RWTC Weekend

[JDT]

Sounds like a snowmobile friendly place.

Especially for us vintage folks.

[harleysportster]

Sounds like a snowmobile friendly place.

Especially for us vintage folks.

Very friendly, the gas station is a small convenience store as well stocking some common sled and trailer parts plus clothes. It is located across the street from the main trial, near a restaurant and other business.

[Matt]

The purpose of that gas pump is more for summer use for boats that need premix, so I do wonder how long it sits in there over the winter.

[400brian]

The purpose of that gas pump is more for summer use for boats that need premix, so I do wonder how long it sits in there over the winter.

Exactly. I have fueled the boat at the premix pump at a station near our cabin north of Eagle River, but how many sleds use premix nowadays? Who knows how old that stuff is. I run premium gas in the mid-mounts, and mix it right before we run it.

[400brian]

THE RIDE WITH THE CHAMPS

As forecast, Saturday morning dawned overcast and cold. The weather channel was showing Minocqua at -13, but was forecasting 18 above later in the day. I believe we had cloudy flat light conditions all day long.

Once I got moving, I dressed for riding, and we headed out the door. The lobby was empty, ( no one hits the continental breakfast very hard on this day ) and as we stepped outside we heard sleds running, and I noted that the sled parking area had thinned a bit.

I got the truck running, Katy would be driving that over to the Whitetail, then turned my attention to the sled. We brushed about an inch of fluffy snow off of it, then topped off the gas tank. Ready to fire it up, I pulled the choke and turned the key....I got about 4 trips over the top when it became apparent that the e-start was not going to get the job done. That was a revolting development, but not totally unexpected. Katy held the throttle open, I got both hands on the rope, and it fired on the third pull. I pushed the choke in too quick and stalled it out, so I had to pull once more, but kept it running that time. I rocked the sled, then gunned it...it was VERY reluctant to move, but it finally started rolling, and I made two slow laps around the parking lot getting things loosened up. The throttle response was getting better, and everything seemed normal, so I gave the wife the thumbs up, and headed for the Whitetail.

By the time I had the sled parked and the helmet off, Katy had joined me, so we headed in to get our paperwork done, and sign up for the rides we would be doing. The Bennetts had generously offered to let Katy ride their 340/S, so she signed up for the local ride with Disco Don.

The breakfast line was forming up, so we jumped right in and loaded up. Biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, sweet rolls, fruit, it was all good! Once that was finished off, I headed over to talk with our support driver, Dan Larsen's father in-law Hans. They informed me that the trailer was open, and to go ahead and get my gas on board. So I headed out and got that done. While in the parking lot I heard a sled running, and noticed that it was Dustin Ericson's 78 LF. I walked over and asked if he had gas cans, he said he did, so we carried them over and got them on the trailer as well. Heading back into the Whitetail, I ran into Wade, who said he was going over to fire up the 340/S. I said come on I'll drive you, so we got in the truck, and drove over to the motel.

The 340/S fired right up, and Wade took it around the parking lot to check it out. He circled around and parked it right behind Don's Sporty. Everything was ready here, so we headed back to the Whitetail. As we walked through the door, they were getting ready to do the group photo, which meant that 1) Mr Marchbank was keeping things moving, and 2) I had managed to miss the entire morning program!

[400brian]

It was finally time! The time for preparation and promotion was over, the BS stops when the green flag drops.

This would be my 6th ride up to Fishtales. A little of the excitement has waned over the years, I hadn't had butterflies that morning, and I was pretty relaxed as I prepared to fire the sled. I know the route ( I didn't bother picking up a map ), and I know what to expect for the most part. But there is still some excitement in the air as we walk out the door and get ready to depart. The X8 started right up with a turn of the key, and as I circled around the parking lot, I rode by John Sandberg, who just like last year, took my photo.

Kenny Heins and Cari Rainville would be riding in the support truck with Hans. Dan Larsen, Tom Otte, and Jon Carlson would be our tail gunners on the way up. Dan riding a 4 stroke Panther, and Tom and Jon on Ski Doo mountain sleds. Tucker Heins would be on JDJR's late model cat, and Mindy Bennett would be on her late model cat.

Joe Rainville would be leading, riding his wife's Sprintfire, that Tucker had broken-in the new engine on the day before. It always takes a while to get everyone lined up and ready to go, but eventually our tailgunner waved that we appeared to have everyone we were going to get, and we were off!

