When passing airheads do it in a heart beat on a grade. That is why a 600 is not enough WFO on that 150HP sled & you are long gone or wait & wait & wait to get the wave which in this case sounds like they had no intention to move right & wave faster sleds by. They had their pace & everyone else faster was a hotrodder. I just don't understand why slower sleds just don't give the faster paced sleds the trail that way safe & over in seconds?
Got Run off the trail and ROLLED!
- Thread starter gogebic_sledder
- Start date
StAyFrOsTy
New member
I'd love to believe that is a rock solid strategy, but in my experience 80% of slow riders never acknowledge you're behind them (always seems to be the ones with mirrors as well lol, then there's no excuse in my book), including the leader. What makes matters worse, is when I finally get to a stop sign and I'm able to pull up next to them, they just look over right at me and then continue on. That's when I get aggressive and the pass comes quickly before they do anymore foolishness. That's the best way I've found, but I thank the leaders/members of the slower groups that acknowledge us right away and let us by safely.
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My buddy got run off the trail last week by oncoing sleds wrecked his sled ran him off the trail. They never stopped to check on him or his sled. This seems like the new norm this year just ignor what is left in your wake a "who cares attitude"? I have never seen snowmobilers act like this before this year. Really makes you think of the type of people we share trails?
Tough call on passing. I agree if your going to do it then do it fast. On the other hand, some
Sledders, probably novices, might not know you are behind them and if you pass slowly they might be surprised and crash you or themselves, I have seen it happen (almost fatally) and it's always the other Sledders fault. When we ride in a slower group we always let faster groups pass at stop signs. when we are the faster group we just wait to pass when the slower group allows (hopefully at the next stop sign) Remember, fast or slow, no one has more right to a trail than anyone else. I am a pretty fast rider but this does not give me greater authority over slower riders, we all share the trail. As for the kid not stopping, this can be a life or death situation when someone goes off the trail, you always stop. A good group always checks on the sled behind them so if one stops/crashes/breaks down the rest will stop shortly.
Sledders, probably novices, might not know you are behind them and if you pass slowly they might be surprised and crash you or themselves, I have seen it happen (almost fatally) and it's always the other Sledders fault. When we ride in a slower group we always let faster groups pass at stop signs. when we are the faster group we just wait to pass when the slower group allows (hopefully at the next stop sign) Remember, fast or slow, no one has more right to a trail than anyone else. I am a pretty fast rider but this does not give me greater authority over slower riders, we all share the trail. As for the kid not stopping, this can be a life or death situation when someone goes off the trail, you always stop. A good group always checks on the sled behind them so if one stops/crashes/breaks down the rest will stop shortly.
mrsrunningbear
Active member
Wow! Glad your OK, part can be replaced, you can't!
Take care...
Take care...
Wow gogebic_sledder, glad you are ok!
And you guys say loud pipes have nothing to do with saving lives, wink, wink. Lol!
This thread is kind of ironic. Most posts b!tch about others flying past them when getting passed. Now maybe we're finding there is an acutal safety reason to it. I dont' pass people doing 60 but you're not going to find me hanging out in the left lane waiting to trade paint either. Everyone stay safe out there, drive defensively and take care of eachother!
And you guys say loud pipes have nothing to do with saving lives, wink, wink. Lol!
This thread is kind of ironic. Most posts b!tch about others flying past them when getting passed. Now maybe we're finding there is an acutal safety reason to it. I dont' pass people doing 60 but you're not going to find me hanging out in the left lane waiting to trade paint either. Everyone stay safe out there, drive defensively and take care of eachother!
windingtrailgal
Active member
First off, glad you are OK.
As a mom who rides with her kids (12 and 14 years old) I would have been kicking my kid's @$$ by the time you caught up with me a mile and a half down the trail if I found out they didn't stop to help out a sledder and my kid(s) would have been PARKED when I found out what they did. Riding with kids and them BEING kids is absolutely no excuse. BOTH boys in the back rode irresponsibly by going off trail to the left and by veering left as you were passing. Then again, I'm the sweeper in my group so there wouldn't have been any of this nonsense!
