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Riding the Snow Mobile tracks

578 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  TheDude 
#1 ·
SO Yesterday I took a little stoll over to the Hopping brook Gas line to see how the trail looks, well a lot of Snowmobiles and Quads had been up and down the line packing the snow down pretty good , But it was after noon and the temp was above freezing , so it was pretty soft. but the gears in my head were already turning :D

I gave IF_rider a call and and we decided to go out early, before the temp got above freezing. We had no idea what we would find if it was ridable or not , so I didn't post it , I didn't want anybody to make a trel over here to find it unridable. When i got up at 7 it was 22 and when I left to go ride at 8 it was 27.

so We hit the trails and they were pretty firm in most places but some times you would sink through , overall it was very hard riding. You know it is had riding when You have to pedal downhill just to keep the bike moving.

here is IF_rided demoing how to stay in the sleds path.



well This pipe line is really pretty uneventutfull. but we followed it till it joined up with a set of Power lines ( where the Pipe line actually splits ) and we followed it down to the Medway Power station

This is a Huge Station , You can see the Generator stacks on the left side . it is an 8 Stack station and the generators were not running today. thisis also one ofthe Main Distrubutions Stations in the North east .and Boy could you hear the place Humming !



a Little closer to the actual station, this thing is huge ! I have worked in High Power before and I must say I was a little nervous being that close to that much power!!


and from this power station there are High power lines that go in 6 Differenet directions so We started following a Quad track that went off on another set of power lines , buit the Bums didn't go very far. It figures the quads go where you don't want them to go , but don't go places you want them to! .
it was too bad it looked like a straight shot down the other Line .

and way we cut over to the Other Gas Pipe ( it split up above ) and Hooked back to the Pipe line we started on and Hauled But back down the Pipeline

We got back to a Motorcycle Pit which is fun to play in , and it looked like the snowmobiles were having a good time in here. I snapped the picture just a bit early , be fore IF_rider did a wheelie , oh well next time .



By this time the temperature was above freezing and everything was softening up , which made riding very hard for the final part of our trek , but we did 11 Miles in about 2 hours. it felt good to get out .
 
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#2 ·
Pretty cool

Very nice. I cut my MTB teeth riding in the skidoo tracks on a creek in Thunder Bay. If the conditions are right (lots of skidoo traffic, very cold for a spell) then you get some nice rideable cordouroy. Rough, but sometimes its the only thing going! My favourite creek was filled with little waterfalls and rapids so there were little up/downhills to make it interresting.

DISCLAIMER: People who live in climates milder than the high arctic should not venture out onto water in the winter. ANd nobody should be out there after February. When I moved to southern ontario I was shocked by the number of people who fell throuigh the ice every year.
 
#3 ·
Right friggin on man

riding the cord's is the best way to keep sane during these long annoying months. Just think, another month and we can ride in MUD!!

Circusjunk said:
SO Yesterday I took a little stoll over to the Hopping brook Gas line to see how the trail looks, well a lot of Snowmobiles and Quads had been up and down the line packing the snow down pretty good , But it was after noon and the temp was above freezing , so it was pretty soft. but the gears in my head were already turning :D

I gave IF_rider a call and and we decided to go out early, before the temp got above freezing. We had no idea what we would find if it was ridable or not , so I didn't post it , I didn't want anybody to make a trel over here to find it unridable. When i got up at 7 it was 22 and when I left to go ride at 8 it was 27.

so We hit the trails and they were pretty firm in most places but some times you would sink through , overall it was very hard riding. You know it is had riding when You have to pedal downhill just to keep the bike moving.

here is IF_rided demoing how to stay in the sleds path.



well This pipe line is really pretty uneventutfull. but we followed it till it joined up with a set of Power lines ( where the Pipe line actually splits ) and we followed it down to the Medway Power station

This is a Huge Station , You can see the Generator stacks on the left side . it is an 8 Stack station and the generators were not running today. thisis also one ofthe Main Distrubutions Stations in the North east .and Boy could you hear the place Humming !



a Little closer to the actual station, this thing is huge ! I have worked in High Power before and I must say I was a little nervous being that close to that much power!!


and from this power station there are High power lines that go in 6 Differenet directions so We started following a Quad track that went off on another set of power lines , buit the Bums didn't go very far. It figures the quads go where you don't want them to go , but don't go places you want them to! .
it was too bad it looked like a straight shot down the other Line .

and way we cut over to the Other Gas Pipe ( it split up above ) and Hooked back to the Pipe line we started on and Hauled But back down the Pipeline

We got back to a Motorcycle Pit which is fun to play in , and it looked like the snowmobiles were having a good time in here. I snapped the picture just a bit early , be fore IF_rider did a wheelie , oh well next time .



By this time the temperature was above freezing and everything was softening up , which made riding very hard for the final part of our trek , but we did 11 Miles in about 2 hours. it felt good to get out .
 
#4 ·
Did the same thing yesterday here in central ct. They said it would be about 40 degrees in the afternoon but by my account it was closer to 30. The wind and snow squal that erupted 15 minutes after I started riding and ended 5 minutes after a finished also made it feel colder. Funny how the temp was right around that zone where sometimes the snowpack to too soft to support you and would break through only to have all you momentum completely stop - even on the downhills. Saps the energy out of the legs real quick specially if you're like me and haven't been out much so there's not much endurance to begin with.

In any case I had a good solo ride and was very psyched I motivated off the couch to breath some cold air and make some skinny track amoungts the snowmobile tracks.
 
#5 ·
It's certainly a different experience. I too was having that problem on Sunday, hitting a nice long stretch of crust and then........ OTB or stationary biking. This weekend should be nice. With the warm weather, it should have hardened it a bit. Don't know about the new snow though. I like the look on XC skier's faces when they see me slogging along swearing and whooping. Ahhhh, how humbling the North East is.

GCM said:
Did the same thing yesterday here in central ct. They said it would be about 40 degrees in the afternoon but by my account it was closer to 30. The wind and snow squal that erupted 15 minutes after I started riding and ended 5 minutes after a finished also made it feel colder. Funny how the temp was right around that zone where sometimes the snowpack to too soft to support you and would break through only to have all you momentum completely stop - even on the downhills. Saps the energy out of the legs real quick specially if you're like me and haven't been out much so there's not much endurance to begin with.

In any case I had a good solo ride and was very psyched I motivated off the couch to breath some cold air and make some skinny track amoungts the snowmobile tracks.
 
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