2013 RWTC

[400brian]

We headed north along county C., picked up the trail north of Big Saint, and headed for Sayner. We now had bright sunshine, and the trails were great! As we approached Sayner, Nick came flying by, it appeared in an attempt to run down JDJR. That failed, and he soon stopped to talk to the rest of us. The Larsens weren't with us, and Nick was going back to see what had happened to them. I was supposed to tell Rainville what was going on. We were all of a quarter mile from Sayner, so I took the point and led the group in.

I appraised Joe of where Nick had went. He replied that he knew that the Larsen's sleds had been running when we left. Joe called Cari, and when she answered, she told us that they were sitting across the street looking at us! Sure enough, so we walked over, and saw that Teresa was sitting in the back seat of the Suburban. I asked her why she was in the truck, and she replied that her F***n 4 stroke cat had refused to start, but that Dan and the boys were on their way. They were going to wait in Sayner until they arrived, so we took off.

The trip across Plum and then Star lakes was great, but I do wonder if it is mandatory for someone with a truck to drive on the marked trail and leave ruts all the way across the lake? I know why they do it, the sleds pack down the snow, so the thickest ice is under the trail, but it really mucks up the riding, bouncing around in these.

The other thing that we had going all day long, was that with the cold temps, the snow was loose and powdery. The sleds were throwing a huge plume as we went across the lakes, way more than I had ever seen in the past, it was hard to see at times. Even on the trails I had to let the guys get out of sight so that I could see the trail well enough to pick a line through the corners. On the mid-mount, I have to be able to see and react, to run any amount of speed.

Soon we were past Stillwater's Bar, and heading for Bent's Camp. The trail here was just a bit choppy. This is generally the worst section late in the day, it must get huge traffic, but in the morning it wasn't too bad yet. It was the coldest temps we have ever run in ( in my recollection ), I had to keep the visor down most of the time, and I needed to keep the jacket zipped up into the collar to keep the wind out. I had put on a hooded sweatshirt under the jacket to keep my arms warm, and it was working well, though I felt a bit like I was over-stuffed.

Soon we were running the roads that the trails are on as we approach the State line. We were going slow enough that I don't think anyone else even noticed the hill that we have caught some air going over in the past. Soon we were pulling into Bent's Camp Resort, where it appeared that Ice Drags were going to happen later in the day.
We re-grouped on the lake. Rainville and Tod were AWOL, never did hear where the heck they disappeared to.
Mindy wanted to go in and pee, but I told her we were just about to the first fuel stop.

Rainville finally re-appeared, and we took off. Almost immediately, the Late Model Riders caught us, and just buried us in a cloud of snow. It was hard to see, but as I have done this several times, i kinda know the route across the lake. Eventually, the cloud cleared, and we approached what looks like a fenceline across the lake. It has Slow NO Wake signs there, and we pass through what looks like a hole in a low hedgerow. There is generally some dark ice or open water there as well. After that, we come to the opposite shore where we are going to exit the lake, cross a bridge, drop back down to the lake, and continue on the the Cisco Lake Resort. The bridge crosses a channel between the lakes that we have rode on in previous years, but there were always holes of open water in the channel, and I never felt comfortable in there. In late years we go around it.

We re-grouped at the exit, and noticed that Dustin had disappeared. Mindy was jumping from one foot to the other has a couple of the guys stepped away to whizz ( penis envy I think ). After several minutes, a headlight appeared, and Dustin came into view. It seems that between froze over goggles and the snow that was flying, he had just stopped to let everything clear, because he could not see a thing. He feared he was going to hit one of the barrels that mark the trail. The goggles would be a PITA all day long for him.

We got going once more, and were soon approaching the first fuel stop. I pulled into the south trail into the place, most of the rest circled around and came in from the north. So I was sitting at the trailer with my helmet off by the time the rest came in. This is an advantage of doing this several times before. I was fueled in nothing flat, and headed in to hit the head.

[JD600]

Reading this is fantastic. Its almost like living it again! Thanks Brian. Can't wait for the next installment. BTW, i ordered a full face helmet this week. No more of this iced up goggles business!

