Here is couple of pics of us in the Cambridge trails last night.
Im sure this is the last day out for us now as the warm weather hits .
Scott in KW. :angry:

Too dark but i hopa you can see it.
Scott

Nice pics, i think this is my last day of sledding too, kinda looking forward to the warm weather though. ??? :D

I have another 2 months of sledding, all part of my job in diamond exploration in the north. Only thing I complain about is that we only have a viking 540 and a Bravo, they didnt want to heli-lift my sled to camp ??? but at least I don't pay for gas :D

We're going out tonite,probably last ride for us too,can't really complain tho,it's been a great year :)

been a great season for everybody i think.

yeh i have hadthe best season of my life. looking forward t the warm weather but it still brings a tear to my eye to know that we only have a month left.

we still have a couple of months........hopefully!

Just got back from my last ride for the year. It got waaaay too warm today, 62F on the thermometer this afternoon when we were loading up

Not a very good season in Southern WI. Trails open 3 days! That's right 3 DAYS!

Snow in the Adirondack Mountains will be rideable till the end of April! The best mountain riding is just around the corner, when the snow melts enough to settle and stiffen up. This lets us venture to the top of some beautiful places!

I hope to get out on Sunday & break the 2800 mile mark. Forecast doesn't look good for the week, so I don't know if it would be worth planning a ride next Saturday. Heading over to Huntsville for the CSRA races next Sunday anyways. Anyone else going to Huntsville?

I just realized I've been a member here for just over a year & have enjoyed it. It was great meeting the guys last weekend. Hopefully next season we'll be able to get together earlier in the season & put in a real day of riding.

Yup the snow is melting, was hoping to get more cliks in, oh well ??? :(

http://www.sciencehilldrifters.com/sunset.jpg

That was somewhere just west of Kitchener on Thursday evening on what was supposed to be our last run for the season , but we managed to slip one last 112 mile ride in yesterday. The big melt has began here I would suspect by the end of Sunday sleddin will be all over for another year around here.

Cool pic. That really sucks that the snow is melting. ;)

I put on 94 miles today, 2846 miles for the season, so I shouldn't complain. LadyK referred to the forecast as a nuclear meltdown. W/ the way the trails are right now, it's too bad it has to end. Here are some pics of what I had to put w/ today.

TOP E north of the Paudash clubhouse

On E108 east of the Hadlington Road

On the Rathburn Trail (E108) west of Hadlington Road

We've had some GREAT riding on our local trails this week, but I think now it's all over but the crying. We're heading up to Port Elgin on Tuesday, I have to do a presentation for work. Trailblazer's bringing up the sleds so when I'm done we'll hopefully get in one last hurrah...

We were on your trails on Thursday, IndySKS, (and Tuesday, for that matter! :D ) and they were AWESOME. I think you're right about the melt, though, but it was a great ride to end the season.

I was out on Lake Champlain today cruseing around in the 50 degree weather, it was so warm i didn't wear any gloves and had my coat unzipped. There isn't much snow left on the lake but the ice is still about 26in thick. With the temps supossedly going to be in the 40's all week what little snow we have will be gone in days. Oh well we still have snow in the mountains so we'll be able to ride up there for about another month.

Glad you had a good ride jacqui583 .
Yup I was right today is becoming the last for this year around here, I am starting to get reports from all the Clubs in District 5 that they are closing. 3 are closed so far and I expect more very soon. For those of you that don't know I am the person who updates the OFSC web site for trail conditions in District 5 . Thanks for another great year.

Hi IndySKS,

Awsome trails once again. I see why your membership has sky rocketed.

We had our last ride on Thursday night. We dropped off at your club house again and did a loop to Listowel - Conostoga, got lost as we got off 109 accidentally on a local trail and ended up in someones back yard on Lake Conostoga. drove for hours, drove some more finally ran roads back to 109 and then back to Listowel for fuel and returned on 111 due to low fuel. I did get your post ( Thank you) on fuel stops but we got lost and had to go back as everything was closed once we got straightened around.

About 320 Kms. Not bad for a brisk evening ride.

Beautiful ride once again. I have decided to purchase my sled permits in your area next year as we tend to do the bulk of our riding from St Marys.

Overall I would say the best season I have ever had riding.

I'm said to see winter finally let go, but hey, it's hot rodding season. Gotta try out the new engine and 4 gear.

Scott S :
Thanks for the compliments on our Club , we have good bunch of members that work hard to create some great trails for our area. It's nice to have you coming to our Club to start your rides too , it makes building that parking lot worth while and shows that people like our trails enough to trailer here to ride.
I find it funny that on Thursday night I was on that same ride as you, except we rode through Stratford and Shakespere to get to Conestogo Lake and then towards Listowell before we headed south to Milverton to get gas . I was getting really worried too , only one gas station in Milverton and it was close to 8 pm and we had rode over 80 miles already, never would have made it to Sebringville for gas. We stopped at the Bar in Sebringville for super and headed home. You probably passed us on your trip somewhere, ...lol

this is my last ride too.The snow is all melting away its 60f here now.I'm sad

Here is another pic.As you can see the weeds are starting to show .This was on saturday it was 60f out and the rest of the week is suppose to be 60+.

