2016 RWTC weekend

[acesillini06]

Friday morning poker run!

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[JDT]

Thanks for posting those pictures Matt and Glen.

Always nice to see herd of Deere on the snow.

Even one with a howling bearing.

[JDXspec]

It was a great weekend meeting new and old friends. I didn't get any pictures but had a alot of fun (as usual). Finally getting some good miles on the dator clone. Can't wait til we do it again next yr.

[400brian]

So Wade and I are backtracking to see who has crashed. For the life of me, I cannot fathom how anyone could crash, following a guy on a mid-mount!
I am also thinking that perhaps I should have held a drivers meeting, and explained that no crashing was permitted. At any rate, we soon met the whole group coming up the trail, all was well.

I later learned that the 14 year old girl that was part of Todd Meyers group ( late model Polaris ) had gotten wide in a corner, got a ski over the edge, and got pulled out into the trees. I was told that there was no damage to sled or the rider, but Kyle stated that she had picked a bit of rhubarb.

On Saturday night I mentioned the pile of snow that was in the sharp corner, and Lincoln replied that they had been laughing about that all day! I inquired what exactly was so funny about it, and his reply was; " I hit it!" Perhaps more precisely, he blew through it! I mentioned that I thought it would have been like hitting a pile of cement blocks, and he said his last thought was; "damn this is going to hurt!" But instead, he reported that the whole pile just exploded into a cloud, and not to be outdone, Kyle followed him through!

So I said; "you were both off trail?" And Kyle replied that yes, they had both picked some rhubarb!

[340sracer]

Staging for the Poker run

[400brian]

Brian your stories are the best I'm just glad I was part of them this year . I can't wait until next year . Thanks for the guide services , Mark.


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Mark, glad to have you ride with us! If you had any issues, I was not aware of them. Hope you had a good time, and yes, as soon as we finish one, we start planning for the next.

[400brian]

Shortly after our second meeting with the Michigan DNR chick, we turned onto the rail road grade running east. It hadn't degraded too badly, and we made good time. We made the tun back to the south, and made the quick run down to Cisco. The first photo Glen posted was where we entered the Cisco chain.

After crossing the bridge and dropping back down to the next lake, we were missing some riders. I think this was where Lincoln lost his windshield. This was a new one for me, how do you lose the windshield? He explained that the jackshaft issue he was having was setting up a vibration, and all the o-rings came out, and the windshield flew off! At Bent's Camp he was showing me where he burnt the front of his jacket on the muffler, while he was fishing around in the bottom of the pan for the missing o-rings.

Somewhere before we reached Bent's, Chris' Snowfire decide to call it a day, and it was loaded on the trailer. The trailer was now full, so if we lost anyone else, they were going to have to be towed back. You would think at this point that everyone who was going to go out, had gone out, but you never know.

The fueling went smoothly, and as the guys were finishing up, I announced that it was 4:00, and we needed to push if we wanted to get back before dark.

In this photo, we have crossed the road bridge heading south, successfully avoiding hitting the "JDJR tree", and are waiting for the rest, who have been waiting for Lincoln to get his windshield back on! As I took this, you can see the stragglers coming through the trees.

While we were standing there, we noticed a couple of things: 1) It had warmed up considerably ( around 9 degrees for a late afternoon high was reported ). And 2) The slush that we had been worrying about in the week before the event, was indeed present just to the right. It had re-frozen for the most part, but you could see it in the tracks.

[buckeyetrailfire]

Brian. We had no problems Brent and I . Lots of laughs great riding with everyone . Just wish we had 2-3 more days of riding . The trails in the UP were awesome . Thanks again


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[400brian]

At this point, the only thing standing between us and victory, is 40 miles of the roughest trail of the day. We start out running through woods, which wasn't too bad. Then we do a bit of road running, and this is a bit choppy. I've got the skis coming off the ground, and I am taking a beating, but we are covering ground.

