Saturday Jan 10, 10
am
Good morning sports fans! As you may have suspected, since there was no report
yesterday, I was out riding all day yesterday with Pyro. We left St-Zenon
at 7 am, rode up to the Cabanon to get gas, then went up the one way to the
dam and over. We then rode up the 33 to the Repo. It was -35.
The dam. It was dam cold! (Jan 9 2004)
We had some trouble with fogging shields on the way up, which made my little 550 fan cooled Polaris very popular! The hot air coming out of the engine, was like a hair dryer, which we used to clear the shields from time to time.
We got up there with no trouble,
except that taking photos was near impossible. The camera froze solid a few
times, and so did my hands. When I took my mitts off, I had only 30 seconds
with which to take the photos, after that my hands stopped moving.
The side wind was about 25 mph, which made it extra cold. There were surprise
snow drifts here and there which were hidden in the shadow of tree bunches.
I would only see them at the last second. On one occasion, I hit one which
sent me flying. Somehow I stayed on the trail and on the sled. That extra
30 pounds that I carry comes in handy at times.
Once up at the Repo, we stripped off all our clothes, and dried out our helmets and mouth pieces which were full of ice. The dogs outside wanted in. They stood by the door holding one paw up, as if to say, "ouch, this one is frozen, please let us inside". Rocky does the same thing here when it is - 30 degrees, and I don't blame him.
I ordered a cheese omelet and a side of bacon. At least the coffee was good.
The place had gas and a wood
stove to warm us. No complaints.
Two Pennsylvania gentlemen at the Repo;
John Regester from Thompsontown, and his buddy.
Inside I met a couple of old
timers from Pennsylvania who ride over 6,000 miles a year. They were very
kind. I lost his card. (Please write me sir, I want to thank you properly!)
The one gentleman has ridden over 120,000 miles in his life time. He came
to Canada in 1973 the first time to ride.!
We got back to the Refuge at about 4:30pm, and Crazy Al's wood stove felt
good. After I unthawed, I went home to let Rocky out for a frozen pee. He
was back in the house in record time.
Pyro called me at around 6 pm, and we went to Real Masse's to eat, like we
have for the past four night. I love the food there, and Pyro insists that
Real has the best food in the region. The extra drive through the forest is
well worth it.
Nova Scotia comes to St-Zenon!
Every time I go to eat anywhere, I have many people who come to thank me.
Last night was no different. This is David Lockhart, a Western Star Truck
Dealer from Dartmouth Nova Scotia. He was with his friends David and James.
He told me that he was here because of my web site and that we had exchanged
e-mails re: some details of his trip. I remembered his email address, but
that's about all. I answer over 50 emails per day at this time, mainly because
we seem to be the only ones with snow and groomed trails anywhere!
Happy New Year From the Masse Family.
Real and his family at Real Masse, asked me to offer you his best wishes for
the coming year. Thanks Real, for a great restaurant, and for taking care
of all my Zen readers when they stay at your home in the woods!
Today I feel great, thanks to all that fresh air yesterday!
And did I mention, the trails were 9/10? AND, there was NO traffic. I tell
you guys again, that riding during the week, plus getting up early, these
are the two kes to amazing rides! Even if you ride weekends, get up early
and you'll be alone on the trail. We saw only 4 riders in 210 miles!
zw
See the free Movies from Yesterday here..
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