2006 Ride Reports

From: David Lampi

Well my plans with her uncle fell apart in Concord, he called saying he wasn't feeling well, (probably too cold), but being half way I continued on to Nash stream. I pulled into the large parking lot only to see 1" of snow and no one else, not even one truck. However I did see groomer tracks going out, so I went to the small lot out at the beginning of the valley and one truck was there. So I unloaded and headed up 5n. the trail was flat and just groomed, very cold out only around 1. Went up to 5 and 7 and headed down to Errol but snow ran out, so back to Colebrook to 7n to 7s toward Stradford bog,trails here were thin but groomed, once back at the bog the trails were great!! Back into nash stream did the pinic loop and saw 2 teams of sled dogs. The loop was perfect lots of snow. then rode out 28e to trio ponds, great shape until 19, the snow was being blow off the trail. Went 19s to 117w that trail heads over the powerlines and had very little snow on it. 117w to Nash stream for a truck lunch and then gas. Nice 24 hr gas pump and only 2.32/gal. After lunch I saw my first group of sleds heading up 5n, so I headed up to the west side and did both arms of Sugarloaf mtn, boy was that great!!!!! Plenty of snow and flat and hard. then I did everything I just rode in the opposite way, except 117 and 19 not much snow on it. The riding was a 9-10 around nash stream and Stradford and around a 6 on the Colebrook and Errol sides. Lots of snow in the higher ground but the sun will melt it if we do not get any more. I only saw 2 groups of sleds and 2 sled dog teams which they must have run those dogs 100miles Paw prints on all the trails. Total ride time was from 10:30 to 5:45pm and 197 miles which 180 miles was perfect..... Dave..

We planned a late start for this Local New Hampshire ride. I picked up #10 at his place. Due to some electrical problems, we took #10's Bronco. Somehow I felt like Al Cowling riding shotgun. We headed to Troy Arctic Cat for NH registrations and we parked at the Mobil Gas Station that we used to always stop at. We embarked on the familiar railbed hoping to head north toward Piscah State Park. The trails were really nice in some spots and rather messy in others. We hit probably 12 washouts on the way to the bridge over the river. We went down the turn through the woods where the rail bed ends. The trail ended also. There was a river blocking the way. This river was a little to big for our liking to cross. We headed back South Toward Winchendon/NH line route 12 where we usually park. We hit all the same washouts on the way back. In some streches we got up to 70-80mph but never for any long stretches. The trails weren't terribly bumpy on this spring like day. On one straight away while I was leading, a big washout looked like a shadow and I zig zad skidded right into it. I straighted out at the last second and water splashed over my hood and onto my helmet. #10 right behind me skidded and spun out in the puddle. He had to step into the water to get his sled out. He had one wet foot for the rest of the day. We went south past the regular parking spot (right over the NH line on rte 12). I had never been that direction. We made it as far as Rindge when I asked #10 to head back. The conditions had deteriorated to the point where it was washouts/Ice/Rocks/sticks/snow mix. I felt like we had done some decent riding and the sleds were taking an unnecessary beating. I also felt like we are too close to the Quebec trip to be messing up our sleds. On the way back we found some local trails through the woods with some nice elevation changes. We also found some crazy looking abandoned cars. This one Honda Accord was crashed into a river ditch. I hope the driver was wearing his High School Football Pads. That's the only way he didn't get hurt.

#10's new SC III rear end is working perfectly. He has a new track as well. He had to mount the rear end in a new position. He has really done a nice job on that sled. I think it's like an old' friend to him. We also adjusted my torsion springs to better handle my not so petite figure. That worked out great also. #10 was a good sport for driving and turning back when I asked. Much appreciated Bro'.

46 miles from Troy to the Bridge to Rindge and Back. Not bad for spring conditions.

This is a long report so you might want to print it out and read it on the crapper then wiped your arse with it!