The trail in the ditch alongside County Highway C is a single track, and it is rough. Luckily we only are on it for a couple of miles before we hit he trail. The trails leading to Sayner were smooth and fast, and we didn't dawdle. We pulled into Sayner as a nice tight group, and stopped briefly to give everyone one last chance at fuel or trail passes.
I counted 18 vintage sleds in the group at Sayner. Even with the 5 late models running with us, this was still a manageable sized group.

Everyone seemed good to go, so we headed out of Sayner without delay. A nice run across Plum and Star lakes had us at Stillwaters Resort, and heading into the woods for the run to the MI border, and Bent's Camp. This section of trail is always the most beat up on the way back, and not always so nice in the morning either. This morning, it is beautiful! Smooth as I can ever remember it, and we are lovin it!

[400brian]

On the leg between Stillwaters and Bent's Camp, there is a section near Forest Lake where the trail is on a road. Normally, that is the smoothest, fastest part of that leg. This year, the groomed trail was actually better than the road! The road was a bit choppy compared to the smooth as silk trail.

We zipped through this leg with no stops, the group was running together very well, and we were soon pulling into Bent's Camp. It appeared that drags or radar runs were in the works there for later in the day. We headed out across the chain, now riding in Michigan.

We were closing in on our exit off the lake, we were approaching what I call the "hedge row", when the Trailfire Stymie's buddy was riding came to a stop. A quick diagnosis revealed that the Kawi no longer possessed any compression, and that rendered it a dead sled. On the upside, it was going to a short tow. Dan Larsen backed the Panther up to it, a rope was attached, and we took off without delay.

We exited the lake, crossed the bridge, dropped back down to the lake, and made the final run to the Cisco Lake Resort. On arriving, I was disappointed to see there was no support truck in the compound, but then I caught sight of Cari waving us down the driveway. They had backed the trailer off the highway, and left it there, rather than try to maneuver through the parked vehicles along the drive and in the compound.

I sent Troy a text when I shut the sled down, it was sent at 10:44 AM, much improved over last year.

We were quickly fueled and ready to go. Mindy had went up to the bar to use the facilities, and reported that they were just dinking around up there, but eventually, they came over the hill, and we headed north.

The leg between Cisco and Fishtales includes some nice straight railroad grades dating back to the logging era. Just pick a speed and cruise, this was a great! Around half way to Fishtales, the modern sleds started running through us. About then, we came up behind a groomer, which stopped to let us all pass. As I pulled up to go around the groomer, I looked back to see the rest of the modern sleds sitting in the left lane waiting to pass. I waved them on by, as we really didn't need them running through us.

Once the modern sleds were out of our hair, we could just concentrate on what was ahead of us, which was just beautifully smooth trails! Everyone was still together when we reached the lake, so we headed on across on smooth conditions, no slush or water anywhere like last year.

We pulled into Fishtales right behind the late model riders, the text I sent went out at 12:30 PM. Some of the modern riders were in the fuel line, others were in the chow line. We headed in for lunch, and it was good. Fried chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes with gravy, and rolls. I lunched with the Hayes Brothers and John Bauer. I asked John if he had kept both skis on the ground on the ride up? and he quickly replied; "Yes...maybe" ( Deere advertising demanded both skis be on the ground for the photos taken in the early '80s ).

[400brian]

When I finished with lunch, I headed out to refuel the sled. The remainder of the 5 gallon can I had fueled out of at Cisco topped off the tank, and so within just a few minutes I was back down on the lake ready to go.

Rainville claims that at one point Jon was standing behind him urging him to chew faster, but I wasn't there, so I don't know if that happened or not. The guys eventually started coming out and getting their sleds fueled. I visited with Tom and Jon, Jon was getting antsy, Rainville was standing between him and the hot tub back at the motel. Finally, I fired up the Sprintfire and drove it over to the pump ( what a weird sled ). JDJR had a funny look on his face when he saw his sled coming at him.

I chatted with the owner of the Skidoo Blizzard you can see in the photo. I inquired how he came to be riding with us, and he told me that he was a friend of Brian Nelson's, and that Brian had been telling him how he had to do this. I said; "great, welcome aboard."

The late model guys fired up and departed, it was time to GO! I sent a text to Troy at 1:20pm that we were preparing to depart Fishtales, but I don't think we left for another 10 or 15 minutes more. The guy from BRAAP Productions was filming us as we got ready to depart, he had also stuck a camera on top of Rainville's helmet.

Finally, we got under way. A nice run back across the lake, through the Root Cellar parking lot, then back onto the trail south, and we were back into the rhythm of the cross country run through the north woods.

