Did you have fun this year? Tell us about it.

[switch07]

Even though this winter was not the best in the Midwest, us sled heads tend to find the snow and have fun. This is how my year went.
My year started on Dec 6th with the first ride on our new Viper LTX DX's leaving out of Crystal Falls and putting on 135 miles for the first shakedown cruise. The trails were very nice for early season.
We then were able to take in Kip's open house on the 13th and although conditions were minimal at best we had fun making new friends and catching up with old ones. Thanks again Kip for the good time.
This brought us into the Xmas holidays where I was fortunate enough to spend 4 days at my friend Keith's cabin in Greenland. I even got to do a little grooming with him on trail 13. I was then joined by my wife, daughter and future son-in-law at Centennial Cabins on New years to finish out the holidays in the northern Kee.
This brought us into January and we rode a little around the Crivitz area in WI on minimal snow but groomed well.
January also brought my wife and her friend to Women on Snow in Eagle River. Their first time partaking in this and although the trails started out a bit rough due to groomer breakdowns in Eagle River, they had a great time and plan on doing it again. This also allowed the husbands to get together for a ride of our own around the Three Lakes area.
It's now February and time for our annual guys saddlebag trip. We had planned on doing Minnesota again this year but conditions would not allow that so we settled on the UP. We left out of Three Lakes WI and had overnights in Ironwood, Houghton, Baraga, Munising, Newberry, Little Lake and then back to Three Lakes WI. Along the way we took in the Porkies, all of the Kee, Paradise and the Falls, Manistique and The Big Spring for a grand total of 1409 miles. Every trail we were on was either fresh groomed or recently groomed, hats off and a big thank you to all the groomers out there....great job! The only bad trail we had was 11N out of Ironwood to the Porkies, I don't think it was ever touched, but I knew my way around that one.
After this business called and I was forced to go out of town and my wife asked me not to take my truck to the airport, and please hook up the inline because she was going riding midweek. So her and her brother and nephews went up to Antigo without me and had excellent riding.
Our season concluded last week up in Marquette midweek with temps in the mid to high 40's. We only rode on Wednesday up in the Big Bay area. The trails were surprisingly very good, smooth with only a few bare spots. Road crossing were tough but passable. We could have rode on Thursday but decided to call it a year and just goof off in the Marquette area, coming home on Friday.
All in all it was a very fun year for the Switch07 family with just short of 3k on my sled and 1k on the wife's sled.
I hope all my JD friends have a safe and fun "off season" and hope to see you on the trails next year.

If you had fun this year, share it with us all...............

Switch

 

[chords]

I got to hang out with my friend again ice fishing on our 30th something annual trip to N Lower Mi.
30 PLUS YEARS
. Bonus my son and his buddy joined us also. Passed on the luv of sleddin' and ice fishing and enjoying the outdoors all these years to my son.

 

[indy_500]

Trails never opened at home, never had more than 2-3" on the ground all year, and it ended wayyy to fast. I think I am done, but what a year it was! Snowchecked/purchased my first ever new sled, and was able to ride it on November 14th in the Yoop. Next trip up was the weekend of December 5th, more or less a break in/get used to the sled kind of trip before I headed out west! Togwotee bound I went, rode 4 awesome days December 22-25 and had awesome conditions. Bent my rails on the last day out there on our way back to the cabin, it took me a few weeks to get the sled going again, with the help of some Ice Age bombers I was heading back to the yoop the weekend of January 17th and got the chance to ride with John Dee himself, Skylar, Scottiking, Dave from WRC, and Eric "boonie". I was up again the weekend of January 31st, this time got the chance to ride with Matt "The Breeze". 10 minutes into our ride with him, it opened a whole new light to tree riding. After having one of the best days I've ever had in the yoop, my sled quickly changed direction from up to sideways after riding with him. Had so much fun I knew I had to come back up the next weekend February 7th, this time I rode with Skylar and Scottiking and had a blast even on no sleep. Proceed to the weekend of February 21, I was schooled by Cooksend and crew, along with Skylar, Scottiking, and Eric "boonie". That was my 2nd and last trip on no sleep to the yoop! I knew I had to make time and get a trip in with my dad, it's always nice to trail ride a bit just to see new/different towns and cover area, so I was up the following weekend February 28th with him and put on 550 miles in 3 days and covered everywhere between Copper Harbor and Phelps. The snow was so good in the woods I came up the weekend after that again, March 7th, and stayed and rode with Matt "The Breeze" again along with his buddy "The Gooser". Found awesome untracked terrain and deep snow again. So there you have it, my 2014-2015 winter in a nutshell. 750 miles on my sled, 550 miles on my moms sled, 8 trips to the UP, 1 trip out west, and 7000 miles on the truck & trailer. I'd like to thank all the businesses we ate at and stayed at for making this all possible, Lake Superior for providing snow, Scottiking for letting us stay at the shack, Matt for letting us stay with him, and all the new guys I rode with for showing me good hills, and giving pointers on backcountry rippin'!

