Idiots on the Trails

[revrnd]

LOL Dave.

One difference between us when were we younger & today's twentysomethings, we didn't have 120+ HP sleds to rip around on the trails. Also, in the Apsley area the trails were 1 step up from trapper's trails. A couple of forest access roads & that was it.

[02Sled]

well as long as the opp is out there checking paperwork, all should be safe. They are defiantly making a difference.

You're being sarcastic I hope? IMO, sitting in a cruiser @ a road crossing doesn't help 1 bit. On A Channel last Sunday they had a report about the OPP making their presence known after the 3 fatalities on the trails in the Huronia area. Guess where they were? Out on the ice near Penetang & Midland.

We did see the police on the Paudash trails last weekend.

Do you know why they are out on the ice as well? In the Honey Harbour area there is a spot know as Treasure Bay in Beausoleil Island. Go out there on a Saturday afternoon and you will see a couple of hundred sleds out there partying and puddle jumping. They have been known to bring out huge sound systems, BBQ's etc. They also consume vast quantities of alcohol and then get on their sleds. I was out there on Saturday afternoon and you would not believe the number of beer cans all over the snow. One young lady was running around in a T shirt and had obviously had way too much to drink. Even if someone rides up with a Trail Patrol vest a large number will become concerned about their alcohol consumption and promptly leave. A very large number of these people will head off to the trails to get home and not necessarily in the best of shape. The same OPP I have seen on the ice I also saw later the same day on the trails.

[2fast4u]

guess I am a liar....I will admit that if I am in a field or wide open area and I can 100% see way ahead of me I will cut it but never in the bush....as for riding a bit more aggressive isn't that the same as being just a little pregnant ....lol...Diceman

Well I'm glad to see you admit it that your're a liar some people can't do that. You misunderstood what I meant about being more aggresive from time to time but I don't want to waste my great typing skills explaining it lol.

Anyone wnat to buy a sled? 03 600 H.O. Adrenaline rer. Check out the sleds for sale.

[02Sled]

I have a friend of mine whose 22 year old son has a performance 800 Cat sled. He rides hard and fast to my standards. I have seen him and he is one of those that does stick to his side of the trail and slow down where necessary. I can't nor do I want to keep up with him.

The scary part is that he tells me he has a group of about a dozen friends he won't ride with any more because he can't keep up with them on the trails and they take way too many risks even for him.

[SlowTouringGuy]

...... Treasure Bay in Beausoleil Island. Go out there on a Saturday afternoon and you will see a couple of hundred sleds out there partying and puddle jumping. They have been known to bring out huge sound systems, BBQ's etc. They also consume vast quantities of alcohol ....... . One young lady was running around in a T shirt .............

Sounds great - Thanks for the tip !

[MikeD]

As we were winding down our day yesterday, We came across a group of a-holes or a least a group of riders with an A-hole in it. I think they were relatively new to the sport and although this shouldn't be used as an excuse, I don't think they had learned the "rules"

From the condition of the trail, it was obvious the groomer had been out recently, possibly the night before. After a trail junction, it was apparent from the tracks that at least one rider in the group that had entered the trail was a throttle jockey. Now, it's one thing to power thru a turn, it's another to approach too fast, lock up, slide sideways (burming the freshly groomed corner) then hammer it out of the turn fish tailing and rutting up an otherwise perfectly flat trail. It gets better.

After getting more and more annoyed following the tracks, we met up with them. 3 sleds .... parked 3 wide ..... IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION! From any of the three directions you could not get by these guys ... when they saw us coming one rider fired up a sled, and moved it off the trail. There was now just enough room to steer around the other two who stayed where they were.

I honestly don't know if these guys were ignorant or just plain rude but as we rode by, all of us glaring at them ... they stared back like we were disturbing them during their little time out.

As we continued on, it became painfully apparent that they had riden this one particular section of trail into the ground. They had found a beautifully groomed sweeping trail and had ridden it up and back ... destroying it untill it can be tended to again. Just brutal.

[theedge]

We have the idiots over in District 9 also, but thankfully it sounds like we don't have near the problems as mentioned.

It's a shame as we seen lots of families out this weekend and they had to be shaken by a few of them.

[ToSlow]

...... Treasure Bay in Beausoleil Island. Go out there on a Saturday afternoon and you will see a couple of hundred sleds out there partying and puddle jumping. They have been known to bring out huge sound systems, BBQ's etc. They also consume vast quantities of alcohol ....... . One young lady was running around in a T shirt .............