I showed up at Lampi’s and loaded up the trailer. Lampi immediately commented on my overly large suitcase. We packed up his Titan and were off to the North woods. We arrived at the Coos Motor Inn in Lancaster around 3pm. We quickly unpacked and pulled the sleds off for a night ride. We decided to head south and check recon Twin Mtn since #66 & 34 were arriving in the morning. We headed down 5 and saw a pair of Moose cross the trail in front of us. Soon after I quickly found that my dreaded heated visor wasn’t working. We pulled over in the darkness and had to diagnose the problem. Before leaving I had hard wired into the reverse switch per TY forum to avoid blowing a fuse, but being a hockey helmet, I spliced it at the alarm which only works in reverse…dumb. So, Lampi had an extra cord so we spliced directly to the battery, walla, power. On we went towards twin down 5 and 11. Trails were in good shape other than a few water bar areas, the iron horse trail was covered but the rails could be felt just under the snow, which we didn’t care for. We railed by Fabians and stopped for fuel. We then proceeded towards Gorham where we found fresh groomed trails. We did a loop on the trails in Gorham since they were in excellent shape for this time of year and headed into town for dinner.

After filling up in “Sarge” style on buffalo wings, French onion soup and prime rib, we headed back towards Lancaster, we met a couple of guys on the trail and they told us the loop we were going to try (forgot the trail) was pretty muddy, so we doubled back and took basically the same route home. We logged in a solid 110 miles. Back at Lancaster, we fueled up for the next morning and spoke with a local kid who had asked if we ever tried Vermont. He suggested that we slip over the border after dark and try out the 4-wide trail system to see how great they were compared to NH. We took his suggestion under advisement and loaded the sleds for the following day.

Sunday we awoke to each other telling of stories about mad chain saws sounds in the night…we both snore like to bears in hibernation. After trying to fill up on a “free” continental breakfast and speaking with an older couple. We had learned that they had gotten stuck the night before in a water bar trying to head north. We decided to just trailer the 10 mins. Up to Shellys and leave from the parking area. Upon arrival, the parking lot was a little over half full…not a lot of traffic. We headed up 5 towards Nash Stream, the main trail was flat and we had to watch our speed totally expecting the trout troopers to be watching. We took a left up a trail that reminded me of a rodeo. With bumps all the way, I had a chance to find out how the Apex suspension worked. The fox floats are unbelievable, with a range of 50-150psi and they are set at 60psi, I never once felt anything harsh, the rear was great also, but maxed out on the 2^nd clip and on cam 7 out of 7, I found the skid to bottom a few times. Not bad but I knew I would need to replace the spring to the heavier one everyone has been talking about on TY. We then took a few trails and headed over to the new warming hut for some chow. This was the 1^st time for me at the new clubhouse and I was very impressed. Food was excellent, very roomy and comfortable, good people and they had sled movies playing the entire time. Cool. We gassed up and decided to hit the Canadian border. We had a great ride as we headed up on I believe was trail 5 to 20 to 136 to 112 and back to 20 and 5. Lampi might be able to tell the trail details a little better. Once at the border we went through the usual with the patrol and soon found ourselves on again, excellent groomed trails into Charterville. Since no one was around for gas, we headed east on the trails and found a cool place to stay next time. Just prior to arriving, we had seen by far, the coolest thing in nature I’d ever witnessed…still having some light let, a snowshoe hare ran across our path soon followed by a falcon about 4 feet off the ground in stealth mode. Lampi and I just looked at each other in amazement, truly unreal! Anyway, the owners name was Mark and he has 24 hr gas, small bar and restaurant and clean cabins. He was very knowledgeable about the trails and said we could get to Quebec City in a half day and return from his place. Reminded me of a young Bernard. He also mentioned a town closer with some familiar WPR attraction only a few hours away. HMMM, this place will definitely be getting used late this year or next year. Cost was $60 Canadian per night. Mark and told us we should take a trail east towards Maine, he explained the rules of registration and that since the snow conditions were low and no one was at the Charteville hut, we could legally go to the next town without a regs in order to get one if we planned on staying, the trail would bring us all the way over to the Maine border. The trail was a 45 mile run with excellent conditions. Halfway through our journey, my electric shield blew again. This time the wire had melted on a radiator hose and shorted out. After realizing we couldn’t repair it, we had to come up with a way to by pass the reverse buzzer and get the original wire to work. We zipped tied the reverse switch on and unplugged the buzzer and Wahoo! Electric!