We pass on the trails if/when it's safe to do so. How we do it is bigdaddy goes by and lets them know how many more will be passing them - then we follow. We've been passed while we were doing 50-70...why would I get mad about this? I'm stuck to the right, someone else has a different idea of how fast they want to go. Go for it - I know that stretch of trail GS is talking about and I've FOR SURE been passed there on a few occasions and we've passed people ourselves. You can see for what feels like a mile and it's WIDE. Why shouldn't a sledder be able to pass responsibly?
As far as the kid being scared and worried as his parents race off? The last kid was going off trail!! Obviously he's not worried about getting left behind!! And they were only going 30 mph!! These were 2 kids who were riding irresponsibly and no one is holding them accountable here.
The debate about passing is like hand signals, sea and snow and what brand of sled you ride - the REAL problem here is how this whole family behaved after the incident. SHAMEFULLY if you ask me.
As a mom who rides with her kids (12 and 14 years old) I would have been kicking my kid's @$$ by the time you caught up with me a mile and a half down the trail if I found out they didn't stop to help out a sledder and my kid(s) would have been PARKED when I found out what they did. Riding with kids and them BEING kids is absolutely no excuse. BOTH boys in the back rode irresponsibly by going off trail to the left and by veering left as you were passing. Then again, I'm the sweeper in my group so there wouldn't have been any of this nonsense!
We pass on the trails if/when it's safe to do so. How we do it is bigdaddy goes by and lets them know how many more will be passing them - then we follow. We've been passed while we were doing 50-70...why would I get mad about this? I'm stuck to the right, someone else has a different idea of how fast they want to go. Go for it - I know that stretch of trail GS is talking about and I've FOR SURE been passed there on a few occasions and we've passed people ourselves. You can see for what feels like a mile and it's WIDE. Why shouldn't a sledder be able to pass responsibly?
As far as the kid being scared and worried as his parents race off? The last kid was going off trail!! Obviously he's not worried about getting left behind!! And they were only going 30 mph!! These were 2 kids who were riding irresponsibly and no one is holding them accountable here.
The debate about passing is like hand signals, sea and snow and what brand of sled you ride - the REAL problem here is how this whole family behaved after the incident. SHAMEFULLY if you ask me.
mjkaliszak
New member
You are correct. The lack of snow has definately led to some unique threads here on JD.
toddspolaris
Member
Glad ur ok, but if your buddy was that far behind you then why would you want to pass a group of people and keep going and not to be able to look back for your buddy. we ride the buddy system, once in awhile when safe please look back to see if you can see the persons headlight behind you,if not then sloww down for them. I always would wait and pass at a stop area. Now I'm the dad with the family of four. we do ride with communicators and love them for many reasons. We always ride Dad in front then the 13yr old then the 16yr.old then mom. they should have had the kids in the middle I agree.Glad your ok. good luck next time
F
fusion
Guest
As I stated in the other thread, I had something similar happen to me on trail 3, south of Conover on Sunday.
This young lady with a small child in front, duel mirrors, would swerve left to block me, each time I thought about passing her as the last sled, in a three sled group. I could NOT believe this?
This is like a person blocking the left lane with their car on the free way when you are coming up to a congested traffic area or lane merge.
I just sat there behind her for 10 miles. I wasn't going to chance her doing something dumb. Don't trust anyone - you're much better off in
the long run.
This young lady with a small child in front, duel mirrors, would swerve left to block me, each time I thought about passing her as the last sled, in a three sled group. I could NOT believe this?
This is like a person blocking the left lane with their car on the free way when you are coming up to a congested traffic area or lane merge.
I just sat there behind her for 10 miles. I wasn't going to chance her doing something dumb. Don't trust anyone - you're much better off in
the long run.
So in summary
You feel you need to pass a family on the trail.
In the process of passing you startled a 15 y.o. he swerves.
You overreact (overreact cause you mention not trading paint.) and crash your sled.
And now your mad cause the 15 y.o. you scared the crap out of, did not leave his family to come to your rescue.
Oh and also mad cause after chasing them down you didn't get welcomed with hugs and sorrys.
Sorry but Lucky I wasn't the Dad, someone chases my family down on the trail.
