Wyman Pond Racing

Mini Member # 3

RE: January 1, 2008 Ride

Pres · Tag Hgugr

# 7, go to the flichR link for the pictures

# 2

WPR10 · Senior WPR Member

Great Report #7. Wish I was there too!

Caboose · Bitch Rider

Where's the pictures from the ride? I think they should be posted for our viewing pleasure.

#7

Lame Member # 13

#99, check out this map (cool map btw) Don't ever doubt the "Witch"
http://www.snoshakers.com/NHMap.html evileye

Senior WPR Member

#7
I wouldn't have a problem if it were really instincts. He said "I remember 393 and 5 being the same trial when we started" The key point here is he thought we were on those trails before when we were never near them. Instincts I'm ok with...He had no clue!!!

This is all in fun. Just friendly banter.

#99

Caboose · Bitch Rider

Additional point, #2 said that Route 393 and Corridor 5 eventually met up. So we could have kept going.

I would like to check the map to see if that is true. Stop riding the "Witch" his instincts were spot on.

#7

Senior WPR Member

13 wrote:

#99(or should I say 5 with no offense to the real #5), If we hadn't spent 20 minutes having #2 change your belt for you (you helpless little bit##) we might have had enough light to see the signs on the way back

Point #1....For the record, the belt change took 5 mins and thanks to the prez for pulling off the belt while the rear of the sled was lifted and pulled backwards by me. Tried to change my self at home, but couldn't lift the sled and pull the belt off myself.

Point number two....we didn't miss any signs in the dark. It was light out at that point, and I clearly saw and communicated the error. We were just misled by "THE BRIDGTON BITCH" who said that 393 and 5 were the same trail. Enough said.

#99

Sarge 388 · Sasquatch

#5 hit the nail on the head, #7's ability to write a great ride report is only unmatched by #5 himself. Mudholes are a big no-no for me, I hate them! I could feel the pain reading the report. I bet you appreciated the semi-short drive home #7.

Johnny Rotten · WPR God

You know a report is well written when you finish reading it and you feel like you were there. This was well written because when I finished reading it I wanted to punch #99 in the balls for making us miss the trail sign in the darkness. Ha!! I felt the muddy slop of the washouts, the annoyance of fogging and the frustration of no signage. My stomach began to hurt when I read that we ate at BK (they have the most honest ad campaign running right now "what a freakin' disappointment!"

But I also felt the exhileration of the first throttle squeeze of the season, riding through the heavy snow, no breakdowns (excluding the pre-breakdown - and by the way - I'm not sure what the #5 reference was actually, but #3 has lifted that burden from me due to several years of maintenance free (read: hood down) riding).

Kudos and back slaps for all attending members for logging 150 miles south of Concord all on the first day of the new year. It has been a great December, the best in recent memory. I am ready for a day ride in January anytime, any day.

#7, will you wipe the red devil clean or wear the mud as a badge of honor through the season? Just wipe down and WD-40 your shock rods and nose seals. Remember, you are no longer the sole 800 in the club. #1776 will be filling up his tank with you.

Great report, like anything worthwhile, it takes time to create a good one. And it did it's job since I now regret I wasn't there. Well done!

#5

Lame Member # 13

#99(or should I say 5 with no offense to the real #5 biggrin

), If we hadn't spent 20 minutes having #2 change your belt for you (you helpless little bit##) we might have had enough light to see the signs on the way back weirdface

Senior WPR Member

Great Report #7! Sumed up the day perfectly except for the fact that when we stoped at the split where 392 and 393 meet and I told you all about the sign that said "Corridor 5" was back the way we came. If I remember correctly #13 said, and I quote, "I know for a fact that 393 and 5 are the same trail , lets keep going this way"........The rest of the story has already been told.

The source of our directional misfortune was none other than "The Witch". The Bitch struck again!

Good first day of riding after only putting 30 miles on my sled last year.

#99

Pres · Tag Hgugr

-- Edited by Pres at 20:08, 2008-01-02

Caboose · Bitch Rider

With four members in attendance, #2,7,13 & 99 embarked on a day of riding beginning in Keene, NH at 9:00am on the first day of this great year . We found a place to park after speaking with the local DPW worker.

