Its Sunday morning April 27 , 2003 & Speedy Racer is looking for more FRESH bodies to ride with today! HE! HE! The twelve riders from Saturday have ALL left!!! They have either gone home due to personal issues , wore out ,or broke down from Saturday's long hard ride! So after feeding my face at Granny's & enjoying the company of Larry before he drags his bruised & battered body back to the Eastern Shore , I await to see who has arrived by 8:00am to keep Speedy company today????
By 8:00am FIVE fresh Speedball's have showed up & are READY to ride!!!! YAHOOOOOO!!! Lets GO!!! Brian & his Recon has new sneakers!!! GATOR's the whole way around!!!! Bill & his V-Force is chomping at the bit to tear up the trails! Three new folks are joining us this fine SUNNY morning! Brian & Chris Henninger aboard a Raptor & Z400 , plus Tom Peszek aboard a Raptor will make thier maiden ride with us & hopefully they have a good time as well?
Once hellos are exchanged & quads warmed up , we ease down through town & cross Rt # 61 & head out across the power lines & the trails towards Minnersville, Pa.. The pace is modest, as its a get to know you type of ride & to enjoy the WONDERFUL wonder of it ALL !!! The weather is PERFECT!!!!!! Sunny skies, damp moist trails & its warm!!!! LIFE IS GRAND!!!!!
After crossing I-81 our merry group cruises up & down trail after trail , headed in a southwardly direction towards Minnersville, Pa. . For three folks this is thier first time on this turf & they LOVE what they see & where we are headed! As I glance over my shoulder I see BIG SMILES plastered across the faces of each & every rider!! This a GOOD sign!!!! HA! HA!
The miles click off fast even at this modest pace & before long we are taking our first break beside a beautuful pond & stone achway & wall made many, many years ago to to let a small stream pass under a paved county road above it. I click off a quick photo & let everyone enjoy this wonderous scene. Time to move on ,being a 1/2 day ride , so I signal for everyone to remount & off we go up & over mountain after mountain , crossing some fairly rugged sections as we move further south.
As we reach the 901 Tavern near Minnersville, Pa. the trail has been blocked , so we retrace our tracks to a split in the trail & head East to access more beautiful trails! We cross ridge after ridge enjoying the excellent trail conditions & every time we hit a flat sections the newest members drag race one another to settle who's quad is the fastest ! I laugh & chuckle to myself as the youngsters frolic & buzz up & down the flat coal roads! Bill & the V-Force KNOWS he is the baddest quad today & wants to conserve fuel, so NO sense on juicing it too hard & wasting precious fuel. After a few hours of enjoying this wonderous weather & trails , I head our merry group of ATVer's across the mountains towards the " SWAMP " .
The trip across the mountains goes by too fast , but its a good thing we are headed back towards the motel as the gas guzzling V-Force's " fuel warning " light begins to flash! With the " SWAMP " fast approaching I assure Bill that he has enough go juice to make it back & this relaxes Bill & a smile is once again plastered on his face!
Before entering the deep water & tunnel that traveres underneath I-81 , I tell everyone to take it slow & steady, so we don't drown out someones quad. A few of the sport quads begin to float as they head into the deeper section of the tunnel, but scratch & claw thier way to the far end. NOW its time to plunge headlong into the SWAMP & watch the sport quads wallow in the muck & deep water & wish they were 4x4's!!!! HA! HA! Wanting to test my new sneakers , the Grizzly & I plung head long into every DEEP mud hole & cruise out the far end with flying colors!!! YEHAAAA!!!! The new 26" Gator's are BAD!!!!!! As I check out each & every mud hole , I direct the sport quads to by-passes or to shallower sections . BUT some sport quads still need assistance from the Grizzly & fellow Speedball's as the SWAMP proves more than a match for mere sport quads!!!! HE! HE! BOY this is FUN!!!!! " Little Gator" (Brian& Recon) cruises through this muck, muck with ease sporting his new sneakers. As the mudholes get deeper & DEEPER , " Little Gator " gets bolder & BOLDER , BUT follows the Grizzly into one too many DEEP mud holes & almost capsizes !!!!!!! Using EXTREME body english & working the little quad to its limits , Brian manages to find a ledge on the far left side of the hole , to let " Little Gator" scratch & claw its way out the SWAMP's grasp! Boy is Brian a HAPPY ATVer to reach the far shore!!!!!!!
