So this reminds me of something that happened to our group last weekend. We were a group of four, all very well seasoned (I'm talking about more than a hundred years experience, combined, among us), on very high performance trail machines. We had maybe a hundred miles under our belt for the day and had run into an area I know very well. Conditions were right for a very fast run the last 10 miles of the day, mostly through a long series of twisties, one of my favorite sections. It was Super Bowl Sunday, traffic had been very light. So we decided to take full advantage of the bright day and good conditions, so rare in our area this year. We were running very fast, at the top of our capabilities. Corners were being taken in a long series of slides, big roost from the rear of our sleds. 2 big Polaris triples in the lead and 2 big Skidoo twins in back of those. We had to have been very easy to hear coming for miles with all of our machines running up on their pipes. We came flying around a corner maybe a sled length apart and entered a straight section. Parked off to the side of the trail were several older sleds, all people well off to the side of the trail. But something just wasn't right. Then there she was, a woman kneeling in the trail, not far from dead center, adjusting a toddlers coat, HER BACK TO US! HOLY COW! I couldn't believe it.
We easily avoided them by braking hard to a reasonable speed and passing with several feet between us and them (caused quite a commotion among us to though, locked up tracks, sliding, and near misses among our own), not even a threat actually, but the thought still haunts me. I'm sure she felt threatened. I'm sure she believes I was being a reckless lunatic and the incident was entirely my fault. Even though somebody else coming through there may have been passing, may have been drinking, may not have had the forsight to be driving defensively, whatever, the list of possibilities could go on for a while. Scary, VERY scary.
I keep thinking to myself, what was on her mind? Was SHE drunk? Why didn't she act on the noise she must have heard well in advance of our arrival? Why didn't the others in her group (probably 8 or 10 people) warn her? Were THEY drinking? Was it that they were that inexperienced that they didn't realize the potential danger roaring down on them? WHAT?
You figure they will next time? I sure hope so.
AL