It's 2:00am Saturday morning & time to fire up the Speedball Express & head north for another day of adventure & fun with my fellow Speedball's. After giving the wife a big sloppy kiss & pat on the rump & the dogs their treats , I put the K1500 Chev in gear & motor northward towards the begining of another Great Adventure.
The time slips by fast as I jam to one of my favorite soft rock stations & within a few hours the exit for Frackville, Pa. looms out from the darkness on I-81. As I veer onto the offramp , I begin to wonder about all the new folks who have said that they are coming & exactly WHAT skill levels they possess?????? Folks sometimes THINK they are skilled , BUT get a rude awakening when they actually ride the RUGGED Pa. turf & attempt to traverse the mountainous terrain that the Speedball's call home!
As I spot the sign for Granny's , everything else fades into the background & before long , I'm feeding my face & chit chatting with the waitress about her grandchildren & other local issues. With a contented small belch from a full belly , I head off to see how many folks will share trail time with Speedy today?
LOTS of happy faces greet Speedy & before too long our quads are warmed up & headed off across the mountains towards Pottsvile, Pa. to show our new folks the wonders of the Pa. mountains. From the beginning I sense that at least one young rider is NOT as skilled as perceived by the rider himself & struggles to do some of the small basic off camber hills without alot of difficulty . The pace is slow even by our standards & Chris alerts me to the struggles of Zach & his Kawasaki Lakota,so I take the easiest route I can & hopefully Zach's skills will improve as we head further out into the mountains??? SAFETY is ALWAYS my first concern!
The next ten miles or so are uneventful & everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather & basking in the glory of it all. After visiting the Pottsville resevoir , we head down a tight twisty rocky trail that is NOT technical , but strewn with small boulders , sharp rocks & some slight off cambers. As I exit this trail , only a few other riders emerge from the woods & before long we discover that Dave or Marty has suffered a severe gash in the sidewall & they will limp back to the trucks & call it a day. Too bad! They are great guys to have on the trail!
This has NOT been a stellar day for Zach up to this point & it gets WORSE REAL FAST!!!!! Attempting to do a U-turn on an off camber section of trail to see what happened to Marty & Dave , Zach Flips & LOUD SCREAMS of AGONY fills the woods!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!! Zach's dad rushes to his side & attempts to comfort his son , but NOTHING seems to work!
A quick assessment of the situation determines that Zach has broken his left arm & NO WAY to get him help or to a hospital EXCEPT to ride him out on a quad . Zach DOES NOT want to move & tears stream down his face & screams in agony ! UGLY!!!!! Zach's dad & I discuss the situation & after making a small sling , it's decided that Zach will ride double with me across the mountains to Motel 6 & then his dad can take him to the hospital for treatment.
After airing down the tires on the Grizzly to make the ride a little smoother , Zach
hops aboard the Grizzly still SCREAMING in agony & off we go at a VERY SLOW pace!!!!!!!!!!! Each & every rocks causes Zach to scream " OW ,OW, OW , my arm HURTS! PLEASE STOP ! " . Perodically I have to stop & let Zach catch his breath & recoup as best possible from the pain & agony that his broken arm is causing this young atver.
The screaming gets louder & LOUDER as the miles tick off SLOWLY & then ANOTHER disaster strikes! By the time we hit the steam pipes , the Grizzy WILL NOT run!!!!! Zach is a very large boy & with our combined weight & going SO SLOW( less than 5 mph) on a HOT day , the Grizzly's engine is putting off so much heat that it vapor locks & POP ! POP! PHZZZZZZZZZZ ! & SHUTS DOWN!
NOW WHAT????????? We have Zach screaming in agony & my Grizzly will NOT run! UGLY!!!!!!!! After Zach dismounts , I strip off all the panels & attempt to let the engine cool , but even after 10 minutes or so the Grizzly will run only for a few seconds & then SHUT DOWN AGAIN! WHAT NOW????? I drag the Grizzly & face it downhill & finally get it to run downhill for more than a few seconds & keep going downhill in shaded woods( cooler) until the Grizzly will run almost normal. PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!! Had me worried!
With the Grizzly up & running & near a Coal Generating plant & it's paved road & Zach still screaming in agony , Zach doubles up with his dad & down the highway we go! NOT LEGAL , but Zach is exhausted & screams even louder at the thought of hitting more rocks in the trail!!!! " NO MORE ROCKS!!!!!! " . It's a STRANGE sight even in Pa. to see a whole line of atv's cruising down the highway in broad daylight , BUT we have NO CHOICE !!!!!!! As we near Frackville, Pa. I see a police car headed towards us with a VERY UNHAPPY expression on his face!!!!
As the officer gets near I holler out to him that we have a severly injured atver who needs medical attention & NEEDED to get back to the trucks as soon as possible , so we could transport him to the local hospital. With a look of disgust on his face & vigurously shaking his head from side to side he signals me to get moving & to get off the road as soon as possible! I thank the officer & appologize for having to use public roads to extract our injured atver. We head off towards Motel 6 & medical attention for Zach & before too long Zach is hospital bound.
After seeing Zach & his dad off & wishing them well , the rest of us are still itching to do some riding! YAHOOOOOOOOO! My poor ears are still ringing from having Zach scream in my ears for an hour & a half , BUT my body still wants to RIDE!!!!!!!! So after taking a few asprins & gulping down a cold soda , we headed back across the mountains to do some SERIOUS riding!!!!
The rest of the day was spent exploring & Speedballing near Minersville & points beyond. By the time we rattled back into the parking lot at Motel 6 , the sun had long since settled behind the mountains to our west & butts were tired & bodies READY for that hot shower & some good grub at Cracker Barrel ! It started out on a rough note , BUT all in all it turned out to be a GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOOOOOOO! Can't wait to do it AGAIN!!!!! LMAO! Your AARP atv buddy!
SPEEDY RACER
