also.
Sleds are ready to ride… now just LET IT SNOW!!!

Just under 3 weeks til UP Michigan opener.
Couldn’t take it anymore and took out the sleds for a spin yesterday.
All set and ready to go.. now just waiting for the new sled to arrive

Put a another webcam on our snowmobile page under “WEBCAM”
This one is located in Phelps for another “Hiawatha” view..

Now… LET IT SNOW!!!

“WE RIDE”
(at least yesterday I did)

It ain’t much, but the white stuff has fallen..

With a little over a month til the season starts time to finish getting the sleds ready to go. Still undecided what I want to do for a sled this year. Might keep the Dragon around for another year but maybe sell the old RMK for an Artic Cat..  Thinking of going with an M8.
Dawn is still under the impress that her sled is like new since she only put on about 20 miles last year…  I’m not sure of the exact miles but I rode that more than the Dragon last year and it hasto be more than 3,000 miles on it.. won’t she be surprised.. LOL

With the so-so snow fall and trail conditions last season we are really looking forward to a better season than last…

SO LET IT SNOW!!!

AL
WE RIDE!!! (soon)

After almost 2 weeks without riding, and trails pretty much done in Eagle River (unless/until we get dumped on).. Loaded up the trail today and headed to the UP with Glen & Don for a few days.
So once again,

WE RIDE!!!

Where do the days go…
Trails the last few days have been the same conditions as the last week or so… holding their own. nothing too much of new snow this week – just enough to keep em white, but trails remain pretty decent. (anywhere from fair to real good)…  Been riding in the Eagle River, Conover, Phelps, LandO Star Lake and surrounding areas the last few days. Here’s some pics of the trails.

And now the fun begins… FINALLY we’re getting SNOW!!!! YIPEE!! its about time. Forecast calling for 5″-8″ by tomorrow. Well needed too. Should make for some AWESOME riding this weekend.

Time to get out of the mid season rut and get some decent riding in.

Tuesday, Johnny Law & I took a ride out to Alvin. John rode Dawns IQ since his Polaris was all preped and ready to go for his trip out west. Trails were icy but still enough loose stuff to keep the sleds cool & lubricated. Last night and today we received about 2″ and still snowing lightly. With grooming and more snow, we’re hoping for trails to be back in decent shape for the weekend.

Saturday morning after breakfast (thanks Howler)… we rounded up the Snowtrack Crew for a ride to Bond Falls in Paulding Michigan. We rode the trails up thru Conover then to LandO with one break down on the way… (Thanks Scotty for running up with the pick up to recover the sled.) We stopped in LandO for MI Trail stickers but their machine was down so we headed to Watersmeet to get them… only to run into a DNR Officer2 miles out of LandO, where it took some explaining and convincing to let us proceed to Watersmeet to purchase them. On the leg to Bond Falls I brought the group to a small area fora little carving, climbing and jumping. At Bond Falls we all enjoyed its beauty with a photo shoot, snack and rest. On the trip home I opted to take a forest road route back toward Phelps where we spent some time playing on a few hills and jumps where we had another break down. We were able to make a temporary repair to make it to Hwy 17 east of Phelps… and once again Scotty made another rescue before we made our way back to the Hiawatha. We ended the evening with dinner at Captain Nemos. We had a great time experiencing varied trail conditions and types of riding.. and hanging out with a bunch of GREAT people… Heres some pics and a video from our ride….

Heres some pics from todays ride.. Rode Eagle River, Conover, LandO… about 100 miles..

Conover & LandO groomed last night which made a big difference, trails were nice…

Yes – icy corners, smooth and plenty of lubrication.. Snow is thin but more than rideable

Took a quick spin to see if there is anything left to our trails and if we could ride out of here with the group today. Eagle River hasn’t groomed yet so the trails I hit going out to 3 & 10/13 are pysically rough. The base is icy – crushed ice like – with some wet puddles and about an inch of fresh white to help lubricate the hyfax. I’m not saying the trails are good but I think we are going to ride out from here and see what we can find…
Will update later tonite on our ride…

Video and pics of Rush Test Ride in Hurley yesterday
Video also showing trail conditions in Hurley too..