DE

[lubyjr]

Brian,
I am thoroughly enjoying your recount of the 2013 RWTC vintage challenge. It is good to hear your prospective, since I did not know of all the events that happened during the ride. I look forward to read your next part of the trip, as it was my favorite part of the ride. I was following you on my 78 TX 250 with Scott Sankey following me on his 1981 Scorpion Sidewinder. It was an epic ride with smooth trails and awesome snow. The TX was running as fast as it could go (top speed 60 mph downhill with the wind) to stay up with you. Mile after mile wide open trails with fast corners made it a trip to remember. Riding along with members of the JD gang was great. It was my first RWTC and I can't wait for next year. I will have to upgrade to a little faster sled, as even the sprintfire and Joe Rainville with one fouled plug passed me on the lakes! John Scott.

[400brian]

John, thanks for posting. I really should carry a notebook and pen, and get participants names written down. With all the excitement during the ride, I find that my memory isn't good enough for specifics like names.

I was pretty sure you guys were enjoying yourselves, you were grinning a lot out on the trail.

Stay tuned.

[400brian]

Troy Miley got screwed out of attending this year, because his boss insisted that his presence was required at work.
So, I was sending Troy a text at each fuel stop, so he could follow along at least a bit. What this also did, was leave a record of what time these texts were sent. I never look at my watch when I'm on vacation, so this is all I can go by.

I sent Troy a text from Cisco at 11:39 am. I would say we were already running way late at the first stop. We also spent WAY too much time at Cisco.

We finally got everyone lined up and ready to go. Joe conferred about where the turn onto the trail was. This I remember well, as I blew by it last year, and did a sliding 180 right down the middle of the road to get back to it.
So we take off. I should mention here that while Tod's 11 year old son did a great job all day, ( in fact he was pretty much kicking our butts ) there was an incident or two. In this case, Joe stopped at a stop sign coming out of Cisco. The problem was that the Sprintfire had basically no brakes. The kid was right behind Joe, so he swerved to avoid hitting him in the ass. If he had swerved left he'd have been OK, but he swerved right...which had him riding up the berm of snow at the edge of the road, which rolled him right into Rainville's lap. From where I was sitting, this was funnier than all get out. Joe wasn't nearly as amused, as the leg the sled rolled into was still hurting from the I-500 crash the week before. Joe pointed out the stop sign, and the kid replied that he wasn't expecting him to stop so fast! You can't make this stuff up!

We got going again, and made the turn onto trail 13 and were headed towards Lake Gegobic. At first we are running a series of old railroad grades, its fairly smooth, and we are putting the miles away. However, at about 2-3 miles in, around the same area that Jon's Dator blew a clutch the first year, Kevin's 800 blew an engine, and Jon's Tripplefire seized in 2010, we lost the Bennetts. We waited for a while, and before too long they appeared, with Nick bringing up the rear, he had caught back up to us. My understanding is that Wade had mixed in his tank, as there was no can available at Cisco. The oil had run down the filler neck of the 340/S, filled the sump, and basically plugged the fuel line. Wade had figured this out, got it drained out, and got it going again. So off we went again.

Eventually, we turned off the grade, and head into the twisting trail running through the woods. This was where John and I were having some fun. I'd let Tod get out in front enough that the plume of snow would settle down, then I'd get in a groove of riding the X8 as hard as I dared. I'm not the best at this, as Kevin Campbell has proved that he either has bigger ones, or is just more willing to hang onto the throttle longer. But Kevin wasn't here, so I did the best I could.

The corners were snow covered, which is what I need to get a little bite in the turns. On right turns, I'd crowd the inside of the turn hard enough that my knee would be getting tickled by the brush going by. The modern sleds swing wide in the corners, so the inside line was fairly smooth. I'm hanging my butt over the side a bit, and feeding it all the throttle I can without sliding the rear end out, then hammering it as the turn straightens. Typically, I'm then shifting my butt to the other side to make the up coming left turn.

I'm running as hard as I think is prudent, remember, the X8 has no picks in the track. In the tighter corners, I'm catching a glimpse of the skis of that TX right on my hind end. I can't shake him, he's stuck like glue. And we did this for miles! Its tiring after a while, but we were having a blast, or I assumed we were.

