No laughing please. My wife and I ride a two-up and she does not let me exceed 51mph if it's below 10 degrees or the wind is in our face. Anything faster and she says her head gets wiped around and she gets cold. Every so often I sneak a 90mph lake crossing if the wind is at our back and we've ridden the path earlier that day. She usually catches on and scolds me at the next stop. Just kidding. At 50mph we have been able to avoid several for sure head-ons with the "Professional Trail Racers". We have never had to hit the powder, but have had to nearly stop and watched the short sited "Racers" go into the woods as they cut back across to there side of the trail - no resulting injuries fortunately. To all the "Racers"; please ride at night when you can see headlights and we're not on the trails. Thanks.
A message to the "Professional Trail Racers"
- Thread starter Marty P
- Start date
yooper_man
New member
I do not understand how people can go that fast. I am perfectly happy going 40-50. Many 60 thru a feild. I know my limitation! When I come up to a stop sign. I let people pass me.
Thats why a good share of the time we go to u.p or northern wis on a weekend we start rideing around 4am and generaly back by noon with our miles for the day.
While i do hate following a group for miles at 30 miles a hour because they dont look back needing to pass someone doing 60 is not needed in any situation. Mirriors should be law in all states for snowmobiles. Ive often thought about installin a air horn on the sled to let the 1's who wont look back know im there haha
While i do hate following a group for miles at 30 miles a hour because they dont look back needing to pass someone doing 60 is not needed in any situation. Mirriors should be law in all states for snowmobiles. Ive often thought about installin a air horn on the sled to let the 1's who wont look back know im there haha
This is the exact reason I sold my sleds 10 years ago and quit riding, I got tired of feeling like my life was in danger everytime i went to the U.P..
I have been thinking about getting back into it again recently but if I do I will only ride during the week. I hate to suggest more DNR patroling of the trails, but what are we going to do to make this sport safe again?
I have been thinking about getting back into it again recently but if I do I will only ride during the week. I hate to suggest more DNR patroling of the trails, but what are we going to do to make this sport safe again?
I'll surely get a spankin for this idea,but...........raise the cost of ridership and increase the education process.
I'm the first one against increased fees and more mandates from the government,but I cant think of anything else that would do the trick.
Except for the baseball bat idea,which I've been considering alot more as of late..............
I'm the first one against increased fees and more mandates from the government,but I cant think of anything else that would do the trick.
Except for the baseball bat idea,which I've been considering alot more as of late..............
mjkaliszak
New member
Learned to love " weekday riding " years ago while training my kids. There is no substitute for riding during the week vs weekend . A little respect goes a long way, too bad there seems to be less of it in the world now-a-days.
In agreement with all. For the first time in over a decade our upcoming trip of 5 days to the UP will occur with a weekend in the middle of our stay. Really not looking forward to those two days. Will we ride? Sure. But I think with our hearts in our throats at every turn while on a trail.
Planning weekday trips
I think riding during the week is the best option. My plans all revolve around leaving Wednesdays and arriving around 2 or in the evening. Possibly riding if the arrival is at 2 and just drinking if it's at night. Then riding Thursday and Friday. Possibly getting a ride in Saturday morning before all the "snow spitters" get up.
This way we have Saturday to go back home and Sunday to just relax.
There's a lot less moguls and you don't have to worry about seeing too many other people.
Stay safe and slow down for oncoming riders!
I think riding during the week is the best option. My plans all revolve around leaving Wednesdays and arriving around 2 or in the evening. Possibly riding if the arrival is at 2 and just drinking if it's at night. Then riding Thursday and Friday. Possibly getting a ride in Saturday morning before all the "snow spitters" get up.
This way we have Saturday to go back home and Sunday to just relax.
There's a lot less moguls and you don't have to worry about seeing too many other people.
Stay safe and slow down for oncoming riders!
saber1
Active member
I got a little satisfaction last year on the trail to Lake in the clouds there were 3 of us just about a couple miles before the lake we were doing around 50 or so When a pack of 3 wanna be racers zipped by us at around 80mph all dressed to the t's in their best yammi racing gear then a half mile later we came across them in the middle of the trail with one Apex shoved under the other one and 2 guys trying to pull the sleds apart.Seemed like one guy stopped too fast and the other sled just rear ended him.Pricless.
polarisrider1
New member
very true. only difference is we do fish fry at NA-TA-KA
LOL...where's the helmet cam when ya need it?
polarisrider1
New member
That does not seperate anything. Whats a backpack with a shovel have to do with any of this topic? 60mph plus on a 6-7' wide trail lined with trees spells eventual disaster no matter who is running down it. Been there done that.
skiroule
Well-known member
Oh Boy,
This thread is probably going to generate some volume. I think most riders have had close calls and it’s amazing that there aren’t more fatalities when you have machines passing each other 18” apart at a combined speed of 120 mph+.
