Blackstar

Today, I had 3 people say to me, " I guess your winter is done for sledding eh?"

Couple screen shots from Polar Bear Riders.

There are lots of trail reports from the area on the 705 Snowmobiles Facebook group. Yesterday, most saying trails are flat and in good shape with small thin sections. Not a lot of base and a ton of riders going through there this weekend with warm temps. It doesn't sound very promising but if you want to ride next week I don't see where you have many options. I just got off the phone with my buddy because we said we'd make a plan for next week to go somewhere. We decided to stay home and wait another week. Hoping things turn around and the 14 day forecasts are wrong.

Yes sir, 79 years young.

Left from my buddy's place in St Jacobs. Linwood, Conestogo Lake, Teviotdale for fuel. My buddy wanted a burger from Homestead Resort. Mount Forest just opened enough trail to make it doable. Should have googled them first, closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Went to Pebbles in Varney. Awesome buffet. Will be going back. Came back through Palmerston to Listowel for fuel. Rode through Listowel and back down the west side of 86. Everything was in good shape except Palmerston. Harriston, Teviotdale and surrounding area was brutal. Washboard and moguls from the weekend traffic. 20 kph crawl through the entire area. 300 kms day. Rode my Cat. Lent my Mach Z out to an old friend for the day.

Just looking at the 14 day forecast. God damn! Most of District 9 just turned red on the ITG while I was looking. Rode 300 kms today. Puts me at over 700 in 6 days. More than I rode all last season.😜

I drop at my buddy’s house in St Jacobs.

Not enough snow. Fair bit of wheat fields to cross this year.

Tuesday is likely your last chance to ride for a while. I would imagine the trails will close on Wednesday to try to save the base. A lot of trail won't reopen after the rain I suspect.

Wow. RIP.

In that situation, she will always be at fault. You can not turn into opposing traffic until the lane is clear. The colour of the light has no bearing.

Same here, always stay on the west side and wait out the traffic. Most vehicles crossing that bridge are doing 100 kph because of the downhill run from either side. When available, I have crossed on the ice just to avoid that bridge.

Rode through there Thursday and its District 5 actually. That stretch belongs to Elmira for some strange reason. The adjoining intersections on either side are in District 9. I staked that a few years ago. Wow, he was lucky the trucker was paying attention. If the trail could get put back where it was that wouldn't happen and why most people go around the signs and ride the old trail through the flats.

I will wait for your review.

6'-2" and growing shorter. I heard about the 850 seat. Might be something to look at. I'll play around with what I have for now and see if I grow more comfortable. Or maybe someone will throw a black/gold SRX on Marketplace at a sacrifice price late season.....lol I've had studs for 25 years. I don't like track spin. My buddy bought his '23 turbo with a Ripsaw, decided not to stud it. He loves it. But when I followed him, I noticed he gets into the power as he enters the corner and slides the track all the way through. I don't touch throttle until I coming out because I'm used to big grip.

Until they find another 50hp in their 4-stroke they aren't worth looking at.

A lot of people bitched at how old the Procross was and that it had fallen behind the others. But I still like it. It just fits me better. I was in the shop this morning going back and forth to see where I need to change the Mach to feel more like the Cat. The difference is in the distance from the rear of the seat to the footwells. The Mach is definitely shorter. I have to sit on the tail of the Mach seat to get the same knee bend.

We were the only truck there at 830am. We left at 4pm. I was pulling the trailer with my work truck. It hard to miss.

Meh……..lol It’s alright. I was hoping I would like it more than I do right now and most likely with more seat time and adjustments, I will. 8 years on my Cat so I have to compare. 1 ride and I miss my studs. Ice Ripper needs to go. Steering is heavy which I figured it would be. I find the seating is too far forward, banging my knees on the console, Cat felt more spacious. Cat front end is better in the corners. The ride is better on the Skidoo, especially the rear. The hand and thumb warmers are great and the multiple settings is handy. Can’t even compare the gauges, Doo by far but I have a lot to learn. From the seat of the pants, the Cat pulls way harder. Prefer the Cat exhaust tone. The Doo drones at low speeds. Interestingly, I was told I would never use the comfort setting for the Smart shocks as it’s too soft. I was preparing to send my shock module in to Precision EFI for their programming. Well, I couldn’t stand sport mode. It bothered my hands and shoulders cause the bars shook so bad. I switched to comfort and thought it was great, could be a tad softer yet for me but a huge improvement over Sport and never bottomed once. And I miss my heated seat…….lol

My buddy sent me that pic last night. His brother’s house in Wiarton.

Flat light day with squals. Parked at Linwood Community Center. I rode from Linwood, through Conestoga Lake, Listowel, Atwood, lunch at Brussels. Across the top of what is open after lunch, wroxeter, Fordwich, Clifford, Harriston Teviotdale, Arthur and back to Linwood. Conestogo is fine. The odd thin spot in a field, bush trails are thin. West side had not been groomed in a couple days. Some areas heavily drifted. Couple of wet bushes near Listowel, passable. Snow is better above Atwoodand kept getting deeper to Brussels. Atwood was groomed. Bush trails are still thin but many of the fields are heavily drifted. As we travelled east towards Clifford the snow gets thinner. Clifford area was groomed. Below Harriston the plowed fields start showing through. There was a section of trail near Harriston that should be closed. It’s completely chewed from a tractor, no snow, 5 mph crawl. Below Teviotdale there are plenty of plowed fields where the tops are showing through and it’s very thin cover near Arthur. Arthur area was groomed. 215 kms for the day. Good first run. I stained my knee on the weekend but figured I’d be fine. My knee says NO…..lol Half a dozen trucks at the Linwood community Center when got there around 330. Id say we passed 70-80 sleds through the day, half of those after 2pm.

FEB now open yellow. Any body else doing the refresh every hour like me?……lol Picking up my buddy at 8am and heading out for a ride. Will report where I go and what I find.

Brussels area is now open. Lots of posts on Facebook from the neighbouring clubs that the trails will open before the weekend. Its just taking time to pack and get some frost in those wet spots, paperwork, etc. Palmerston club has an event Friday night so you can bet they want the trails open.

Clicking around on the old ITG today because I'm all excited to see what is opening up. Is it just me or are there no clubs in District #8?

I got stuck plowing my driveway this morning. Pushed on to the lawn and sank 6 inches into the mud....lol