After a depressing week of watching the snow in the Northwoods melt away my excitement for driving the New 2010 Polaris Rush had also melted away. This morning Al and I hooked up for the ride to Hurley where we were to demo the New Rush. Shortly after arriving and discussing the new sled with Polaris employees we kept hearing ” you just need to drive it “. We signed our demo waivers and were asked for our weight so they could set the sled up for us. A quick briefing on the machine and its technology as well as tips for changing the suspension if need be and we were off. About 10 riders ranging in age from young twenties to mid 60’s. Dealing with mud and bare pavement for a short distance to get out of town my hopes were dwindling on being able to really test these latest and greatest machines out! Shortly after we got out of town we discovered soft mogul ed out conditions and all ten of took off, it was on! Now normally I get onto a sled I have
never ridden and I feel a bit timid and out of place. However on this sled there is no learning curve. It felt as though I had been riding this chassis for years. It sure seems to be a one sled fits most set up. It is very receptive to driver input and suspension change. These sleds were not studded and only had 3″ carbides and I was able to put the sled where ever I wanted in the corner. High, low or drive through the middle of knee deeps ruts and never miss a beat. This chassis will make you understand how good the IQ front suspension is and that rear suspension technology has just been made better!!! This sled will work as a luxury trail sled with the correct windshield and mirror options or as the ultimate ditch banger seeing as a 1.75″ track is a direct bolt in! Mild or Wild all out of the same machine with the same shock package, now I am impressed! I had no complaints…
Trackside Greg

First thing Al wanted to do when he got home was sell my sled and buy me a Rush….

VIDEO Click Below!!!

Snowtrackers started showing up…Spanky, wife Kim, PDSSkiDoo , wife Jen and myself trailered up to Pats in Greenland. Trail 13 toTwin Lakes was somewhat chewed up, but GOOD. Trail 109 (Alston) was more moguled and snow was thinner with bare spots. The gravel roads were tough. We put on about 100 miles by the end of the day. We had alot of fun but with totally sore legs, arms and shoulders.. An Anvil Evening..

…. Trails are pretty much trashed here right now… today is suppose to be last of the warm..

Weather calling for snow Tonite, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. As of today if you are staying in the Eagle River area and want to sled you will need to trailer north, and probably at least north of Watersmeet if not further…. Hoping for some decent snow in the next few days!!!!

Al and Trackside Greg headed out this morning (by car) to Hurley to do the factory ride of the new Polaris Rush..
will update later tonite on how that went and their thoughts of the Rush… and also how trail conditions are in Hurley.

until then….

With warm temps  & knowing that Eagle River did not groom last night, Steve & I decided to trailer up to Rockland. I took the RMKto see if the shocks I put on it would work. So we headed out to play, the trails were a bit to choppy for it to be confortable on the RMK. We nosed around a bit to find  some untracked spot and I got the RMK stuck bad a few times with having thefront end sitting way too low. Exhausetedwe rode over to Henrys for a sandwich as it started raining (sprinking on and off). After, we loaded up and went to Pats Yamaha looking for some longer shocks but couldn’t find any today. So we headed back to Eagle River.
On the way back I noticed the trails didn’t look too bad from what I seen from the truck. So after we got back I pulled the Dragon out to go take a look and get some pics. What I found was a mixed bag. Trail 17 out of the hotel was brown. Trail 3N was rough and brown. 10-13 was tore up, with the one ways on 13N being mixed and the one ways south being white & nice. The warm up has taken its toll on the trails but I think if they hit them with the groomers they will be ok and some new snow will be in good shape again. Of course this is what we saw today… will see what tomorrow brings weather wise.
Steve & I will trailer north again to ride up in the Keweenaw.

Al

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Eagle River / Conover

Al & Steve trailered north this morning. Will update on that later tonite when they return.

Al didnt sled yesterday, had to do a trip south to Wausau to pick up his anniversary present..

Yesterday Steve  took out his new Dragon Switchback and put on 175 miles… riding from here to Watersmeet to Iron Mountain down south again..
He said trails are ok and holding their own. Found all trails still snow covered, rough in areas. Worst of the trails were south of Eagle River, (still snow covered but bumpy)… So as of yesterday at 3pm they were still holding on. As Steve said ” I’ve riden in worse”.. LOL
Right now it is 30  at 10:30 this morning. Guess we’ll have to take it day by day right now and will keep ya’s updated each day.

PRAY FOR COLD!!!
PRAY FOR SNOW!!!

 Steve & I rode out east of Eagle River on 10 then up to Alvin, and then headed to Phelps for the Radar Run / Bikini Drags.TheTemps today hit 36 and the snow got soft & browned up abit. We found the ridingto be good with the trails holding up decent considering. Now itstime to do the SNOW DANCE and pray for cooler temps….

Wednesday night I drove down to Necedah to meet with ScottX to buy his trailer. I brought the Dragon with to ride Thursday with ScottX and Willy. After a short ride Willy had some over heating issues caused from a bad O-ring and the trails were hard as concrete. We decided to head back ditchbanging as much as possible to cool the sleds and hyfaxes. I’d say their trails are done til they get some more snow.

Today Steve showed up to pick up his brand new Dragon Switchback. We took a ride out early afternoon. We rode up the one-ways up to Conover then cut back to trail 6 almost up to LandO. We then turned around and headed back to Phelps to pick up a set of E-Z Steer carbides from Jim Thompson so Steve could get his new sled to turn. After that we rode back to Eagle River. The trails are in REALLY GOOD shape. Todays temps made mid 30’s but did not hurt the trails at all. Tomorrow forecast is calling for a 34 and cloudy. We will ride tomorrow too, but may head for some remote trails.