Sounds great - Thanks for the tip !

yup young girls with t-shirts only in winter, draw visual here. there you will find the mouse

[JB1200GADE]

A few weeks back the first weekend of OFSC TP my partner and I where with a OPP officer for the day,he is a board member of our local club. We were set up at a busy intersection with three sledders stop when a guy in an old V-MAX came out of a side trail and went by us at 70 to 80 mph we just shook our heads as we were not going to chase the idiot. We finished with the three sledders and about five minutes later we here him coming toward us so the OPP gets the RADAR gun out and we get ready to try and stop him. The officer clocks him at 92 mph on and OFSC top trail after we get him stopped he says he didn't see us there the first time he went by. The OPP officer then charges him with careless driving not speeding (speeding on trail no matter what speed is 110.00 $ in Ontario)witch means he will have to appear in court and answer to a judge and loss of 6 points off drivers license. We need more of these type of charges to try regain control of our trails!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[13acres]

As we were winding down our day yesterday, We came across a group of a-holes or a least a group of riders with an A-hole in it. I think they were relatively new to the sport and although this shouldn't be used as an excuse, I don't think they had learned the "rules"

From the condition of the trail, it was obvious the groomer had been out recently, possibly the night before. After a trail junction, it was apparent from the tracks that at least one rider in the group that had entered the trail was a throttle jockey. Now, it's one thing to power thru a turn, it's another to approach too fast, lock up, slide sideways (burming the freshly groomed corner) then hammer it out of the turn fish tailing and rutting up an otherwise perfectly flat trail. It gets better.

After getting more and more annoyed following the tracks, we met up with them. 3 sleds .... parked 3 wide ..... IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION! From any of the three directions you could not get by these guys ... when they saw us coming one rider fired up a sled, and moved it off the trail. There was now just enough room to steer around the other two who stayed where they were.

I honestly don't know if these guys were ignorant or just plain rude but as we rode by, all of us glaring at them ... they stared back like we were disturbing them during their little time out.

As we continued on, it became painfully apparent that they had riden this one particular section of trail into the ground. They had found a beautifully groomed sweeping trail and had ridden it up and back ... destroying it untill it can be tended to again. Just brutal.

[Rant on]

I have to say sadly that I've seen this many times but last Friday I spent a good 10 min. blading in a bridge. I finish up and get over the bridge to one side to let a pack of 3 go by just to look in the mirror and watch the last sled dig a huge hole in the middle of the deck again. It's an awful waste of grooming $ and wrecks it for everyone else. It's hard some times not to get out of the cab and give these few a slap...

[Rant off]

[2fast4u]

A few weeks back the first weekend of OFSC TP my partner and I where with a OPP officer for the day,he is a board member of our local club. We were set up at a busy intersection with three sledders stop when a guy in an old V-MAX came out of a side trail and went by us at 70 to 80 mph we just shook our heads as we were not going to chase the idiot. We finished with the three sledders and about five minutes later we here him coming toward us so the OPP gets the RADAR gun out and we get ready to try and stop him. The officer clocks him at 92 mph on and OFSC top trail after we get him stopped he says he didn't see us there the first time he went by. The OPP officer then charges him with careless driving not speeding (speeding on trail no matter what speed is 110.00 $ in Ontario)witch means he will have to appear in court and answer to a judge and loss of 6 points off drivers license. We need more of these type of charges to try regain control of our trails!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea awesome idea charge more people and drive them away from a already dying sport. But yes I agree idiots like that shouldn't be on a sled.

[revrnd]

I honestly don't know if these guys were ignorant or just plain rude but as we rode by, all of us glaring at them ... they stared back like we were disturbing them during their little time out.

BTDT. "What did we do?"

I also like the guys that leave a pile of snow before crossing a paved road. Then they'll be on the 'net whining about how Brand X studs are crap.