I may not take the time to figure out what's up. Before I react
You feel you need to pass a family on the trail.
In the process of passing you startled a 15 y.o. he swerves.
You overreact (overreact cause you mention not trading paint.) and crash your sled.
And now your mad cause the 15 y.o. you scared the crap out of, did not leave his family to come to your rescue.
Oh and also mad cause after chasing them down you didn't get welcomed with hugs and sorrys.
Sorry but Lucky I wasn't the Dad, someone chases my family down on the trail.
I may not take the time to figure out what's up. Before I react
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Sorry this happned to you Fusion but has become the norm for me. I'm just 1 sled & the sweeper is NOT going to let me pass starts the back & forth blocking. So you wait & wait & there is no intention ever to let you pass. I have also had the blank stare at stop signs when I ask for the trail at stop signs then they gun it still trying to keep me behind them. So dumb let me by over in seconds. I have also gone helmet to helmet with abusive people swearing away to the point I had to say "stop swearing at me or I'll knock your block off". "I didn't do anything to you what is your problem"?
Tempers are way out of control out there never seen it on trails like it has been this year. Snowmobiling is supposed to be fun a place where my mind can wander & not think of day to problems just have fun riding. This year it seems people start riding with a chip on their shoulders then something minor happenes & they are blowing up. Sad but true.
F
fusion
Guest
Whitedust....thanks for your reply. I thought about you as this was happening, because I know you had said this happened to you in previous years. This was my first encounter with someone deliberately blocking me on a sled. At first I thought she didn't know I was back there, so I followed for a bit, hoping she would wake up. Then I started moving left and right to get along side of her, and she started weaving. i thought it was just how she was driving - oblivious. Then when I went hard left and got the ski's about to her seat, she started moving hard left. She had twin mirrors, so she had to see me - but obviously didn't care.
And this girl, I knew it was a girl, because she couldn't have weighed more than 100 lbs in full suit, was blocking me aggressively - I was like whooaa - where is this attitude coming from? And I'm not exaggerating when I say they were going 25 - 29 the entire time. I was very tempted to chase them to Eagle River and find out what they were doing, because the leader knew I was there and never pulled over and waved me by, so this was the way they were riding, on purpose. People have to be aware they will P people off doing that stuff. I was close to losing it, but since I had to turn on 10W anyways, I was done with the situation. But another bigger group was behind us after that, so they had to deal with it, as they continued south on 3 into ER. There's alot of people in this life just "in their own little world", completely oblivious to what goes on around them.
Bottom line, I was just upset I had to waste this ONE beautiful trail where I could have been doing 75-80, going 25-29, behind some doufus with twin mirrors that won't let me pass.
And this girl, I knew it was a girl, because she couldn't have weighed more than 100 lbs in full suit, was blocking me aggressively - I was like whooaa - where is this attitude coming from? And I'm not exaggerating when I say they were going 25 - 29 the entire time. I was very tempted to chase them to Eagle River and find out what they were doing, because the leader knew I was there and never pulled over and waved me by, so this was the way they were riding, on purpose. People have to be aware they will P people off doing that stuff. I was close to losing it, but since I had to turn on 10W anyways, I was done with the situation. But another bigger group was behind us after that, so they had to deal with it, as they continued south on 3 into ER. There's alot of people in this life just "in their own little world", completely oblivious to what goes on around them.
Bottom line, I was just upset I had to waste this ONE beautiful trail where I could have been doing 75-80, going 25-29, behind some doufus with twin mirrors that won't let me pass.
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windingtrailgal
Active member
I've said it before but I just can't help myself from saying it again...what's with all the judgmental comments?? I thought GS explained himself pretty well....and from what I've seen of his posts on JD have never known HIM to jump someone's ship and assume THEY were riding like a-holes.
It's getting harder and harder to ignore some of these posts. I'm trying REALLY hard to just assume that those who post their know-it-all-like-they-were-there-always-the-perfect-snowmobiler-who-NEVER-does-anything-wrong sentiments and what THEY always do is them just trying to be helpful. But ya know what? It's not helpful when I see GS getting slammed when I know HE isn't slamming others.
