What makes us ride where we do?

[whitedust]

Funny you should ask that question about where and why you ride because i've been asking myself that alot lately. I grew up in North Central Wisconsin(I'm not going to get into specifics here as I don't need the area I ride invaded with tourists!). We base out of St. Germain area when the area I grew up in is not suitable to ride. Mainly as I have relation there and can stay, right next to the trail etc.. Also love the area for great dining and entertainment. I ONLY ride during the week usually Tues-Thurs. This year was one of the very worst I've ever seen for traffic even mid week.
Every year we do a backpack trip threw the UP. This year on day 2 at 9 AM I was hit head on by another sled about 65 MPH. The guy was on the complete wrong side of the trail coming over a hill on a straight stretch forest road that was probly wider than I-94. He was so far left it cleaned my enitire RIGHT side of my sled off, it hit so hard it blew the cap off the gas tank! I was thrown 60-70' over the sled threw the air down the trail. The impact on the bars broke my arm and shattered my wrist. I had a 5 hour surgery and plates and screws installed to reconstruct my wrist and arm. Needless to say my sled was destroyed as was the rest of my riding season and more than likely the first part of my motocross season. After the accident i'd bet 75-100 sleds came by!! ON A TUESDAY!!!! Usuallly amatuer hour is on the weekend but now has bled over and into the week days. This has been the worst year for accicents traffic and fatalities I've ever seen. The cold hard facts is there are twice as many people riding than there was 10 years ago.. and increases every year. With the same old trail systems its going to just keep getting worse. Hate to say this, and call me selfish but,... I'd take a few bad winters with little to no snow so alot of these people lose interest and sell their stuff and get back to only the diehard snowmobilers out there that know what the hell is going on and how to ride!

I will continue to ride but will spend most of my time around my home area where I grew up next year as long as conditions will allow...fortunatly it is not a destination for tourists. Mainly local riders and I hope it stays that way!

I had a simular experience with MR Tree and an icy trail with freshly fallen snow. All my fault no doubt about took a flyer landed on my back luckily in an open spot nothing but snow but that was bad enough to scare the hell out of me. I did have a core protector on with back and spine protection which must have saved me. I wasn’t the least bit sore strange for a guy my age. Anyway it was a religious experience made me think what’s next? I got right back on the horse took a couple of weeks to buy a sled but I got right back to riding. I’m more conservative now but really don’t worry about just go out and have fun. All the best to ya.

 

[SledTL]

Funny you should ask that question about where and why you ride because i've been asking myself that alot lately. I grew up in North Central Wisconsin(I'm not going to get into specifics here as I don't need the area I ride invaded with tourists!). We base out of St. Germain area when the area I grew up in is not suitable to ride. Mainly as I have relation there and can stay, right next to the trail etc.. Also love the area for great dining and entertainment. I ONLY ride during the week usually Tues-Thurs. This year was one of the very worst I've ever seen for traffic even mid week.
Every year we do a backpack trip threw the UP. This year on day 2 at 9 AM I was hit head on by another sled about 65 MPH. The guy was on the complete wrong side of the trail coming over a hill on a straight stretch forest road that was probly wider than I-94. He was so far left it cleaned my enitire RIGHT side of my sled off, it hit so hard it blew the cap off the gas tank! I was thrown 60-70' over the sled threw the air down the trail. The impact on the bars broke my arm and shattered my wrist. I had a 5 hour surgery and plates and screws installed to reconstruct my wrist and arm. Needless to say my sled was destroyed as was the rest of my riding season and more than likely the first part of my motocross season. After the accident i'd bet 75-100 sleds came by!! ON A TUESDAY!!!! Usuallly amatuer hour is on the weekend but now has bled over and into the week days. This has been the worst year for accicents traffic and fatalities I've ever seen. The cold hard facts is there are twice as many people riding than there was 10 years ago.. and increases every year. With the same old trail systems its going to just keep getting worse. Hate to say this, and call me selfish but,... I'd take a few bad winters with little to no snow so alot of these people lose interest and sell their stuff and get back to only the diehard snowmobilers out there that know what the hell is going on and how to ride!

I will continue to ride but will spend most of my time around my home area where I grew up next year as long as conditions will allow...fortunatly it is not a destination for tourists. Mainly local riders and I hope it stays that way!

That is scary stuff and good thing you came away from something that could have been much worse. I would argue that there isn't more people riding, its just more people riding in a smaller area. Ice is out on the lakes in southern wisconsin and 60 degrees. That forces everyone to small areas, no traffic spreading over the state. I live near the start of Hwy 8 in Mn with 6-7 hours of rideable state north of me. Hwy 8 is practically the northwoods for wisconsin, and maybe only an hour or two north of it left for the huge population that is south of there. I won't divulge my riding spots either but lets just say a busy weekend in central MN is quieter than a weekday most elsewhere.