Joe stopped at an intersection that is at the southern end of Gogebic. Left takes you up the west side of the lake, straight takes you up the east side. As I came to a stop, John pulled alongside and gave me a thumbs up. That pretty much confirmed that he was having a good time. We took of again, and we continued this all the way to the Root Cellar. As we neared the end of this leg, I saw black specks fly through the air a couple of times. I said to myself, OH, OH, I've got a belt going! As we dropped down to the lake and stopped, I looked down by my feet and yes, there were chunks of belt on the foot boards. I figured the trailer was a better place to change a belt than the middle of the lake, so I took it easy going across.

I'm cruising across the lake at a nice easy speed, everyone else is blowing by, but its all good. We are maybe half the way across this huge lake, when I realize that in all this expanse of ice, Rainville has managed to take us across open water! Well, at least a slushy spot. Its about the size of two cars, with a bridge in between, like eyeglasses.
I shot right across the bridge, and it was solid as near as I could tell, but it all had the color of open water. Dustin and Chris both swore at supper later that night, that they had been in water, that when they got to the solid looking ice, that the sled had jumped up. Dustin wasn't as sure of what had happened, as he was peering through tiny holes in his frosted goggles, but he was pretty sure that it was Rainville's fault.

Anyway, we pulled up at Fishtails. The guys parked on the ice, I drove right up to the trailer before shutting it down. I figured the belt change would go a lot better after everything had cooled, so I took off my helmet and headed in to eat. Lunch was improved this year; fried chicken, ribs, mashed potatos, rolls, and as we were finishing that off, Cari brought around the chocolate cake.

Nick and I had lunch with Cari, Teresa, and her dad, our truck driver Hans. Teresa said the kids sleds were done, but that Dan would probably ride back with us.

I shot Troy a text that we were at Fishtails at 1:30 PM.

[AirborneX4Special]

Very enjoyable reading. Thanks for posting, Brian.

[JD600]

Dustin and Chris both swore at supper later that night, that they had been in water, that when they got to the solid looking ice, that the sled had jumped up. Dustin wasn't as sure of what had happened, as he was peering through tiny holes in his frosted goggles, but he was pretty sure that it was Rainville's fault.

Thats exactly how i remember it lol

DE

[400brian]

There was no time to dawdle at Fishtails, as soon as we had ate, we were out the door. The belt change went smoothly, on the mid-mounts you have to pull the plastic clutch cover off, and then the belt guard, before you can get at the belt. I noticed that the tin cover that is part of the cooling shroud ( the one above the starter ) was hanging down. The bolt was still in place, apparently the mounting tab has failed due to vibration. I thought I could hear a rattle, but with the visor down, I was hearing all sorts of unfamiliar sounds. It was freaking me out a bit, but if I raised the visor, it all sounded normal.

I topped off the fuel tank, and chatted with John and Scott as they refueled. John thanked me for the "spirited ride" on the way up. We soon made our way down to the lake, were Rainville was messing with his carbs. Changing the e-clip position, bumming a plug off Wade. We were by ourselves, the late model riders were long gone, so getting fuel from the pump was no issue at all.

We began the trip back south. We passed just to the south of the slush hole on this trip across the lake, climbed up the eastern shore, and were soon back on the trail through the woods. The trail had degraded significantly since our trip up, I suspect the late model riders were running balls out on the way back. The corners that had been snow covered on the way up, were now cleaned down to ice. I could not run as fast on this, as the sled wanted to slide out. When we got down to the rail road grades, we found them to be much rougher now. For long stretches at a time, I was running on the wrong side of the trail, because it was smoother over there.

I remember the trip back to Cisco as pretty uneventful, if not as fun as the trip up. When we popped out on the road north of Cisco, Joe waved me ahead, so I was the first into the last fuel stop. You can't see the resort from the north, so its not real obvious where you are going. Those of us who had cans in the trailer were fueled up in minutes, the rest took a bit longer.