If you are 15 years old and get "spooked" by a fellow sledder trying to pass you when you're going 30? Maybe you have no business on the trail. When you DO see that there is an accident and do NOTHING to find out if a fellow human being is OK (whether one is the cause of said accident or not)? Then maybe said 15 year old shouldn't be riding. My 14 year old slows down and gives the thumbs up/down - I see him DO this. I never TOLD him to do this - he just gets this is what one does when one is part of the greater snowmobiling community. When the mother of this group tells a fellow rider that he has no business passing anyone? Maybe she has no business riding either. Like passing someone on the road in a car - there are safe places to do this so that one doesn't have to stop and take a break when one doesn't feel like it.
People NOT letting others pass is as disrespectful as rooster tailing someone as you pass them. There is plenty of room on the trails for all kinds of riders - why do the people who drive way BELOW others abilities get some special treatment??
It's getting harder and harder to ignore some of these posts. I'm trying REALLY hard to just assume that those who post their know-it-all-like-they-were-there-always-the-perfect-snowmobiler-who-NEVER-does-anything-wrong sentiments and what THEY always do is them just trying to be helpful. But ya know what? It's not helpful when I see GS getting slammed when I know HE isn't slamming others.
If you are 15 years old and get "spooked" by a fellow sledder trying to pass you when you're going 30? Maybe you have no business on the trail. When you DO see that there is an accident and do NOTHING to find out if a fellow human being is OK (whether one is the cause of said accident or not)? Then maybe said 15 year old shouldn't be riding. My 14 year old slows down and gives the thumbs up/down - I see him DO this. I never TOLD him to do this - he just gets this is what one does when one is part of the greater snowmobiling community. When the mother of this group tells a fellow rider that he has no business passing anyone? Maybe she has no business riding either. Like passing someone on the road in a car - there are safe places to do this so that one doesn't have to stop and take a break when one doesn't feel like it.
People NOT letting others pass is as disrespectful as rooster tailing someone as you pass them. There is plenty of room on the trails for all kinds of riders - why do the people who drive way BELOW others abilities get some special treatment??
gogebic_sledder
Member
Yes, I do think its ok to pass on the trail wether its a family of 5 or any one sled traveling at a slow rate of speed. They weren't going 60 they were going thirty. They weren't on the narrow twisties of trail 102, it was wide and straight trail 8. And no I wasn't looking for a hug, If you read I wasn't looking for a confrontation. I was in awe that nobody stopped. I also believe my reaction was pretty good avoiding a collision. Maybe I shouldn't of used the phrase chase down, how about we caught up to them to see what the heck was going on. I hope your not one the the riders on this site packing, since you don't think before you react.
indy_500
Well-known member
We rode 10 miles behind a group of 6 Poo's in the Three Lakes area this past weekend. The last one looked like an older lady on an 05 classic, swerving left and right, MILES behind the rest of the group I passed her when I got a good chance but she didn't slow down to let my buddies by. We get stuck behind the rest of the group, the last one is an aggressive chassis sled. He did NOT want to let me pass. I finally did, and he never let my buddies pass him. They were stuck behind him. We rode 10 miles behind this stubborn @$$ group, we crossed probably 10 roads, they never turned around ONCE to look and make sure their group is doing ok. They ALL had mirrors, 1 sled had handguard mirrors like I do but the rest had hood-mounted mirrors. After 10 miles of this nonsense we are at a more major highway. You can see a good portion of the highway, I barely squeeze in next to them because I was so sick of it, pin it past them across the road, give them a nice gesture and take off. In the meantime, they NEVER.... NEVER let my buddies pass. We got to a T in the trail a mile later I was waiting with my arms up with a "what the heck r u doing" type look. I Shook my head looking right at them. They never even STOPPED at the T, or looked to see if traffic was coming and went the opposite direction. I don't care if you opt to ride slower than I do, its fine by me but this was awefully rude. On our way back thru 3 lakes there was a group of 3 sleds, the middle one had a cat cutter and the other 2 were riding 2up. They knew the minute we pulled up behind them when to pull over, and we passed slowly and generously, why can't everyone do that?