On we went towards the Maine border at Coburn Gore. Once at the border we stopped by our local customs patrol and again went through the motions. In WPR fashion, not wanting to backtrack the same trail, I asked the border patrol if there as a trail that would lead us along the NH and ME border and bring us down to Berlin NH. He wholeheartedly explained that even though it wasn’t on the map since it (the trail) got washed away several tears ago that it had been reopened due to funding. Awesome, this would make for a nice loop with approximately the same miles across. After explaining what we wanted to due, the border patrol looked at us like we were 2 city slickers up on rental sleds. With a studdering… “ddddoo, yooouuuu, know where you are? Do you have any matches? You’re in the big woods you know.” We humbly replied, “yes” we know. We just need to fill up with some gas. At this time it was 8 pm and as we looked at the gas station down the road, the lights went out and they were closing…ut oh! The border patrol handed the licenses back and said to hurry and he would call to have them stay open, cool. We zipped over and filled our half empty tanks for the journey and pick up some matches….

While checking over the Maine map we saw some big deer wandering around in some guys back yard, cool. We crossed the road and headed down 27 looking for this junction trail the border guy said would be there, well after an hour of driving and not seeing any trail signs what so ever, we finally came to a road. Once we crossed we saw a sign that said ITS 89, so much for a border route! We also found a lone sled to be sitting there? Mid early 90’s cat? Feely already committed, we chugged down 89 towards Eustis and Stratton, almost at Stratton we caught up with 3 sleds, 1 being towed, and 4 people trying to take off a belt on the sled being towed. Being a courteous WPR guy I shined my lights on the situation and offered some assistance. The guys explained that they filled up there sleds with super and regular gas. The sleds with super both died and the ones with regular were still alive. Bummer…”where did you fill up”, I asked, Coburn Gore…WHOLLY CRAP! That’s where we filled up, I’m glad we got regular! These guys had to go back and pick up their sled 50 miles away!

The trails leading up to this point were good, wide and flat but hardly any signs to lead the way and assure you what trail you were on. We entered Stratton and hit the gas station again just as they were closing; we were getting awfully lucky with these gas stops. Lampi also purchased a spare belt since the other one had blown on Diamond pond earlier in the day. We were both getting nervous with the ride at this point knowing this would probably be our last fill up for the night. Lampi through the idea of finding a place to sleep in Maine and waiting for morning, but I reminded him that we weren’t exactly registered and we should probably head into NH tonight. Being around 10pm, I was used to riding at this time of night since WPR would always be riding the Fitzwilliam trails till midnight. So on we went our final leg over to NH. After leaving the gas station we stayed on ITS 89 until we hit Rangeley. The trails were getting bad since we were now in prime tourism country right after the weekend. Trail signs were almost no existent and we consistently had to use my gps in order to get our bearings. The map showed a trail 16 that would bring us over by Berlin NH, but it never appeared. There was never a sign for this trail. As I look at the gps route and trail map, I now see we were actually on this trail (16) but what signs we did say always said ITS 84? Not thinking we were on 16, we had to now head north up ITS 84 in order to get back into NH. We were burning fuel and time, something we really could afford. We were well past 2 am and we were finally seeing signs for NH, thank god. The trails were awful and our arses felt like they were flogged by 1000 china men. We crossed into NH and Lampi didn’t have any oil left. He had thought of it at the last gas stop and we now had a problem. His tank showed about an inch of oil left in the tank and we had well over 100 miles to still do. We knew we could get gas in Pittsburg, but oil was another thing. We saw a groomer and stopped him, he gave us a very puzzled look and Lampi asked if he had any oil. NONE! He even looked for some chainsaw pemix. NONE. He then suggested we go to the groomer’s barn and see if there was any oil there, if there wasn’t at least we could sleep there until someone opened up in the morning for oil. He gave Lampi directions, but at this point he could have wrote it on our skin and we wouldn’t have been able to follow it right. We were exhausted to say the least. We were mentally and physically drained. We got mixed up in the 130 and 140 series of trails towards Pittsburg and back lake where the groomer shack was. It seemed like an hour before we actually found it. Upon our arrival another groomer was there parked and filling his log book out. We headed in for some warmth and I looked for oil like a crack whore looking for drugs in a drug broken in drug store. I managed to find 2 bottles of some premix which measured out to be about ¾ of a quart. Lampi held the bottle as the groomer came in and lampi kindly asked if he could use them for his sled. The groomer quickly gave an “absolutely NOT!” “I’ll pay for them”, Lampi replied. “Nope, it’s not mine to sell”. Now being the friendly mannered person I am, I started to size up the dude, he was some big ole lumber jack with hands the size of an Alaskan brown bear. Shoulders wider then Brusci and I thought well, WTF! Switching right over to nice mode, I politely asked how the grooming was and what an excellent job he’d done compared to all the other clubs around! I also admired his brand new Piston Bully groomer parked outside and compared it to the one I used to drive on my little mountain back in Massachusetts. Well this caught the big burly mans attention and we were soon chewing the fat about grooming, when all of a sudden he stopped mid sentence and let out, “you can take that oil if you want”, well thank youuuuu kindly mister man! After a few more thanks, we were off like a prom dress putting oil in Lampis 2 stroker. We headed off to the 24 gas station to fill up. WOW, this was one hell of a night/day! The good part was we had plenty of fuel, plenty of oil, but it was now around 4 am and we knew we had a good 70 + miles to go…bad. The trails were great, mostly groomed, but we could only manage around 40mph since we could barely sit on these damn machines anymore. I could feel my eyes closing and swore I kept seeing deer watching me as I ride by, weird feeling. After what seemed to be endless, we finally arrived at the parking lot were we quickly loaded up and headed for the hotel. We made a pit stop at Mickey D’s and the woman thought we were out for an early start, ya right. Back at the hotel, we hit the sack and slept from 6 to 10 before we had to check out. We totaled 353 miles from this little adventure, one that I will never do again! Total trip miles 463 miles.