We've never had so much sled traffic at Cisco in my memory. There were ice fishermen all over the lake, sleds, ATVs, trucks, and the line at the gas pump was huge. Wade had grabbed my empty gas can so as to avoid mixing in his tank. We grouped up on the lake as each got done fueling, but it took forever. I think they were having issues with the gas pump as well. I sent Troy a text from this stop at 3:30 PM.

Dustin was the last one to get fuel, and he hadn't made it down yet when this was taken.

[liquitisplit80]

[JD600]

Dustin was the last one to get fuel, and he hadn't made it down yet when this was taken.

Due to issues with their pump and the high traffic, i was not able to get fuel there on the way back. I was however, fortunate enough to make it back to the filling station in Sayner before i ran the LF dry.

Keep up the good work Brian,

DE

[jdsledsrgr8]

Great stuff Brian.

On the lake heading to Fish Tales, I had the throttle pretty wide open with the speedo reading between 65 and 70, when all of a sudden the water hole is upon me. Nothing to do but hit the gas harder and hope for the best. Once across, I knew Chris was behind me and I looked back and he gave me a thumbs up. We were running hard and had a good chuckle after the fact at Fish Tales.

The lunch was awesome this year, they have my vote to stay with the chicken route.

Made it back up to my family's cabin west of Minocqua tonight. 3-6 inches of snow tonight. Going to hit the trails tomorrow and Saturday, more family riding and ice fishing this time but you bet I will be reliving the memories of last weekend. Most excited to have the wife ride the clone and I will ride the cyclone with my oldest.

[400brian]

When Dustin joined us on the lake, we fired up the sleds and began the last leg back. We climbed the hill on the south end of the lake, crossed the bridge, then began working our way through the trees to get back down to the next lake.
Lots of trees, several different paths through them. Tod went left, I went right, and Joe decided to shoot right through the middle. There really is no trail here, the moguls are probably a foot tall, the trees are close together, you have to pay attention when you ride through this area, so no one is going very fast at all. Imagine my surprise when I realized that everyone was stopping, because Joe had the Liquifire drove into a tree! I was incredulous!

I stopped to the right of him. He was on his feet talking to Stymie ( apparently OK ) so I reached into my pocket to pull out the camera, but before I could get the shot, they had the sled pulled off the tree, and the Kodak moment was gone. He claims he hit something that steered the sled into the tree. Remember I said I saw a log laying in there on the trip up? Can't prove that the log I saw earlier was the culprit, but its a possibility.

The sled was still running, but you could tell that the exhaust had been opened up, as it was loud! We then drove out onto the lake to assess the situation.

[69camaro]

Wow Brian,
I think you could write a book. I feel like I was there.

Duane

[400brian]

While they were busy stomping on Joe's belly pan, I said to Dustin: "Joe is going to have a hard time living this down".
And Dustin says; " Yeah, especially being as I'm taking this chunk of broken windshield back as a reminder!"

They got the hood fastened down, and we took off once again, Joe going like the proverbial raped ape. He claims that the sled ran great after the exhaust got opened up. I feared that this would have it running lean, and he would top off the day by burning it down. He told me later that he was thinking the same thing.

We buzzed through Bent's Camp, the ice drags seemed to be all over, crossed the road and headed south. Now here is the only time I think we might have screwed up. My recollection is that from Bent's Camp south, it is nothing but right hand turns all the way to Stillwaters. But shortly after we got underway, Joe turned left, crossed a road, and took us on a winding trail through the woods. I'm thinking that this just isn't right. Eventually, we wound up on familiar trails again, but I can't help but think we took a round about way to get there. Can't prove it though.

The last section into Stillwaters was rough, its always rough. Apparently this is a highly traveled piece of trail, because it is just a series of moguls. I just have to slow down in this stuff, because I am getting pounded, and it seems to go on forever. Finally the group came into view, and Joe was waving me up. They are sitting at a fork in the trail, he asks me if the left fork is the way to Sayner? I reply; "yes...the stupid way" So he says; "we go to the right?" I reply; "yes, turn onto the lake at Stillwaters".

So away we go. That particular intersection has been an issue at least twice, with Troy being the last one to turn onto it my mistake. its a very short run to Stillwaters, which looks like it has a Snowmobile Convention going on. Huge number of sleds parked there. We jump onto Star Lake, and are immediately enveloped in a snow squall.