As we exit the SWAMP to access the power lines , a nice dirt mound , with a huge mud puddle on the far side proved too inviting for our sport quads & before long I was clicking off photo after photos as first Brian & the Raptor launched time after time , landing sometimes with a BIG SPLASH !!!!!! Tom & his Raptor soon followed suit & then Chris & the Z400 Susuki was seen flying through the air!!!!! HA! HA! CLICK , CLICK , more photos !!!! Fun to watch!!! It was about time to head for Motel 6 , BUT I wanted to show the new guys that the BIG Grizzly with 26" Gator's could fly as well! LOL!!!!!!!!! The new guys lookes stunned & puzzled as I announced my intentions to do just like THEY did!!!!! As they shook thier heads , I eased the Grizzly over the dirt mound & disappeared into the woods! WHAT made this jump tricky was almost NO runway to accellerate before the jump!!! So HOW could a HUGE 600+ lb. 4x4 quad with 26" Gator's accellerate fast enough to make this jump????????? As I made the turn around in a huge mud hole & exited the far end , Speedy pushed the thumb throttle FULL ON & LAUNCHED towards the dirt mound & huge mud hole on the other side!!!! ALL I saw was sky as the Grizzly headed skyward just like a SPORT quad & landed SO SMOOTH & just as far as the sport quads!!!!! I was STOKED!!!!!!!!!! BIG SMILES were spread across the faces of everyone including myself!!!!! YEHAAAAAAA!!!!!!
After exchanging congrats about the jump, I dropped the hammer & started to SERIOUSLY Speedball down the power line!!!!!! OH BOY!!!! Catch me IF you can!!!!!!!! LOL!!!! I'd rode conservatively all day & I was ready to bust loose!!!!! FULL BORE down the power line until the outskirts of Frackville, Pa. loomed on the horizon!!! NO sport quads had managed to keep pace with the Grizzly!!!!!! Once the sport quads had caught up , the Grizzly had ONE MORE jump to launch off of & this one was BIGGER & the puddle was BIGGER!!!!!!!! OH BOY!!!! I instructed the others to either follow my lead or take the by-pass & dropped the hammer on the Grizzly!!!!! As I approached the big mound & sized up the mound & size of the rain swollen mud hole, I KNEW this would be FUN!!!!! Before long the Grizzly was airborne & after sailing through the air , a HUGE SPLASH & WAVE of water was hurled into the air as the 4x4 landed !!!!! WOW!!!!!! I was NOW really stoked & turned to see WHO would follow in the Grizzly??????? The others decided the by-pass was the prudent route & shortly joined Speedy on the far side for the last mile or so back to Motel 6. WHAT a GRAND RIDE!!!!!!! EVERYBODY had a BLAST & made it back SAFE & with NO DAMAGE to thier quads!!!! GREAT!!!!
While the others went to load up , I gave the Grizzly a
well deserved quick wash & headed back to Motel 6 to thank everyone for a GREAT DAY & to join us again. Sitting next to our trucks was two custom Harley's & thier rider's chit chatting with the Speedball's. As I started to load up for the trip home the Harley dudes head in my direction, BUT first stopping by his HD to get something out of his saddle bags. " Are you Speedy ????? " was voiced by one of the riders & I say " YES " . Well, here was two ATV fanatic's who cruised over two hours aboard thier HD's to meet our US when we returned from our 1/2 day ride!!!! Ain't that SOMETHING??????????? Our website is touching SO MANY folks!!!! After exchanging hello's & founding out that they ride a Raptor & Banshee , we discuss various aspects of our club & IF they can join us for a future ride????? Sure thing!!! Why not????? After at least a 15 minute conversation, I have to bid farewell to our new found friends. TWO more fast sport quads will be joining us in the future!!!! Can't wait!!!!!
So after showering & freshening up this AARP body , I fire up the Speedball Express & head south for Southern Maryland!!!! WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!!!!! Check our " UPCOMING RIDES " link on our website & IF you find a day that the wife or work will set you FREE , load up that ORV & join Speedy Racer & his fellow Speedball's for our next GREAT ADVENTURE!!!!!! Your AARP atv buddy!
SPEEDY RACER
