HURRICANE IVAN
		Hi Folks,          With Hurricane Ivan dumping tons of water up & down the East Coast , folks e-mailed me asking IF we were still going to ride or NOT???????  Our MOTTO is " IF I-81 is open & we can get to Motel 6 in Frackville, Pa. WE WILL RIDE ! " . Either way this weekend was going to test our motto to the MAX!!!! LOL!       With this thought in mind , I fire up the Speedball Express at 1:45am Saturday morning & head north towards Frackville, Pa. & another Great Adventure with my fellow Speedball's. The first two hours are uneventful & it's a  typical cruise up I-83 , but the further north I head the harder it rains . By the time I reach York, Pa. some lanes have standing water & make handling the Speedball Express difficult as it slams into fairly deep water at times. Good thing I had slowed to no more than 50 mph as the weather & road conditions deteriorated !          As I encounter various bad sections of highway flooding , I contact Chris & Steve & alert them to watch out for deep standing water & WHERE on their own northward trex. By 6:45am I'm in Frackville,Pa. & feeding my face at Granny's & gazing out the window as the rain comes down harder & HARDER! As I woof down the last bit of my breakfast , Steve saunters into Granny's & we chit chat about the weather & stuff as he consumes his own early morning feast.           After feeding our faces & checking into Motel 6 , Steve & I check out the parking lot & find it full of happy , but wet faces READY to ride! LOL!  Five folks from New York have decided to brave the weather & join Speedy & the others , BUT NO RAIN GEAR! I strongly suggest they venture down to Walmart in St. Clair & get some much needed rain gear or it will be a long COLD & WET day !!! We will NOT be coming back to the trucks till DARK!       While awaiting the return of our atver's from New York , Chris is on the phone attempting to convince Mike Yucha to RIDE! I have NEVER seen it where Mike needed any encouragement to hop aboard either of his quads to ride, BUT this hurricane & it's heavy rain have even put a damper on his spirit. After alot of prodding & goading by Chris , Mike loads up his quad & heads towards Frackville, Pa. to join the rest of us for today's EXTREME atv ride across the water logged mountains of  Pa.        By 9:45am everyone is suited up with rain gear & ready to GO! YEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! With a thumbs up from everyone , we ease out of the parking lot & begin today's Great Adventure with high spirits ! As soon as we go over the dirt mound behind Motel 6 we are greeted with a sample of WHAT we will be faced with all day! There is usually a small puddle of mud near the base of the utility tower , but now it's a small lake that swallows up each & quad as water cascades over the top of the front fenders & water swirls around our legs. PHEWEEEEEEEEEEE! The four sport quad riders ( two Raptor's , one 400ex & one 250 Mojavi )just shake their heads , but press forward through this small lake & squeal with delight as they successfully  exit the far side! LOL! ONLY 100 feet from the motel & ALREADY things are EXTREMELY knarly for the sport quads! HE! HE! Will they be able to survive the whole day?????????          With high spirits we head out across the mountains & find every trail has running or standing water in the grooves . What I find amazing is that our NORMAL steeper trails are NOW boulder infested jungles void of any soil !!  The torrents of rain from  hurricane Ivan have deposited it into the low lands or some sediment pond. The sports quads can be heard making ALOT of loud clanging noises as their rear skid plates take a severe beating from these boulder infested trails. Even the big & mighty 4x4's suffer a few major dents to their under belly protection. But we press on, up & over mountain after mountain.       Trails that were NORMALLY high & DRY are NOW filled with DEEP water in sections & this is where some of the funniest stuff took place! At one very deep crossing laced with logs , a New Yorker on a 250 Kawasaki sport quad  ATTEMPTED to blast across a partially submerged log & instead got DUNKED ! The quad stood straight up & then backwards , ejecting the helpless rider onto his back in DEEP WATER!!!! ! With ONLY his head & legs visable , our atver managed to keep the quad from doing a complete backflip ! After emptying his pockets  of frogs & other aquatic creatures , his was ready to ride AGAIN!!!! LMAO!                 From time to time even the 4x4's had their share of problems as they were the leaders & SOMETIMES  needed to be rescued! Mike Yucha was ATTEMPTING to cross a very short , but off cambered water crossing near the Shenandoah coal banks , when his new Susuki 4x4's left front end suddenly sank FAST , sending Mike into the water & with only the underside of the 4x4 visable!!! It took half a dozen  strong young  atver's to rescue Mike from this small BUT bottomless black muck hole! LMAO!        Even Chris & his mighty 700 V-Twin Kawasaki 4x4 suffered a MAJOR DUNKING to FINALLY get a payback for  what he had been dishing out for SO LONG!!!!! Chris's 4x4 does not always switch in & out of 4x4 mode & this day was stuck in 2x4 mode. Earlier  Chris had been taking great pride in swamping folks with tidal wave after tidal wave as the unexpecting atver's slowed in their attemp to stay somewhat dry as they approached a large mudhole. BUT this time Chris in 2x4 mode GOT STUCK at the edge of a big black NASTY mudhole & atver after atver DUNKED Chris!!!!!!!!! LMAO!  High fives & cheers could be heard echoing through the woods as Chris emerged red faced & WET & BLACK!!!!!!! Paybacks are a BITCH!!!!!!! LMAO!!!!!   After his MASSIVE dunking Chris was less inclined to dunk his fellow atver's & spent the rest of the day looking over HIS  shoulder ! LOL!       What was WONDERFUL were the waterfalls throughout the mountsides  as water cascaded off the tall rock ledges that overlook most trails, as the watery deluge created by the hurricane's massive rainfall headed for the lowlands. It was also great to see eleven quads blasting down some trail & see water being spraying twenty feet into the air  with the sunlight creating  mini rainbows in the fine mist  as the sun peeked through the clouds in the afternoon. Sure was a GREAT DAY to be ALIVE!       Despite the watery trails & DEEP water holes & DEEPER creek crossings , almost everyone agreed that this was one of the best rides of the year! By the time we finally sloshed our way back to Motel 6 in Frackville, Pa. the sun was disappearing behind the mountains to the west. My ONLY regret was that NO PHOTOS were taken to chronical our misadventures & the WONDEROUS beauty that each & every atver experienced during the course of the day! :(  With no waterproof camera handy , I was NOT going to risk water damage to my digital camera. SORRY!      So after 90+ miles in  less than ideal conditions , everyone made it back  SAFELY & all quads under their own power. Was a GREAT DAY , with WONDERFUL folks from New York , Virginia , Maryland & Pennsylvania & looking forward to our NEXT ride across the mountains of Pa. !!!!! Hope to see YOU on our NEXT ride REGARDLESS of weather conditions! DON'T let the weatherman keep YOU away! Your AARP atv buddy!             SPEEDY RACER