Al

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Thursday in Necedah

New Trailer…

Don’t have a trail report per say for you today,,, other than what the sledders staying here are saying… Trails remain in Good shape with some icy corners.. The trails have been pretty much holding their own and the groomers doing an excellent job keeping the trails flat and smooth. Traffic remains very low. Could use a fresh dumping on them tho. Calling for a warm up this weekend.. just over freezing, if it stays with what is forecasted shouldn’t hurt the trails tho.

Al’s out of town - headed south yesterday to pick up a new “toy”…   
and will be getting back tonite.. and he’ll be heading out tomorrow to do an update on the trails…

So for now…

THINK COLD!!!

          and

THINK SNOW!!! 

Dawn

The weekend wrapped up with Matt & I riding Saturday, and Sunday with Matt & Ernie. I got my shocks back from Ingram Motor Sports, so I got the Dragon put back together and started to dial her back in. With a little playing I got it close. Ed did an excellent job… the shocks are way smoother than they ever were.
Saturday we rode up thru Phelps and played on a variety of terrain. The trails were in GREAT shape.
On Sunday we took the one ways up 13 to the Log Cabin. We had a chuckle when Ernie told us he never let off the throttle trying to keep up. It was then he told us he was riding Michelles 550F Shift. The trails up to Conover were GOOD, just a few icy corners. Weekend traffic is light and it started snowing a little bit. Hopefully it will ad up to a measurable amount. We could use some fresh snow…

Keep ya posted.
Al

Talking last night to one of the guys, he wanted to test ride an Apex LTX so we rode up to Greenland Mi to Pats Yamaha. Well this “un-named guy” almost pulled the trigger but decided to sleep on it first (I would too!). But they did offer him a great deal trading in his short track.
Any how… on the way up in Watersmeet on the rail bed when 1/2 of the posse turned off on the new trail up to Bond Falls (I didn’t even see the sign for it..) So after waiting at the next intersection for a minute we went all the way back to where I blew my belt, not to find them. (but did then see the sign for the new trail). Well about then Jeff blows a belt. So after that we headed towards Bruces hoping to find “our crew”. Finally at Bruces we found them and headed toward Greenland… About 4 miles short of Rockland, Jeff blows another belt. We borrowed Josh’s spare belt off his 600 SDI and put it on Jeffs 1000 Renagade and crossed our fingers and headed to Pat’s hoping they had a belt (which they did). Heading home was almost uneventful with the exception of Scotts check engine light coming on.
The trails were GREAT all the way up but got a little choppy by night. We seen the groomers starting out everywhere. Tomorrow should be just as good as today… Rode today with Scott, George, Jeff, Josh
200 miles… 3 blown belts… 1 engine light… GREAT TRAILS.. GREAT TIME!
Long day … long winded… and tired.

Al

Took a ride with Scott (HiTower) and posse tonite up to Bauers Dam for pizza and a visit with Donna & Glen. Trails were in AWESOME shape. Started snowing just before we headed home and temps actually felt warm out for the ride at 10 degrees (about time!!!). Dawn told me to take pics of the trails….
IT’S DARK!!! LOL..   We had a good time, will probably take another rip tomorrow.

Cold temps kept me in yesterday and I waited til afternoon for temps to rise above O, as it was -25 again this morning.  Then took a trip up thru Conover to get a look at the trails then stopping at Bauers Dam. Trails were in GOOD shape. The pics say it all.
I rode the RMK to see if the shocks that I threw on it did the fix… so far so good. Looks like tonite will be the last night of double digits below zero for the week..

Al
WE RIDE!!!

Headed back to St. Germain today to meet up with Ernie & Paul to see the Bikini Drags and other sleds. We had a blast. Had a chance to take a rip on Ernies sled, he just put on a new 2″ track, risers & USI triple treat skis – no more pushing now!! Those ski’s hook up NICE!
Took some pics of todays event for your enjoyment. Some I can show you… Some I can’t…LOL. I can tell you I couldn’t take it outside for 20-30 minutes almost in the buff and take an 80mph rip on a sled at 5 degrees. I betcha there was more than one of them thinkin … “this is a bad idea” LOL
and ya know what..???  What happens up north – stays up north – unless we put it on our webpage..

Ernie said he is grooming tonite, he said their new tractor they use for grooming broke down Thursday night and thats why Trail 10 didn’t get groomed, which explains the icy corners I encountered yesterday. We had cold temps again, low this morning of -17 with the high about 6 degrees this afternoon, and more of the same thru out the week.

Have a great Saturday nite
Al

VIDEO – Dude in Bikini