On my way back from #6's place, I listened to the last 40 laps of the Daytona 500 on the radio. I have to say it was exciting. All the crashes, the lead changes, the teamwork, etc. it was pretty cool. I found myself rooting for Tony Stewart. He was made out to be somewhat of a bully out there, at the least a bit agressive. Kyle Busch seemed to have the fastest car and was seeminly fearless out there. He sounded boxed in at the end and pushed his teammate ahead to win the race. He must subscribe to the"if you can't beat em, join em" theory. I guess Stewart blocked the wrong guy on the last lap.
I still don't see myself going to Louden, maybe Watkins-Glenn.
Great ride report #7. Good to read about concurrent member numbers out for a super ride. Reading this makes me hate the warmth of Fla. This place is for losers and whimps. Get me back in the white wonderland!
I arrived at the rest area in Groton at 8:30am by myself. I agreed to park there since #6's driveway was not plowed. I unloaded, dressed and rode 7 miles up the Narrow trail to 151: the Powerlines and over to the Land to get #6 and E.
We ventured south down the power lines to 24. The snow was abundant and smooth from the recent grooming. We traveled at a modest pace. This gave me the opportunity for some photos and movies. We planned on about a 40 mile ride, but a certain trail was not open and we made it back to the cabin after 14 miles. E. quit for the day.
#6 and I decided to take the powerlines to corridor 5 north. We wanted to see how far we could go. We left the cabin at about 11:00am. The powerlines were a bit bumpy about 3 miles north of #6's place. We just blasted through until we intersected corridor 5. The trails were in decent shape as we made it to Shawnee's Store. We stopped for gas and moved on. We found about 5 street crossings in Warren. After Warren, Corridor 5 is about 50% railbeds. We were cruising at about 50mph when we saw Warren's finest parked on the trail, right beside a stop sign (blocked by a bush, that's my story). He rolled down his window as I passed, but he did not signal to me in any way. He pulled #6 over and told him to send me back. I got the long version of the "complete stop at stop signs" warning, but not a ticket.
We pushed on through the railbeds and long straightaways. We passed some spectacular little towns. One with a covered bridge. The trails were often parallel to a half frozen river. We were blasting through the woods when I lost #6. I saw some deer and tried to get some pictures. He showed up a few minutes later with my spare gas tank on his lap. Damn, I was thinking how much this thing cost, how we might have to get rid of it, and how everyone counts on it for the trip. #6 said he thought he saw the straps quite a ways back in some fields. I used my tow rope to tie the tank to the back of my sled. It worked pretty good. We had to go back about 2 miles to find the straps. They had just fallen off and not broken...Yahoo. I put the straps back on without taking the tow rope off. The tow rope was tied in about 10 knots.
I said to #6, "What do you want to do" he said "Let's keep going" so off we went further north up 5. We stopped in a small town called North Haverill for gas and some food. I got my finger stuck in the gas pump hinge. I got a nasty blood blister. We sat down and I ate a hot dog and a ham egg and cheese sandwich in about 3 minutes yum.
We spoke to a couple on a two up Polaris who had come down from Littleton. They had said the trails were smooth. I said to #6 once again, "It's 2pm, what do you want to do?" He said let's keep going. We asked the girls in the gas station store how far it is to Littleton. They said about an hour by snowmobile. So off we went. That's when the riding really got great. We were blasting along like a group of two can do. There was no question what route we were taking so we could blow by other people and rarely stop to look at signs.
We stopped at the intersection of 5 and 104. 104 leads west to Twin Mountains and 5 north leads to Lancaster. We thought that we could make it back by dark if we turned around.
Two WPR riders rode at a torrid pace south down route 5 only stopping to pee and take one picture. When we got back to Warren, #6 said he needed oil and that a group of 5 were coming right behind us. I didn't hear the part about the oil and thought he wanted us to speed up and loose that group. After I lost him, I waited about 5 minutes and headed back and found him. We when we crossed route 25 for the last time, we passed the groomer.
I lead the way most of the day at this point and stayed on freshly groomed corridor 5. We stopped at one of those signs with 6 arrows and names of towns on it. We decided to take a longer route home with fresh grooming rather than the crappy powerlines. #6 lead from this point on.
He was ripping like I had never seen him ride before. I was admiring his skills and worrying at the same time. On two occasions, he had to wait for me. Sometimes I daydream on the sled and find myself driving slow. I couldn't catch up at that point. He waited for me. We took route 5 to 153 to 151. This was by far the best part of the ride. Overall, I'd say the trails, tourain and grooming are the best within 25 miles of #6's place.
I said goodbye to #6 on the powerlines and headed down the Narrow Trail to the truck. I loaded up and talked to some guys who had just finished for the day. I asked them where the rode and how far they made it. The guy told me he rode 126 miles that day. I told him that we had ridden 170 miles and loved every minute of it, except for the stop sign lecture.
If you get the chance ask #6 about the mouse he saw. Pun intended.
170 miles of great riding along the NH & VT boarder.