[formulaz600]

it must be nice to have the money to put a new track on every couple of seasons spinning the track like that is not good on anything my track with studs in it is original on my 2000 formula z 600 with 15000 km on it and it still looks new i have been pretty lucky not to meet up with too many a holes this year so far but i also ride last in the group

[02Sled]

A few weeks back the first weekend of OFSC TP my partner and I where with a OPP officer for the day,he is a board member of our local club. We were set up at a busy intersection with three sledders stop when a guy in an old V-MAX came out of a side trail and went by us at 70 to 80 mph we just shook our heads as we were not going to chase the idiot. We finished with the three sledders and about five minutes later we here him coming toward us so the OPP gets the RADAR gun out and we get ready to try and stop him. The officer clocks him at 92 mph on and OFSC top trail after we get him stopped he says he didn't see us there the first time he went by. The OPP officer then charges him with careless driving not speeding (speeding on trail no matter what speed is 110.00 $ in Ontario)witch means he will have to appear in court and answer to a judge and loss of 6 points off drivers license. We need more of these type of charges to try regain control of our trails!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea awesome idea charge more people and drive them away from a already dying sport. But yes I agree idiots like that shouldn't be on a sled.

I hope you are being facetious. To stop an idiot like that and just tell him he is being a bad boy will do nothing. To hit him in the wallet with a fine and impact his insurance costs as well may likely be the only way to get through to him. I would rathe lose one idiot like him than an entire family with young riders who will grow up in the sport and keep it alive. I know of a family who lives in cottage country and will not venture out on the weekend because of the throttle jockeys who don't ride in control and have put the safety of the young family at risk a number of times. They now only go out mid week at the end of the day. If they didn't live there they would have given up the sport altogether.

HMMM! Lose one dangerous idiot or lose a family of four on four sleds. Let me see.... I will go with lose the idiot.

[Doonut]

As the father of one newly licenced sledder, my 12 yr old daughter I CAN TELL YOU THAT MY DRIVING STYLE HAS BECOME SO DEFENSIVE ITS NOT FUNNY.

I have been sledding in Ontario for 40 years and have never seen the ABUSE of our trail system as bad as it is the last couple seasons.

I ride lead, always have for some unknown reason. I often find myself coming to a complete stop and using my sled as a buffer zone for my daughter and wife who rides sweep. More than once this season I have been tempted to repeat my infamous "clothes line" tactic on some jackazz who thinks the trail is his and his alone.

OK, now the rant part.

WTF is wrong with the police ??????????????????????????????????????

Why sit at some intersection checking paper work and writing stupid tickets for various MINOR technical offences when they should be ON THE TRAIL riding. The fact that some of the IDIOTS out there would surely end up coming at a OPP sled like a wannabe racer would lend to some REAL charges being laid, not just BS renenue generation tickets. Maybe a few well publicized dangerous driving or endangering public safety charges would wise up a few of the azzhats out there. Unfortunately, they know that if they have the right documents and their stickers of various design are in the correct spot, NOTHING is going to happen to them.

The whole "we are there promoting safety" is a big line of BS. Checking my registration and trail permit 3 or 4 times in one day does NOTHING to get the morons off the trail. NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You want to claim its all about drinking riders? Set up a R.I.D.E. checkpoint and go to it BUT, not at the expence of actually PATROLLING the trails for menaces to the public safety.

I cannot remember the last time I actually saw OPP sleds actually driving on actual trails "promoting safe riding habits". No sir I cannot.

I have certainly seen lots of them parked at road crossings and trail intersections playing Guestappo ( papers, show me your papers) but why the h e l l are they not riding the trails nailing the idiots who come at them head on at stupid rates of speed in dangerous areas ?

Rant #2

Sled magazines and TV shows. They continually show us people riding like complete idiots on trails. Tail sliding corners while riding on the WRONG SIDE!!!, ripping the crap out of every corner exit, racing against each other. DOH!!!!!!!!!! who the h e l l do they think watches and reads that stuff?

Rant #3

Manufacturers promoting sleds to the "x generation" as personal race machines WITHOUT promoting the correct safety aspect of the sport.

Promo videos of riders breaking every law in the books and smiling while they do it.

Then we wonder why the trail system is going to h e l l in a hand basket.

OK, rant off...........for now.

[flash 800]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Wildbill]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

x2

I wonder how many of the fatalities have had thier papers in order ?

[slomo]

I would think that those critical of the OPP trailside setups might consider things from the point of view of resources management.

If an officer is out on a sled on the trails, there is little possibility of rapid response to a child abduction, house invasion, large traffic accident etc. than there would be if officers are parked beside a trail. This is particularly aggravated in rural areas where personel are stretched thin. At least the stop checks stop some infractions.