 

[rph130]

Funny you should ask that question about where and why you ride because i've been asking myself that alot lately. I grew up in North Central Wisconsin(I'm not going to get into specifics here as I don't need the area I ride invaded with tourists!). We base out of St. Germain area when the area I grew up in is not suitable to ride. Mainly as I have relation there and can stay, right next to the trail etc.. Also love the area for great dining and entertainment. I ONLY ride during the week usually Tues-Thurs. This year was one of the very worst I've ever seen for traffic even mid week.
Every year we do a backpack trip threw the UP. This year on day 2 at 9 AM I was hit head on by another sled about 65 MPH. The guy was on the complete wrong side of the trail coming over a hill on a straight stretch forest road that was probly wider than I-94. He was so far left it cleaned my enitire RIGHT side of my sled off, it hit so hard it blew the cap off the gas tank! I was thrown 60-70' over the sled threw the air down the trail. The impact on the bars broke my arm and shattered my wrist. I had a 5 hour surgery and plates and screws installed to reconstruct my wrist and arm. Needless to say my sled was destroyed as was the rest of my riding season and more than likely the first part of my motocross season. After the accident i'd bet 75-100 sleds came by!! ON A TUESDAY!!!! Usuallly amatuer hour is on the weekend but now has bled over and into the week days. This has been the worst year for accicents traffic and fatalities I've ever seen. The cold hard facts is there are twice as many people riding than there was 10 years ago.. and increases every year. With the same old trail systems its going to just keep getting worse. Hate to say this, and call me selfish but,... I'd take a few bad winters with little to no snow so alot of these people lose interest and sell their stuff and get back to only the diehard snowmobilers out there that know what the hell is going on and how to ride!

I will continue to ride but will spend most of my time around my home area where I grew up next year as long as conditions will allow...fortunatly it is not a destination for tourists. Mainly local riders and I hope it stays that way!

Glad you are ok and here to still talk about it. And I agree with you that this a bad year for accidents and fatalities. I am in no way clairvoyant or psychic, but we rode last weekend in NW Vilas and I told my wife and friends riding with us that I was really not going to be surprised when I turned on the news that night if there was going to be reports of snowmobile related crashes or deaths. Unfortunately, there was. To answer dfattacks question, proximity is why we ride where we do. Living in Presque Isle approximately 6 months of the year on/off, we walk out the door, open the garage, and hit the trails of NW Vilas, Iron, and Gogebic county, preferably during the week. I will leave the weekends to those who seem to have some sort of a deadline on the trails or think that they have to set some sort of speed and mileage record. We still have a trailer but don't need it unless taking the sleds in for service.

 

[old abe]

Ab

I moved to a riding area. Trail is across the street from the house. In a part of NW MN that is still 100% northwoods, with lots and lots of active sled clubs, lots of trails, but really only moderate "tourist" sled riding. It is sort of a sledding destination for those to the south, but absolutely nothing like Vilas Co, WI, the Western UP and Kew, and the north shore of MN. So what you end up with is an extensive trails system, regularly groomed, with reasonable traffic volumes that doesn't cause the trails to get beat to moguls every three hours. Feels like the happy medium of sled life.

Still plan to continue to do truck/trailer trips to destinations, but feel like I'm over the clown show that has become of the far western UP and the Keweenaw. I'll go visit in the summer when I don't have to look at mass quantities of dudes from IA and IL with their pastel pink-wrapped long-tracks and magenta onesies doing hardcore stuff like riding in the ditch next to the grade trails, all while me and my sled are getting pounded into oblivion by the moguls.

Asolutely NAILED IT!

 

[old abe]

MKW, that is a scary experience that I'm glad you were able to survive. I've also experienced riders during the week all over the trail and on the wrong side of the trail. I'm not quite sure what they are thinking other than maybe the trail is all theirs? They need to take a refresher safety course for sure. I'm not sure at my age that I would return to riding if that happened to me, I used to worry about deer jumping out at night in front of me, but I don't ride much at night anymore, now it seems like you always have to worry about whats coming at you around every corner.

Yeah, well, best wishes to MKW on a speedy, and full recovery. His bad experience sucks for sure! pclark, perhaps this, the wild, out of control riders are thinking as it's mid week, and nobody is out here! So I can act as Dumb, and be as Stupid as I like? Yee, Haa! Thus as in, No Brains STUPID! So many times with the bad endings, the innocent, who were in the right, gets severally injured, or many times worse. Sadly, it continues. We have our most favorite destinations for sure, but have started to move on to places as you, and dfattack have alluded to, areas with low volume riders, prestien trail conditions, easy big miles. We don't need the upper end on the lodging, as we come to ride, good food, and then rest.

 

[ICT Sledder]

I won't divulge my riding spots either but lets just say a busy weekend in central MN is quieter than a weekday most elsewhere.

Sledding in MN is turrible (thanks Charles Barkley). Nope, not a good experience on a snowmobile to be had in MN. All the fun is in northern WI and the UP.

 

[ICT Sledder]

Ab

Asolutely NAILED IT!