[400brian]

The trail south had degraded slightly during lunch, not bad, but the corners were now a bit icy after the passage of the late model crew ( Bob Anderson says their little bunch is not responsible for that, I beg to differ ). I couldn't carry as much speed through the corners now, so the guys ahead of me slowly pulled out of sight. It may also be that I am not as motivated to push as hard on the return trip, I don't know.

We made our way through the woods, eventually coming to the intersection that put us back on the railroad grades, and not too long after that, JDJR paused to regroup. When I came to a stop, I looked back, and was surprised to see only Wade and Mindy behind me. Mindy came up to tell Joe that she'd had no one behind her since we left the lake, some time ago. A quick look around revealed that we were missing Stymie, the 3 Larsens, the Blizzard, and our tailgunners.

Where are our lost sheep?

[400brian]

JDJR tries calling Tom Otte, no answer, we take that as a good sign. We stand around and BS for 10 minutes or so, when someone calls out "headlights!". We have a hill to our backs, and it is quite a distance back to the crest, but yes, sleds are coming over the top headed our way. As they get closer we can see that they are our group, and that the tailgunners are waving for us to go. So we fire the sleds and take off.

Stymie later told me about the little adventure they'd had. It seems the Blizzard never made it across the lake. The secondary clutch failed, rendering it just as dead as if it had blown the engine. They had sent Stymie and the Larsen boys forward, while Dan called the support truck, to get Hans to come back to Fishtales to pickup the sled. I believe Cari said they were fueling the truck when the call came in. Once the truck was headed back, Dan headed down the trail, while Jon and Tom followed Brian to assist in the load.

[BU1]

Here's a pic of my clutch carnage. This was the shakedown ride for the Blizzard and after taking it easy for a while I pushed it hard, especially on the lake crossings. Looks like I found a weak point! It sheared the double roll pin and everything ended up in the belly pan. Fortunately there are no pictures of the ride of shame being towed by Brian's Bearcat.

( If anyone knows of an aluminun secondary as found on the FA TNT's I would be grateful.)

[400brian]

Here's a pic of my clutch carnage. This was the shakedown ride for the Blizzard and after taking it easy for a while I pushed it hard, especially on the lake crossings. Looks like I found a weak point! It sheared the double roll pin and everything ended up in the belly pan. Fortunately there are no pictures of the ride of shame being towed by Brian's Bearcat.

( If anyone knows of an aluminun secondary as found on the FA TNT's I would be grateful.)

Thanks for the info, I had no idea you were a member here. Hope you enjoyed the weekend despite the problem. You are not the first to have to load a sled onto the trailer at Fishtales, and you won't be the last. You did get to ride the best half, which was awesome this year!

[400brian]

So Stymie tells me that he and the Larsen boys are running south, and before too long, Dan catches them and comes on by to take the lead. However, after taking the point, Dan looks back, allows the Panther to drift to the right, drops a ski off the hard pack, rolls the sled onto its side, and finds himself out in the snow!

I actually saw this happen on Friday. We had just started out on the Poker Run, and were crossing hwy 70 in front of Sister's Saloon. A guy on a Ski Doo got off the hard pack a bit, and the sled rolled right over on its side. We never got a thaw this winter, so the snow never consolidated, it was just like it had fallen, and the consistently cold temps allowed it to stay loose. Fluffy and deep would be a good description. ( So after seeing that I thought: note to self - stay on trail )

Stymie said they stomped the snow down around the sled, and after they had wrestled it back onto its feet, Dan managed to drive it out. Took a few minutes to get all that done, and he said that the tailgunners caught up with them shortly after they had got going again.

So, everyone is back together again, and we are running on the nice straight railroad grades. After a bit, JDJR blew through an intersection, thought better of it, and stopped. I came up, and he asked me if we are supposed to turn here? I looked down the trail to the right, and saw a marker that said; TRAIL 13. I replied; Absolutely! We run 13 all the way to Cisco. So we get everyone turned right, and begin the long straight shot down to Cisco. This is the downhill leg, there are a few signs of civilization on this section, we cross a few roads, and pass by a couple of hunting camps.

Soon we pop out onto the road just north of Cisco, crest a rise, and our support truck is parked in the same place as in the morning. I sent a text confirming our arrival at Cisco at 3:00 PM. Later Cari said to me; "you guys must have been flying!" "We never had to wait for you, every time we arrived at a fuel stop, we'd no more than get parked, and you'd be there!"