Ok, riding season never ends, it just gets longer between rides!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the kind of Trauma a quad will CURE! LOL :D

:withstupid: I'm still waiting for the next ride guys! :D We didn't have a winter. :angry:

The weather forcast around Arnprior for the next 5 days is warm weather and rain. Unless we get a storm in the next week or so, thats it for me. I put my sleds on my trailor yesterday while there was still some snow in my yard. I expect thats where they will stay until I move them into the garage for the summer. :(
Our last ride was Sat. the 15th. We left Arnprior at 9:00am and went to Sharbot Lake. We stayed to the rail bed and the trail was great. Had lunch there at "Love's to Cook" at noon and then headed back to Arnprior. The trails were noticably getting worse as the day went one with the ground starting to show. Arrived back in Arnprior at 4:30. I never seen so many sleds on a ride before. We went by the Buckhorn in Calabogie about 10:00am and seen 5 or 6 sleds parked there. When we came back through at 3:00pm there must have been 50 sleds parked there. I think we seen 50, maybe 75 sleds during our ride. It was a beautifull day. :thumbsup:
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a storm to get in one more ride. Hey, I can dream....

It was looking like the winter that might never end and then.................whammmo the weather takes a 180 and changes seasons.
I just got back from a few days in the NewLiskeard area, nothing but perfect trails with virtually zero traffic, was hoping for a couple more weekends but hey its been great .
:p I'll just have to pant waiting for the snow to return next fall. :D

Rick.

Hey there Indy,
Are trail permits numbers up/down/the same for this season (in Ontario as a whole)? I was amazed at how little traffic I saw on the trails this season especially in normally high traffic areas, all of the Stop guys I spoke to had the same comment.

Rick.

3 inches of fresh snow here last night. it was soppose to rain but luckly the weather man screwed up. i am ready to do some fun spring riding how bout u guys.

Rode Saturday afternoon to 8 pm in Plymouth, NH down to Newfound Lake area. Mr Zzz and I put in 4.5 hours and around 70 miles +/-. It was real mushy in some parts and still knee deep in the higher elevations but the snirt will grow. Since Sunday, it was 50 degrees in Central NH and today I am looking at 65 degrees in Boston. Were done.....unless another Nor'easter hits us hehehe :D I was a really good season.

Yep, its official.
Cleaned the sled, smoked out the neighbours with the fogging oil, and put her away for the summer. :(

Oh well, I must admit it was nice to be out in my short sleeves. Another couple weeks, and I'll get to bring the boat home :D

Been a good winter, first winter ever, that I could blame work for my lack of sledding, rather than the weather.

FishHog

I put another 100 miles on my sled Friday afternoon. Hoping to get out 1 or 2 more times! Trailering time! lol

We put on 150 miles yesterday here in Cape Breton
and woke up to a 10" snow fall last nite.The trails were in
great shape and sledding in the low land is good to excellant.
The Highlands of cape breton will be good for at lest an other
month or more.So it`s not time for us yet.Temp is -3 and
steady for most of the week.
Cape Breton Stock.......................................

I got over 5000km on the season on my two sleds (I rode the ZR while the REV was being rebuilt twice). It was finally nice to be able to ride a few minutes from home instead of having to drive to Sudbury for the weekend like we did last season.

We did our last ride on Friday before it got really warm. Rode from the Info Centre on Highway 69 over to Sundridge and down D101 back to the Seguin. An excellent run for the last of the season! Just under 190 miles for the day. There was little traffic and excellent trails. (BTW, does anybody know if they really groom the trail across Lake Bernard? It certainly seemed like it!)

I am already looking forward to next season... in the meantime, I think it's time to get a dirt bike or an ATV so I can have fun in the summer as well :)

ZR Sled Head : Our club is down about 18 % from last year, but last year we picked up a lot of sales from a dealer who only sold our permits , this year he sold for 3 clubs. Also with the permit shortage last year I made sure everyone had the mail order forms and we sold a lot of permits that way. We are down about 20 permits from a 4 year average this year or about 3% . Our permit sales went up 20 % in the 2000/2001 year from the previous season and increased another 13% in the 2001/2002 season . So with increases like that it's hard to say what normal is. We knew it would have to level off somewhere.

As for the overall Provincial sales: It's hard to say if they are up or down right now, as of the Dec 1 deadline they were running about 30- 40 % below normal and there was a lot of panic at the OFSC . But with the snow coming sales picked up on after Dec 1 sales and have lessened the decline somewhat. As for exact figures, we will not know until near the end of April ,when the deadline for permit returns arrives . I would suspect the overall sales to be down 10 - 15 % . Permit sales were down over all in the 2001/2002 season so another drop is going to hurt bad especially in times when they need the money to cover the increasing insurance costs. I have the break down and figures from last year if you want them.