Thanks! I even forgot to mention the elephant fart "mountain" cans ran by the long-track LGBTQIA2S+ crowd. And the deleted diesel pick-ups running low profile tires made in Mongolia and washer tub offset wheels, with the sled decks of course because the parking is just such a hassle in the IA and IL cornfields. It's the Fast and Furious crowd that grew up and bought trucks and snowmobiles.

 

[pclark]

Sledding in MN is turrible (thanks Charles Barkley). Nope, not a good experience on a snowmobile to be had in MN. All the fun is in northern WI and the UP.

Where in the world did you get the idea that Northern WI has all the fun? It really sucks up here, I heard MN is where it's at!

 

[snobuilder]

I check where the nearest wal mart or mc donalds is and stay at least 35 miles away.

 

[ICT Sledder]

Where in the world did you get the idea that Northern WI has all the fun? It really sucks up here, I heard MN is where it's at!

"Sorry folks, park’s closed. Moose out front should’ve told you."

 

[united]

 

[snomoman]

Funny you should ask that question about where and why you ride because i've been asking myself that alot lately. I grew up in North Central Wisconsin(I'm not going to get into specifics here as I don't need the area I ride invaded with tourists!). We base out of St. Germain area when the area I grew up in is not suitable to ride. Mainly as I have relation there and can stay, right next to the trail etc.. Also love the area for great dining and entertainment. I ONLY ride during the week usually Tues-Thurs. This year was one of the very worst I've ever seen for traffic even mid week.
Every year we do a backpack trip threw the UP. This year on day 2 at 9 AM I was hit head on by another sled about 65 MPH. The guy was on the complete wrong side of the trail coming over a hill on a straight stretch forest road that was probly wider than I-94. He was so far left it cleaned my enitire RIGHT side of my sled off, it hit so hard it blew the cap off the gas tank! I was thrown 60-70' over the sled threw the air down the trail. The impact on the bars broke my arm and shattered my wrist. I had a 5 hour surgery and plates and screws installed to reconstruct my wrist and arm. Needless to say my sled was destroyed as was the rest of my riding season and more than likely the first part of my motocross season. After the accident i'd bet 75-100 sleds came by!! ON A TUESDAY!!!! Usuallly amatuer hour is on the weekend but now has bled over and into the week days. This has been the worst year for accicents traffic and fatalities I've ever seen. The cold hard facts is there are twice as many people riding than there was 10 years ago.. and increases every year. With the same old trail systems its going to just keep getting worse. Hate to say this, and call me selfish but,... I'd take a few bad winters with little to no snow so alot of these people lose interest and sell their stuff and get back to only the diehard snowmobilers out there that know what the hell is going on and how to ride!

I will continue to ride but will spend most of my time around my home area where I grew up next year as long as conditions will allow...fortunatly it is not a destination for tourists. Mainly local riders and I hope it stays that way!

Sorry to hear of your unfortunate situation, hope you have a good recovery

 

[SledTL]

Yeah, well, best wishes to MKW on a speedy, and full recovery. His bad experience sucks for sure! pclark, perhaps this, the wild, out of control riders are thinking as it's mid week, and nobody is out here! So I can act as Dumb, and be as Stupid as I like? Yee, Haa! Thus as in, No Brains STUPID! So many times with the bad endings, the innocent, who were in the right, gets severally injured, or many times worse. Sadly, it continues. We have our most favorite destinations for sure, but have started to move on to places as you, and dfattack have alluded to, areas with low volume riders, prestien trail conditions, easy big miles. We don't need the upper end on the lodging, as we come to ride, good food, and then rest.

My friend had to be air lifted from a field nearby when we were riding back in January. Made me contemplate things and reflect a bit more when you are watching bad things happen to your friend. It was self induced, but the worst feeling in the world to go through.

 

[old abe]

My friend had to be air lifted from a field nearby when we were riding back in January. Made me contemplate things and reflect a bit more when you are watching bad things happen to your friend. It was self induced, but the worst feeling in the world to go through.

I totally understand! My wife, and I encounter a absolutely horrendous accident that took a innocent mothers life. Really shook us up, and still does to this day. All preventable, just reckless, irresponsible, out of control conduct, by a group of hotdog sledders!

 

[Hoosier]

For the most part I don't find it's all that hard to avoid the highest traffic trails, as long as you don't have to ride on a Saturday. Most people ride near the areas with the most amenities or in a bee line between two areas like that. Avoid those.

For all the doom and gloom about sled sales the trails sure seem to keep getting busier though. I don't know if it's still a result of a lot of people's work schedules shifting after the lockdowns, or all the PPP money that flowed to business owners, or something else. This being a poor snow year didn't help.

 

[old abe]

For the most part I don't find it's all that hard to avoid the highest traffic trails, as long as you don't have to ride on a Saturday. Most people ride near the areas with the most amenities or in a bee line between two areas like that. Avoid those.

For all the doom and gloom about sled sales the trails sure seem to keep getting busier though. I don't know if it's still a result of a lot of people's work schedules shifting after the lockdowns, or all the PPP money that flowed to business owners, or something else. This being a poor snow year didn't help.

For much of this winter, full of various conditions, and a very small area with adequate snow. JMO