Everyone knew the drill, we fueled at the trailer, then knowing we'd have some time to kill, the guys took the time to mess with their sleds a bit. Dustin was messing with his secondary shims, and Stymie had the hood off the 340/S changing plugs. Chris was complaining that the sled had taken to running a little poochie. Being as it was probably close to 30 degrees warmer than when we had fired them up at the motel this morning, thats not too shocking.

Once everyone had things buttoned back up, we headed into the compound, where fueling was still going on, then took the sleds down to the lake to wait.

[400brian]

As we waited to depart Cisco, spirits seemed high. I remember feeling quite confident, but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. We are still 40 miles out, and lots can happen, save the victory dance until you are in the motel parking lot, we have the toughest leg of the trip coming up.

When our tailgunners came down onto the lake, we took off. We managed to get over the bridge and on to the next lake without anyone having a tree jump out in front of them, but as we approached the "hedgerow" there was some confusion. I'm back in the pack, and the air is full of snow. The group is stopping, and as the snow settles, I can see guys pointing to the left. Apparently Rainville has somehow got us headed towards the wrong hole in the hedge, so a heading change to the left is made. I turn to the left, and suddenly have snow coming over the hood. Steam is billowing out from under the hood. This isn't looking good! I scoot to the rear of the seat and peg it, the skis come up and I get back on top and going.

Once through the hedgerow, Bent's Camp is soon in sight. I don't think I have ever seen so many sleds sitting in one spot. Whatever they have got going on has drawn a crowd. The thought occurs to me that all those sleds came from somewhere, no doubt many from the south, which would mean the route ahead of us will be pounded.

As we transitioned to single file coming off the lake, somehow I got shuffled all the way to the back. It wasn't intentional, but I now had no one behind me but the tailgunners, and I was riding right behind the 3 Larsens.

[400brian]

Dan was dialing back the pace just a bit because he had two young sons behind him on vintage cats, and he said one of them appeared to have blown a shock out, because he was having some difficulty in the handling dept. Honestly, I didn't notice it riding behind them.

The trail south had degraded significantly since our trip north in the morning. On the way up, it had been awesome, best I can ever remember. It was not the worst we've seen it, in the past we've seen it where it was just washboards as far as you could see. No, the straights were still fairly decent, but the flat smooth corners we had in the morning, had been replaced by a huge hole in many corners, with washboards on either side. I have to pull the speed way down in that stuff, or I'm just pretending to be in control.

At some point Jon passed us and rode further up in the group, and at some time the group in general rode away from us, and we never saw them again. This leg of the trip always seems longer on the way back, and this time it seemed to go on and on. Dan had GPS on his phone, and was following the mornings route back, but still made one wrong turn. He made a left hand turn at an intersection, and I immediately said to myself; "that's not right". Very few left turns on the way back, and this wasn't one of them. Dan stopped right away, I pulled up and he says: "this isn't right". I agreed with that assessment, and suggested he follow the arrows to Stillwaters Resort. Dan said; "yes, that's right."

Back on track, we rode for a while, and eventually came to the intersection I remember well. Ground trail to Sayner left, Stillwaters Resort to the right. Dan pointed right, I waved him on, and in just a few minutes we were at Stillwaters, and dropping down to Star Lake. This was much nicer! A good run across Star, a mile on the ground, then onto Plum, and we had Sayner in sight. I remember thinking at the time, what a welcome sight it was.

We made our way through town, and was a bit surprised to see the support rig sitting at the Mobil station. We stopped and Dan spoke with Hans for a moment. He then asked if I need gas or anything? I replied: "nope", so we departed immediately. Cari later told me that we pulled in about 3 minutes after the rest of the group had left. They had stopped in Sayner for 5 - 10 minutes, but apparently felt no concern about us, so they left.

The trails south of Sayner were great! It was fantastic to spool them up and ride again. Dan made the right turns, and we came out on hwy C, right where we were supposed to. Dan asked me if this was the right road, I assured him that it was, but that he had pulled past the trail in the ditch. I jumped the berm on the side of the road up onto the trail and took off. I stopped after maybe a quarter mile to wait for the Larsens, as I could see no reason to ditch them at this point. They soon caught up, and we made the run along C, next I knew, we were pulling into the Whitetail parking lot.

I drove through the lot, out the main driveway, and down the trail to the motel. The parking lot there was pretty quiet, a couple of sleds were being loaded, otherwise deserted. I made my traditional victory lap around the lot, parked behind the trailer, and shut the sled down. At 5:20 PM I sent Troy a text that I had made year number 6.