I have largely abandoned weekend riding in the U.P. as well but I have to say that most of the riders I meet on the trail there appear to be quite safety conscious. However, because there are the exceptions to this, I no longer encourage my son to go riding with me due to safety concerns and my wife quit riding two years ago. As she puts it, “it isn’t worth dying for”. It’s kind of sad to say but I would not consider snowmobiling a family activity in many areas any more.
As one of the posts pointed out, it doesn’t help that the snowmobiling public is inundated with promotion of the concept of “flash and fast”, from machines to clothing to accessories to videos. I think a second contributor is a fairly prevalent view that the quality of a trail ride is measured in miles. If one can’t blast through the forest at 80 – 100 feet per second, it’s tough to rack up legendary miles.
While speed may be a factor in a lot of these encounters, by itself it is probably not the enemy. The real culprit seems to be a lack of judgment, consideration, and anticipation. This combination makes for a dangerous cocktail.
This thread is probably going to generate some volume. I think most riders have had close calls and it’s amazing that there aren’t more fatalities when you have machines passing each other 18” apart at a combined speed of 120 mph+.
I have largely abandoned weekend riding in the U.P. as well but I have to say that most of the riders I meet on the trail there appear to be quite safety conscious. However, because there are the exceptions to this, I no longer encourage my son to go riding with me due to safety concerns and my wife quit riding two years ago. As she puts it, “it isn’t worth dying for”. It’s kind of sad to say but I would not consider snowmobiling a family activity in many areas any more.
As one of the posts pointed out, it doesn’t help that the snowmobiling public is inundated with promotion of the concept of “flash and fast”, from machines to clothing to accessories to videos. I think a second contributor is a fairly prevalent view that the quality of a trail ride is measured in miles. If one can’t blast through the forest at 80 – 100 feet per second, it’s tough to rack up legendary miles.
While speed may be a factor in a lot of these encounters, by itself it is probably not the enemy. The real culprit seems to be a lack of judgment, consideration, and anticipation. This combination makes for a dangerous cocktail.
I had a sneak attack last year by a group of trail racers. I just pulled up to a stop sign on a trail, stopped, looked both ways, and was about to hit the gas to go, when about 4 or 5 guys on some M800's came just blazing by me, no stopping, no looking, nothing. Never even saw them in my mirrors as I approached the stop sign, so I have no idea where they even came from.
I echo all the above comments, if these "proffesional trail racers" think they are a hot driver and their sled is so fast, why don't they take it to one of the race tracks. What happened to me this weekend takes the cake. I'm riding down a wide logging road just starting to come up a hill, a sled crests the hill somewhat on my side, I move over as far as I could, what comes over the hill next is a guy on a snow board being towed by the snowmobile, if I had not moved over, there would have been an incident. Granted, this was not on a funded trail, but some common sense should prevail. I wished I had the answer for the wannabe racer, if they just used some common sense when they are passing and in the corners. They give the impression that the trail is theirs and everyone else be damned.
Garden tools
Backpack with a shovel. Cracks me up when the garden tools come up.
Pro
Backpack with a shovel. Cracks me up when the garden tools come up.
Pro
I quit riding weekends a couple yeras ago when I retired. I just can't get over the number of rude, inconsiderate, stupid people who don't at least slow down when meeting on comming sled traffic - like a couple seconds is going to make such a big differebce in where they are going. I quit riding for about 10 years because the group I rode with just got too into the "bigger faster" idea, and "we put on 250 mile" thing. When my wife and I got back into it i decided to slow down and enjoy the experience. My rule now is if I can't ride one handed then I'm going too fast. I do keep a close watch on my mirrors and let sleds that catch us pass as soon as I can, but have had people pass me at speeds where you can't even tell what they are riding - seen some of those people wrecked also further up the trail - I won't even stop to help these idiots anymore either. I know it's fun to ride fast, but it can be done safely and with some consideration for other riders and without beating the crap out of the trails. Ya ever run into groups who bitch about rough trails and then blow out every corner they come to ? I agree the industry ads,videos, and mags foster a lot of this showing riders blasting WFO. We wonder why trails get closed, but we all see tracks off the trail in posted areas, I see a good number of used sleds listed with "cans" when for the most part all they do is make more noise and reduce performance and piss people off.
Please people use your heads and be considerate to other riders, trail groomers, and property owners it will make everyone's experience in the sport more enjoyable and safe. OK done with my rant
Please people use your heads and be considerate to other riders, trail groomers, and property owners it will make everyone's experience in the sport more enjoyable and safe. OK done with my rant
I agree with all the above. This was the first year with me riding with the fiance along for the week on her own sled, and wow does that change everything. I could not imagine calling her parents if something bad happened. I gives a person a whole new perspective when meeting sleds doing 70-80 mph on trails.