We change club territories, and there is a logged off area on the north side of the trail. This means we are approaching the intersection that I missed on last years run up to Bent's. It is not hard to miss going this direction, the trail going south is just a gap in the trees after you crest a hill. I never saw it on that trip, but I have it memorized now!

On Friday I made the turn and waited in sight for the rest to follow. The wife came over the hill, saw me, but was going too fast to turn, so blew right on by. As did the next sled, and the next...

There was a group of 6 or 8 late model riders sitting in the turn watching all this, and they began putting their hands to their heads, indicating to me that they thought carnage was to follow! It was becoming clear to me that there was not going to be enough room for everyone in just a few moments, so got out in the trail and waved my arms, finally getting the remainder stopped. I don't know if there was any contact down in the scrum, but no one was hurt, and they were all still running .

On Saturday I did his differently. As I approached the turn, I slowed, slowing the group and bunching them up, and we made the turn in a very unexciting manner.

[Jd sled rider]

Brian you have the best memory of anyone I know. After I read this, I always start to laugh, and then I tell my wife and daughter about it. Keep it up. It is great..

Oh and there was really no damage from the rhubarb picking incident!!!! Matt Gabler said he wished he had his go pro on, because it was awesome to see the liquifire explode through that snow pile!! Later lincoln

[400brian]

The ride south, was a bit rougher than in the morning, but no where near as bad as last year, that was brutal. I don't recall any stops other then to make sure I still had everyone. Glen rode behind me for a time, I was happy to see that 340/S running well, as race sleds can be temperamental. I can't help but think that the cool temps might have contributed to that.

We dropped onto Star lake at Stillwaters Resort, and made the nice run across it and then Plum, to put us back at Sayner. In early January, I saw photos on-line of a very open Plum Lake. I had to wonder if we would ride across it this year, or if we would ride at all! It all turned out pretty well. The conditions in the UP were by far the best, and the trails deteriorated down to a section north of Stillwaters that was pretty much running on frozen ground. Snirty around Sayner, but there was one section left that I was looking forward to; as we run south of Sayner, there is a loop that takes us towards Big St. Lake. This seems to get little traffic, and when we turned onto that section, we had one last fun run!

We popped out at HWY C, and ran the ditch south to the motel and restaurant. I made my victory lap around the motel parking lot this year, then shut it down at the trailer. My phone showed: 5:43 pm. Not too bad, twilight, but not dark yet! Vintage Challenge number 8 was in the books. I felt pretty good, and a hot shower would improve that. I was happy that the ride hadn't been a train wreck on my watch.

On to the banquet.

[340sracer]

Edna ,my better half, together for 50 years April 30th, through thick & thin; even helping me get the 340S ready & coming to St.Germain with very little complaining!
The # 309 on the right side is the I- 250 ,1975 - 3rd place.
The # 361 on the left is I-500 , 1975 - 14th.
This is why the 340S is my favorite snowmobile especially after finishing the Vintage Challenge .
Once again I want to thank Brian for leading the pack & doing an excellent job with his famous JDX8, which has finished the the Vintage Challenge for the 8th time.
Also want to thank Rick & Maynard for helping me resolve my gas tank/ gas line problem ,using their heated trailer untill 11:30pm Friday evening. I was amazed at how everyone helped each other to keep their sleds running for the weekend. Thanks everyone - Glen

[340sracer]

These two bags came in handy again after using one of them for a hockey bag for about 30 years!
Two bags were given to the Team Deere Canada drivers when racing the liquidator 75-76.The mechanics received one bag if I remember right.

[340sracer]

All packed up & heading south.
Stopped in along the way & visited with Tom Otte in MN, Mark Staudt in IA, & Joe Rainville in TX and their wives, also met "little Joe", whom they are very proud of. Also saw their great collections of JD sleds.

[jep_800]

Excellent story Glen! Hope you can make the trip again in the future.

jep_800