As for less riders on the trails , ( I just responded to this same question on another board) I think it's more that a lot of people stayed home and rode in the south this year. We had 8.5 weeks of great riding here compared to 2 marginal weeks last year. Yes we all like to ride in the north but with the prices of gas and other things this year it just is too much. A lot of people seemed to be riding mid week too and avoiding the weekend rush. I don't think there was any less riders , just that they were spead out over the Province and through a longer time frame this season.

Who knows next year we might have to travel to Sudbury and camp out with FreezerBurnt , I heard he has made a deal with the snow gods .........or was that the snow devil ........lol

http://www.sciencehilldrifters.com/shack1.jpg

my last ride was doing the Guiness Record thing in Old Forge (i was #163) out of over 500. We sat for about three hours before start. It was fun anyway. BTW- i did over 200 the day before

Originally posted by IndySKS@Mar 17 2003, 09:31 PM
As for less riders on the trails , ( I just responded to this same question on another board) I think it's more that a lot of people stayed home and rode in the south this year.
A week ago Saturday when I was talking to Team Renegade I mentioned how few sleds were on the rail line north of Gilmour. Normally it's like driving against the traffic after a NASCAR race. :cussing: Permafrost figured with all the snow in the Ganny & other southern areas people weren't heading to the Paudash or Old hastings areas.

My last trail ride was a 400 mile day from st. jay vt. to rangeley me. and back. Possibly the best conditions of the season overall, but then the next day it turned bad, 60 degrees. Still at least 1 more weekend of field bombing to be had at the camp in St. Johnsbury!!!

My last ride was sunday, now its all melting :( oh well at least we got more snow then last year.


Revrnd, im in for the ride next year ! We have all summer to get ready for this ride, lets make it the biggest SW get together. SWRules SWRules SWRules

Originally posted by classicRiderMike@Mar 17 2003, 10:30 PM
my last ride was doing the Guiness Record thing in Old Forge (i was #163) out of over 500. We sat for about three hours before start. It was fun anyway. BTW- i did over 200 the day before
you have been beaten already though with over 600 riders in a ride here in Newfoundland last weekend. I can't imagine being at the back. unless everyone was running IPONE oil. it smells great LOL


as for last ride we are still gettin snow. here is a pic from sunday march 16th

I finally got some pics, this is on Sunday March 16 and yes I was in a t-shirt

Ok one more :D

last ride.......................see ride to giants tomb,"that's all folks". :hallo1:

My last rides of the season are work related. At this time, as the snow melts we sled out to the numerous dams and replace or take out the stoplogs and manage the spring snow melt to reduce flooding on the Mississippi River, Ontario.
Just today we sledded into Kashwakamak Lake. The snow is deep and sticky and you don't want to fall of the trail. We have a 93 Safari and an older 250 Tundra. The Tundra is great, and will 'float ' in anywhere. If I was in charge, I will buy a couple of new Summitts.

Originally posted by alscool@Mar 18 2003, 07:45 PM
The snow is deep and sticky and you don't want to fall of the trail
Yeah, no kidding! We tried to get a last ride in at Port Elgin on Tuesday. The snow was really deep and slushy. It was weird; it wouldn't pack down and was like riding on styrafoam pellets. We put on about 5 miles, 4 of those were spinning the tracks! I think we got stuck about 3 times in the first mile; we decided it was time to head back before someone had a coronary! :0:

Alscool how did you guys sled into Kashawakamak? Did you take the road in, I guess you have a key for Carls gate. I am very familar with that damn and the stretch of riverbed that flows into farm lake. Spent many a childhood day minibiking and fishing there. My uncle owns thousands of acres right near the damn.

We sled up the access road of Hwy 506, through Karl's gate (yes we have the key).
Who is your uncle, Mr Ferguson?
I agree, that stretch of river between Kashawakamak and Farm Lake is really pretty.

Kashwakamak Lake Dam Downstream.

http://www.mvc.on.ca/img/kashdam2.jpg

Mississippi River, Ontario, downstream of Kashwakamak Lake.
Highest flows on record (52 cubic meters / second) June 20, 2002.

http://www.mvc.on.ca/img/kash1.jpg

Alscool thanx for the pic of the damn, I cant count how many times i have stood under the damn on hot summer days. Seeing that pic brings back a thousand memories. Like the time the HUGE black bear blocked the trail on us. Stood up on his back legs and gave us a big warning. WE were only 10 or 12 at the time and hightailed it on our mini bikes. Unfortuately these days with a family and work I dont have much time to make it out that way :( My uncle is Norm Martin. you might know him as alot of people around there do.