I guilted my reluctant wife into a "family snowmobiling day" at Wymans. I brought the Polaris and Ski Doo. After arriving, I unloaded and brought 4 loads of equipement into the house. I got no help from the reluctant one. The Pez and wife were there so me and my better half went for a ride around the lake. I put her on the Ski Doo and I took the XC. We went down to 140 first, Grassy cove second, Big Bay third, Hagar Park was next. Hagar has plenty of snow and not even too bumpy. The L-Train was up to the ride and enjoyed the trail riding the best. We went home out the other side of Hagar Park. It was a little different riding with the warden, but fun nonetheless.

The next ride I took was with Ashley, the 8 year old. She likes the sled a lot. She has no fear of riding on the high speed straight aways. We took several rides during the day.

I took the kids next door for rides. One kid, what a pain in the butt, he kept hitting my reverse button while I was driving. He did it 3 times. The sled stalls by the way, in case you were wondering. I could not get that little guy home quick enough. Should have left him out there.

Conditions were fantastic. I had my doubts while driving up to the lake in the rain. It turned to sun by the time I got there and the weather was very warm.

Reluctant wife said and I quote "Write this down because it won't happen again-you were right, it was a lot of fun". Does that break the code of women by saying that?

We went to the Outback for dinner on the way home for the King Cut Prime Rib and a beer. My daughter got the rack of ribs (proof that she's actually mine).

what a beautiful day on the lake, sunny, warm and I must say it has been many years since I have seen conditions so ideal on the lake. present #2 and family, #5 w/ boys, #7 and family. each member brought both sleds and the kids had a ball driving and riding along.

#2 has done a great job of planning and executing on making his machines so versatile with optional riding configurations. kudos. I learned that riding w/ 2 boys on the black machine is nearly impossible and certainly undesirable. Man, did I catch an earful from the one riding in back!

the 7 year old did a great job solo riding the lil ET250 around half of wyman's with only 1 low speed collision into me. #2, tried to rub and race but #19 was unimpressed (actually #2 believes he was so focused ahead of him that he didn't see the challenge). #1 looked like a pro behind the bars and did an impressive job with a 100HP machine as well.