We have alternated between sunshine, clouds and snow all day. Out here on the lake, it is snowing so hard it is difficult to see the trail markers or even each other at times. Dustin was at a greater disadvantage being he couldn't see through his goggles much of the time anyway. We don't travel straight across these lakes, one side to the other, because these lakes are odd shaped. We have a mile of ground trail, and then we are on Plum Lake.

We pause a moment at the exit off Plum to gather up some riders, then head into Sayner. I stop at the ball diamond in the middle of town to wait for a few more, then we ride in to the Mobil Station. Sayner is a snowmobile parking lot. The Saloon across the street looks packed. I walk into the gas station to whiz, with all the bouncing on that rough section of trail, I'm pretty sure I have internal organs that are becoming detached, and my bladder is on the top of the list!

A few of the guys are taking a splash of fuel, and a quick head count shows that we are missing a couple. Joe checks his phone, and sees he has a text from Nick. 45 min ago, Nick had sent this, saying the guy on the Indy had broken down. Wade makes the observation that one year ago, we had been standing in the same place, waiting on Nick. Yup, deja vu all over again.

We see lights coming towards us, and by golly, it is the Indy and Nick! Problem solved! We fire the sleds and take off. The sun has set, and we are approaching the twilight's last gleaming, and oh by the way, JDJR has no working electrical at all, meaning no lights.

This is the only photo I took in Sayner on the way back. Mindy Bennett in the background on the 78 LF race sled.

[400brian]

The trails south of Sayner are actually pretty decent, and we are running nicely. Joe stops at the trail intersection with County C, and waves me up. He asks if this is where we turn? I say, "yes", and he gives me a wave to proceed.

Now the trail runs in the ditch right along C, but I'm already past it, so like last year, I pull onto the shoulder of the road and put it to the bar. I saw the biggest numbers on the speedo I'd seen all day! A couple of miles down the road the trail comes right up to the edge of the shoulder, so I jumped over onto the trail and looked back.

Stymie's son is coming right down the road with flaming carbides, some are coming down the shoulder, some down the trail. I can hear JDJR's snarling Kawasaki approaching, so I hit the gas and took off. We are nearing HWY 70, and I can hear the crackling of the LF right behind me. There are several driveways we have to cross, and the berm of snow at one of them is quite formidable. Now as I recall, we rode over all of these on the way out this morning, so I figure I can do it again the other way. In hindsight, I should have just drove around the thing, but I didn't. I wasn't quite square enough, and maybe I was just a teensy too fast. I went up and over, but got out of shape as I did. The sled landed one ski first, and the next thing I knew, my butt was hitting the hard ground. I haven't went off a sled in 30 years! I rolled to the left as soon as I could will myself to move, as I figured that I was about to get landed on. Looking up, I see Joe has gotten stopped right on top of the pile.

The sled is sitting there idling, so I climb back on and motor to the intersection, and then turn left towards the motel. It's only a couple hundred yards at this point, but halfway there, the sled suddenly drops a cylinder. Normally I do a victory lap around the motel parking lot, but no one is in the parking lot to see it, and I'm running on one hole, so I just take it to the trailer and shut it down. I had made year number 5.

I pulled off the helmet and mitts, pulled out the phone, and at 6:00 pm sent Troy a text that just said; "made it".

As I drug my hurting butt towards the motel, I got a text back that said: "congratulations!"

Once inside, the first person I saw was Don, who asked if I had made it, then asked if their sled had made it? I replied "yes" and "yes", and it seemed to be no worse for wear. That is what he wanted to hear!

Our host at the desk inquired if I had made it, so I spoke with him for a moment, then turned into the hall heading for the room. Bob Amber was at the far end, and he started yelling; "DID MY SLED MAKE IT?" yes, IS IT ALRIGHT yes Bob, it made it back OK. Then Kevin Campbell steps out of his room, asks if I made it, then begins modeling his hot tub shorts, and Don is taking photos. I simply cannot compete with this, so I go into the room and leave the crazies out in the hall.

A couple of dews, some ibuprofen, a back rub, and a hot shower all help to get me back in shape for the banquet at 7:00.