Are those that are complaining about 'delays' no longer flying from airports or braving the roads of the province during 'construction season' in the summer?

[ToSlow]

so many choices to agree with, which one is the most sound, don't want to make my mind up to soon. could i please see some more opinions please.

[skidooer]

could i please see some more opinions please.

Well, since you asked, despite what this thread would have you believe, there is no group of idiots on the trail, highway, or anywhere else. I have made mistakes, you have made mistakes, we have all made mistakes. If you have never misjudged a corner, accidentally went over the speed limit, failed to get traction, or anything else that makes someone an "idiot," you are either not human or you put no more than a couple of miles on your snowmobile each year. For every time you witness an idiot, there is another instance of someone else calling you the idiot. Thus is the nature of driving vehicles in close proximity to each other.

[schmied]

I've been the idiot. I've learned from my own mistakes. Mistakes that may have rutted a section of trail, irritated a landowner, hurt my sled, hurt myself. Luckily never hurt another rider. It took time, years, to figure out. Hopefully the newest bunch of idiots can figure it out too. Ten years from now they'll be the ones on forums letting everyone know how much things have gotten out of control.

[revrnd]

Doonut, +1,000,000

You would think if Joe Average sledder has to dodge these idgits, if the police were riding, the law of averages would have them come across these asshats as well.

I've been riding since before Christmas on the Paudash trails & have yet to see any OPP presence.

Monday went for a short 25 mile ride checking out an old trail. Rode up the E107 reroute to where it crosses Hwy 28. 2 empty beer cans in the snow beside the trail (nowhere near the highway so they weren't tossed from a vehicle).

Tuesday went for a almost 100 mile ride found 3 more beer cans at the Hadlington & Pencil Lake roads intersection. Obviously a few riders out there that need a beer to enjoy a day's ride.

[Wildman]

Well, since you asked, despite what this thread would have you believe, there is no group of idiots on the trail, highway, or anywhere else. I have made mistakes, you have made mistakes, we have all made mistakes. If you have never misjudged a corner, accidentally went over the speed limit, failed to get traction, or anything else that makes someone an "idiot," you are either not human or you put no more than a couple of miles on your snowmobile each year. For every time you witness an idiot, there is another instance of someone else calling you the idiot. Thus is the nature of driving vehicles in close proximity to each other.

Hey cliff, just wondering how much you have been out.

[revrnd]

From the guestbook on Paudash's website:

My grandson and I ( 12 yrs old just trying out his new license) where heading back into Bancroft on the trail from Lake ST Pete over the long weekend,, we where stopped by our local OPP just about Bird Creek, of course we had all the documents & the grandson was anxious to show off his new license, which he did proudly, as we where talking the officer had the radar out & clocked one of those crazys doing 125k coming right at us,, was great to see the law in action,, the rider looked surprised can you imagine,,, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK OPP, slow down you nut bars,,

I'll run the railbed @ a not so legal speed, but nothing like that. Also that's a known spot for the OPP to hang out @.

[Doonut]

could i please see some more opinions please.

Well, since you asked, despite what this thread would have you believe, there is no group of idiots on the trail, highway, or anywhere else. I have made mistakes, you have made mistakes, we have all made mistakes. If you have never misjudged a corner, accidentally went over the speed limit, failed to get traction, or anything else that makes someone an "idiot," you are either not human or you put no more than a couple of miles on your snowmobile each year. For every time you witness an idiot, there is another instance of someone else calling you the idiot. Thus is the nature of driving vehicles in close proximity to each other.

Proof positive that you DO NOT ride in southern Muskoka.

Being run off the trail by a "GROUP" of azzhats is a common occurence around there. Seeing the OPP on a ticket writing party for numbers or Licence stickers sitting at the road / trail intersections is almost as common.

Riding above the speed limit on trails is not the same as riding like a complete tool and endangering others. Not even close.

Cutting a corner where you CAN CLEARLY SEE that there is no oncoming traffic is one thing. Cutting every BLIND CORNER thru the woods where there is no way in h e l l that you can see oncoming traffic in VERY BUSY areas on the weekend is endangering other peoples lives.

If you truely believe that what I posted earlier isn't a problem, come on up to Gravenhurst on a Saturday and I'll let you lead up the D trail. After I help you out of the bush and watch you produce your "papers" 3 or 4 times, I will ask for your opinion on azzhats and the OPP again