It was like a real homecoming to take the baby Yamadoodle through the rough and tumble of Hagar Park where I cut my teeth with that machine. The look on JP's face to see the old Enticer, the very one, screaming along the "front stretch" in front his place again was priceless. fyi: top speed of 1978 machine with two riders a blazing 45mph. not bad.

the main lanes of the lake were flat as a pancake with packed granular. perfect. some slush poked through but not enough to make a difference. great powder to play in in the coves. the trails had good coverage with some rocks poking out and the field was in good shape with lots of wheat sticking up. we really ought to have the dash for cash this year.

The first family Day of 2006 . # 2 and entire family (8, 1 and 20) were the 1^st to show up. We did a little shoveling, turned on the heat and we were ready to go. The Lake was perfect, flat; fast smooth you would think there is a groomer on the Wymanlake’s association pay role. We did 10 miles of lake riding and decided to break for Lunch. This is when # 7 and family made their appearance. # 7 and wife took a nice romantic sled ride around the lake as our kids played together and ate lunch. Lunch was home made moose chili corn bread. Shortly after Lunch was over # 5 and 2 children (19, 43) made their grand entrance. V (19) was very proud of his new ride the 79 Yamaha Enticer and showed true form as he rode around the lake.

The rest of the day was all about giving rides, changing sleds, and doing trail rides through Hager Park. The highlight of my day but the low light of Donna day was when I took her for a ride out on the lake and through the woods. I haven’t been hugged like this since before children. The faster I went the tighter she squeezed. Needless to say she will not be asking me for a ride anytime soon.

To say 388 was embarrassed is an understatement, # 5's ride with old Gas, old plugs, old belt, a torn power valve was clearly stout on Thursday. # 5 must have something up his sleeve? I did notice a new boost bottle? Maybe that big bore theory is true?

It was a good day.

In attendance: 3,99 &13.

Left from behind Shelly's in the Nash Stream area. Shelly is not very good at giving directions.

After a few adjustments we headed into the trails. As expected, Corridor 5 was recently groomed and was in excellent shape. Come to think of it, it has always been in super condition.

We tried to slide East towards Errol. This was a mistake. If we continued much further than we might have been the first to do so the season. The trail was getting very narrow and the lack of tracks was making me feel lonely.

Back to 5.

This was a good shakedown for us. We all had adjustments to make. Some more than others.

Off to Colebrook for lunch.

Trail conditions varied. The trails had snow. For the most part, they were recently groomed. We did see some water. Mostly in the form of small mud crossings. Nothing too serious. We ran into a couple of sections where the trees were in the trail. We ran sections of this like cones on a slalom course. Markings or sign-age is somewhat weak. Maps are not yet available.

Trail 5 to 18.

Lunch at Howards. Note to members. Colebrook PD tickets sleds in town. You are expected to park behind the buildings on the West side of Main Street.

7 South to 5.

Approximately 84 miles round and around trip. Back to MA by 6:30.

Highlight. Having 13 say to me, "I bet you wish you had reverse," while we looked at at mud crossing and decided to turn around. All three of us turned the blue girl. I and 99 moved out of the way. 13 got stuck. He, he ,heeee.

3 out

Thanks for writing the ride report. I was going to put one up tonight, but instead I will fill in some of the blanks....

"Left from behind Shelly's in the Nash Stream area. Shelly is not very good at giving directions."

Our first mistake was sending #3 in to ask for directions. My four year old has better "inquiry" skills. It took us a good 20-30 mins to find the parking area.

"After a few adjustments we headed into the trails."

The few adjustments were for #3 to adjust his chain, which turned out to be a "surgical" exericise. Sled Parts were all over the parking lot. It looked like a yard sale. After a few bloody knuckles and about a half hour, it was off to the trails.

"This was a good shakedown for us. We all had adjustments to make. Some more than others."

Others meant me. Most of you know I bought a new helmet. Like all purchases, I was very excited and couldn't wait to try my new toy. I have made many bad purchases in the past, but this was probably my worst. This helmet (Arctic Cat Semi-Modular) is a piece of ****. Too many parts, too many moving pieces, too much air flow (I still have blood shot eyes from the constant cold air flowing directly into my eyes and cheeks), and worst of all, I would have had the same riding experience if I had packed snow directly into my eyes and tried to ride. The fogging/freezing was nothing like I had ever experienced. #13 accused me of whining like a little bitch (I probably was) becuase I had to stop and defog at least 7-8 times on the way to Colebrook. I feel sorry for you guys that ride with glasses and have to deal with little or no visability. It really takes the fun out of riding. Needless to say the helmet is going back. I can't wait for my next new toy (I'm going Ski-Doo Modular).