We unloaded right next to the railbed in Keene Center. #99 took his sled off the trailer and immediately the hood was up. A new belt took a little extra time getting ready, there was a reference made to the absent #5. We were off like a prom dress and onto the rail bed with speeds up to about 45 right away fast and straight. It was the first ride of the year and the initial speed was exhilarating. It seemed like just yesterday we were riding Groveton in late March with that familiar feeling.

We had a couple of road crossing before we headed up route 4 north. We continued up the rail bed for 10 or so miles before we were in the woods for good. #2 noticed a wolf or coyote, what a sight. We didn't have any dog bones so we continued on. We stopped across from an Irish Bar. There were purple Happy New Year hats littered on the trail. #13 gladly posed for a few shots, future WPR cover shot, perhaps? We did not have maps, but there were local maps posted every mile or so. Conditions started out pretty good. We kept a pretty good pace as we trekked through the woods, with some occasional open fields and some elevation changes. Somewhere along the line we merged with corridor 5. Along the line, we stumbled through some inevitable washouts. These damn rock filled soaking wet mud holes were a pain in the ass all day. We seemed to run into more of them as we got further from Keene. There was one section of corridor 5 that just could not be listed as even passable. We braved so many of these washouts that we stopped to discuss each others' thoughts on the terrain. We all decided to continue along and hopefully there would be a gas stop and lunch that we could reach and then head back.

After that we hit what has to be the single longest washout in history. It was downhill rock, mud, puddle, more rocks, muddy mud, leaves, stick, ice blocks and more mud. I couldn't believe we were riding on this. This was a low point in the ride. We had just gone down this mess and obviously had to go back through uphill this time. Having that thought in the backs of our minds all day was a burden.

We found that a couple of riders ahead of us were breaking ground on the trail and had turned back. We stopped, discussed and decided to head back. We made it about 3 miles and stopped to talk to some guys on ATV's with those triangle shaped tracks. Really cool. They said we were 10 miles from Claremont and that there was food and gas there. We changed directions again. Conditions improved througout the day due to the serious snow storm that we were in. A couple of times, I had fogging issues from puddles splashing up over my windshield and in my face. I got stuck twice that day. Once in a big puddle. Another time I got stuck by digging a ditch in reverse. The others were quick to help their jackass friend. As we approached Claremont we found gas at the 64 mile mark. We ate lunch at the Burger King at 2:00pm. I, for one, was eyeing that Chinese place.

By 2:30 we were headed home. We figured we would have 55 or so easy miles and back to the trucks by 5:30. We went at a reasonable speed down 5 south. Conditions were getting better and better from the heavy snow. Vision was declining due to splashing and freezing. At one washout, I got too close to #13. He blasted across it to ride the surface of the puddle. I got splashed something fierce. I also followed too soon. The water had split and had not came back. Riding is an ongoing learning experience, I guess.

The sun was setting and were traveling pretty good. When we got back to that one nastly long hill washout, it wasn't that bad. Somewhere along the line we lost route 5 and ended up on 393. #13 and I insisted that we could just ride it out and end up back on 5. We went for a while and the GPS said it wasn't going to happen. We headed back the way we had come, always a letdown. We must have had to go back 15 miles to get back to 5. The sun was down by this time and the bumps and long day was getting to us. Once back on 5, we blasted south for what seemed like hours. How could we go this far and still not be in Keene? Did we overshoot it? Were our mileage estimates really bad? We just kept going and following the gadget man's GPS. He would stop and look down and continue on. This happened at least 10 times until we found that rail bed back to the trucks.

We loaded up and were headed home at 7:00pm. It was a good day of riding, not great. I look forward to riding it again when there are less washouts.

First ride of the season was 150 miles. If I wasn't in top physical condition, I would have been in pain and completely fatigued all next day at work, but I'm a workout machine so the bumps and long day didn't effect me.

Thanks to the 3 WPR riders. I look forward to the next ride. Pray for snow and groomers, groomers and snow.

#7