 

[Hoosier]

It was a short year for me as it's hard to come up with the time and/or money to get away but that's absolutely fine - my kids will only be young for so long. Got up to Eagle River for 3 days with my wife and my oldest (6 years old) and rode each day a little, and then rode for 4 days for the 1st time in Wawa, where we found some great new riding spots but were limited with extreme temps. Hopefully next year will bring more opportunities to get out!

Some day I'll spend more time sitting on a snowmobile than I do looking at snowmobile stuff on the computer.

 

[shelby369]

Great season..........many trips north, good friends, good food, good riding, good booze, no problems, 2851 miles, life is good......already looking forward to next year.

 

[durphee]

4 sledding trips, Minocqua twice, Mercer once, Hayward once. Rode 2 days back in illinois through 4 foot drifts (which was actually a great time). First time in years that I didn't make it to the UP. Accumulated about 1400 miles on the sled - ZERO breakdows, ZERO injuries, too many smiles to count.

 

[bigvin]

Trails Never opened in my "local" area,... and like Indy, never had much more than 2 or 3 inches
on the ground at one time. 82 TOTAL miles. But they were very good ones! Very weird winter here
but Loved reading about everyone else's adventures! I guess when you've been snowmobiling for 47
or so years,...one is bound to have a bad year here and there.
FUN FOR SURE! and lets hope next season brings TONS of snow for everyone,....
and we get all the "other" problems ironed out,...so this sport can live on and thrive for generations to come!

Fire up them Bar-B-Que's!!!!!

 

[snoluver1]

Fire up them Bar-B-Que's!!!!!

Smokin' with cherry as we speak!!

I had a similar season as bigvin. I officially got 2 rides in this year. First was up at John's place to test out the Make-A-Wish sled. Most fun I've had in 7 miles of trail for a long time! Second was a great powder ride in a totally new area to me. Had a great time exploring some new ground. Over all not the best season as far as seat time, but I'm not complaining. Had an amazing season last year. Ya win some ya loose some, eh?

 

[groomerdriver]

In all respects it was a much better year than I expected. The new sled was "meh" but my USAF being home on leave and our awesome UP bag trip will forever be in my memories. Met some great new riding buds as well!

 

[1fujifilm]

Met a friend that moved away from me in Munising for a 10 hour 331 mile sunday ride. We rode to Paradise, Mi and did the loop near the shipwreck museum and rode back to Munising. Trails were as fast as you wanted them, 5 inches of new powder and the ride was swift and fun.

Secondly, I am from Green Bay and our trails never opened either so miles were a low 880ish. Wish I could have done the G.B. to Eagle River, Wi round trip on sled as we usually do but no snow.