"Trail conditions varied. The trails had snow. For the most part, they were recently groomed. We did see some water. Mostly in the form of small mud crossings. Nothing too serious. We ran into a couple of sections where the trees were in the trail. We ran sections of this like cones on a slalom course. Markings or sign-age is somewhat weak. Maps are not yet available".

Small mud crossings.....I watched as #3 decided to go through one of these small mud crossings. I am not kidding when I say it must have been 3+ feet deep. #3's blue beauty was up to it's arse in mud. #13 and I decided to take the high road and ride about 2 feet to the left for a nice clean snowy ride.

#3 and #13 ran through the trees like a slalom course. I went through at about 2 miles an hour so I wouldn't scratch my piece of **** helmet.

The Icebreakers signage in Brookline was far better than the signage between Groveton and Colebrook.

"Highlight. Having 13 say to me, "I bet you wish you had reverse," while we looked at at mud crossing and decided to turn around. All three of us turned the blue girl. I and 99 moved out of the way. 13 got stuck. He, he ,heeee."

Also a highlight for me watching #13 struggle for about 5 mins trying to turn his sled around becuase he was getting stuck in reverse.

Another highlight was watching #13 take three tries to load his sled onto his trailer at the end of the ride. This is becoming a habit.

All in all a good day. Thanks to #13 for driving both ways and supplying the tow vehicle and trailer (I know you all thought that #3 would drive, but he was able to keep his freeloading streak going).

The day was finally here. The reports were not that promising, Groveton was reporting some grooming, Swift diamond showed most trails as open but not groomed. My Vacation Status at work is use them or loose them so I was willing to take the chance. # 5 was daring enough to join me so we made a plan to leave @ 5:30 the next day. # 5 after pulling an all nighter trying to resolve his trailer light issues unsuccessfully we decided to meet on Rt12 @ 6am

We stopped for Registration, gas and a big breakfast # 37 in Lancaster. We Made to Nash stream by 9:45 am and were trail bound shortly there after. Much to our surprise the trails were perfect all the way to cranberry bog. The groomer's clearly doing there job and a fresh 3 “ of snow we were in heaven.

Once we made it to the Colebrook trails it was bump city all the way to the pipe @ rt26, no grooming @ all. This is where I saw the Temp light for the first of many times this day. With all the fresh snow I was shocked. The sled didn’t seem hot we checked the obvious stuff and everything looked fine. So we continued on to just have the light come on after another 5 miles. We decided to bleed the cooling system and also confirmed the fluid wasn’t very hot even though the temp light was on? We waited 10 minutes or so and continued on. After 2 more Temp light stops it was time to turn around. Now the funny part I only saw the temp light one more time over the next 40 miles of hard riding? The Swift diamond groomer's were out, not all trails were groomed but they were working on it. The balsam trail to the parking lot @ diamond pond was very nice.

Once we made it back to Nash stream we decided to enjoy the groomed trail we did the rt5 and alternate rt5 loop twice. High speeds, flat, complete snow coverage a perfect 10!! Total miles 80 (# 5 sled)

2006 WPR Dash for Cash Results
	2	5	7	1776	95	388	F6	Al	F7	# OF WINS	Place
95	W	W	W	W	x	L	W	NA	NA	5	1
388	W	W	W	W	W	x	L	NA	NA	5	2
1776	W	W	W	x	L	L	W	NA	NA	4	3
F6	W	W	W	L	L	W	x	NA	NA	4	3
2	x	W	W	L	L	L	L	NA	NA	2	5
7	L	W	x	L	L	L	L	NA	NA	1	6
5	L	x	L	L	L	L	L	NA	NA	0	7
F7	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical	X	Mechanical	8
Al	Accident	Accident	Accident	Accident	Accident	Accident	Accident	X	Accident	Accident	9