Frank

 

[megan600]

Interesting season to say the least for me. Been up to Munising 4 different times for long weekend getaways. Headed back up for my 5th next week. Sitting at about 2500 miles right now for the year. So many great memories and laughs with my riding buddies, and picked up a few more to add to the group along the way. Definitely a season for the books as far as Shenanigans go. Got my first go at vintage oval racing this year too...took 1st place in the women's and 3rd, and 6th against the fellas. Mid season I also found myself in the middle of a divorce. There is nothing more tranquill for your mind than squeezing the throttle to help get you by White gold sure has magical powers.

Another great perk to this season was being chosen as a Brand Ambassador for Divas SnowGear company. I was able to test their products, provide lots of great honest and open feedback, and see some of those suggestions already going into their line up for 2016. Working the snow shows with them (and meeting a few fellow johndee-ers there) and having a network of 30 other female ambassadors who love riding as much as me, has helped to make this season one for the books!

 

[snobuilder]

Interesting season to say the least for me. Been up to Munising 4 different times for long weekend getaways. Headed back up for my 5th next week. Sitting at about 2500 miles right now for the year. So many great memories and laughs with my riding buddies, and picked up a few more to add to the group along the way. Definitely a season for the books as far as Shenanigans go. Got my first go at vintage oval racing this year too...took 1st place in the women's and 3rd, and 6th against the fellas. Mid season I also found myself in the middle of a divorce. There is nothing more tranquill for your mind than squeezing the throttle to help get you by White gold sure has magical powers.

Another great perk to this season was being chosen as a Brand Ambassador for Divas SnowGear company. I was able to test their products, provide lots of great honest and open feedback, and see some of those suggestions already going into their line up for 2016. Working the snow shows with them (and meeting a few fellow johndee-ers there) and having a network of 30 other female ambassadors who love riding as much as me, has helped to make this season one for the books!

WOW...quite a year for you!....I have had ridin buds who rode too much and it lead to a divorce but don't know of any
wives who fell to the same fate!.....LOL....whatchu doin' next Dec- March.....LOL

 

[snobuilder]

Had another fun year which was jazzed up a bit by running a 2 stroke instead of the 4 strokes as in the past years.
Made some new friends on a group ride in early Feb. and spent the rest of the year riding with family when they could make it up
and also had a new experience of riding midweek solo.
Spooled on 4000+ miles in No. WI and of course the Yoop without a serious crash so overall another quick passing good year.

 

[megan600]

HAHA I wouldnt say it was the cause of it.... but as you can imagine, it sure the heck didnt help the situation one bit. Stuff happens!

Pretty safe to say next Dec-March I'm planning to ride lol

 

[rp7x]

nice # on your race sled

 

[gary_in_neenah]

As Indy and Vin said earlier, the trails never opened in our part of Wisconsin. Quite a contrast to 2014 when we were riding until the middle of March.

Soooo, I made three trips north, actually 2 and a half as the last trip was the warm-up that closed all the trails. I rode for 2 or 3 hours and called it quits amongst the rocks, the mud, and the flooding swamps. Sheesh!

The most fun by far was our Club Ride based in Mercer. Good trail conditions, lodging, food and beverage were all well received by our members, 16 in all made the trip.

Just over 500 miles for the season, nothing broke, the 4 Stroke ran flawlessly but I did notice when I was storing my gear for the season that my boots are worn out. Guess I'll replace those sometime during the off-season. Let's hope for a return to a Snowy Winter next year, but for now I'm anxious to get the Grill and Smoker going, start the boat and enjoy some summer vacation!

Gary

 

[sweeperguy]

For such bad conditions here in MN I was able to get in almost 2000 miles. Met some good people to ride with here on JD. Had some good rides, average of 150 per day. I went on my first ride in Nov. Just north of the cities, made it 26 miles and burnt down the motor in my sled. New last March only 317 miles on it. Got sled back and went to western UP on Dec 20, of course I had issues, not running right got it to Pat's and they found the main jet had fallen into the bowl. They got me up and running, saving my trip. Put on 500 or so miles. Some wet spots, but pretty good early season conditions. Jan 10 went back to UP had a good trip. Cheaped out, we stayed in Walmart (Bessemer) parking lot, slept in my bosses kids snowmobile trailer. Quite a setup, heat of course, Tv, DVD player, surround sound. In February we went to Sault Ste Marie for the I -500 and put on 700 or so miles. Got in 2 trips to Sawyer county Wi. And a few trips to Barron county Wi and rode with a few guys from JD. Got in a short day trip to Isle Mn with another JD member and rode redtop area that was groomed. So I am pretty pleased with the miles I was able to get in
Alot of miles on my truck and trailer to do it. Other than the blown motor at beginning of year, no other problems. GOOD YEAR, new riding friends couldn't ask for much more. Did have plans to do a bag trip this weekend, 21st, but got cancelled due to early warm up.

 

[whitedust]

As Indy and Vin said earlier, the trails never opened in our part of Wisconsin. Quite a contrast to 2014 when we were riding until the middle of March.

Soooo, I made three trips north, actually 2 and a half as the last trip was the warm-up that closed all the trails. I rode for 2 or 3 hours and called it quits amongst the rocks, the mud, and the flooding swamps. Sheesh!

The most fun by far was our Club Ride based in Mercer. Good trail conditions, lodging, food and beverage were all well received by our members, 16 in all made the trip.

Just over 500 miles for the season, nothing broke, the 4 Stroke ran flawlessly but I did notice when I was storing my gear for the season that my boots are worn out. Guess I'll replace those sometime during the off-season. Let's hope for a return to a Snowy Winter next year, but for now I'm anxious to get the Grill and Smoker going, start the boat and enjoy some summer vacation!

Gary

500 miles not much for 1 season ...my wife would make me sell my Apex XTX with that little use. 4s costs way too high for that just oil & filter too much comaperd to 2s add oil as needed. Renting would be better deal for you....no worries no overhead. Low mile season or typical?

 

[bobsledder]

My season. 1400 weird miles!

Limited miles in west central IL, some ditch banging and snow search training.
Iron River MI. We rode out of a cabin for a week with a few mechanical issues and we had about 800 miles of smiles.
Went to Gaylord in Lower MI. to start a saddlebag trip to the UP. We went north to the bridge and had the bridge authority haul us across, bucket list Item 1. Then the ice bridge to Mackinaw Island and had lunch at the Mustang Inn and did a little sightseeing. Bucket list 2. Then to White Fish point, Bucket list 3. Across to Grand Marais to the Agate cross B&B (Jamie and Lois have become friends) we wanted to see again. 5 miles out of town a fatal breakdown and a call to the support truck driver who was hanging with some friends in lower MI. After a lost day we were ready again and we went to the Top of the Lake Snowmobile museum In Naubinway on the North shore of Superior. The sleds were good and I was sick, not sure what was wrong but hay we were riding. Friday the last day -24 in Newberry one sled was uncooperative so we departed about 1 pm. got back to Gaylord about 8 and I was sicker only 600 miles for the week. . The guys helped me to the room and I rested till they settled me into the Suburban for the 500 mile trip home. Sunday evening I had surgery for a ruptured colon and spent 9 days in the hospital. I am slowly getting well and we have set our sights on a saddlebag trip in Central North Minnesota for next winter. My winter was a little complex but my good friends took good care of me, now I owe them!

 

[skiroule]

Have to say I don’t have a clue how many miles I put on this year. Just never think to keep track I guess but thinking back on the winter some good stuff comes to mind:

• Two great Canadian ice fishing trips – fish didn’t cooperate but lake riding was excellent
• Vintage “mini” ride with John and Snoluver1 (although he was so far ahead I’m not sure he was technically part of the ride.)
• 10[SUP]th[/SUP] and final John Dee Snowfest Ride-In
• 10[SUP]th[/SUP] Annual Copper Harbor Vintage Ride – seems like it gets better every year
• Probably the best March WY trip ever – Sunny skies, warm temps, and “explorer” snow that allowed us to go places we would most likely never be able to get to with a normal snow pack.

No question, it was an exceptionally fun winter