| Newsletter November 24 , 2002 Shamokin,, Pa. |
| Its 3:45am & I'm up & about & watching a little tv to pass the time away till daylight. No one stayed overnite & no one e-mailed me about riding Sunday, so after an hour or so , I doze off & awaken around 8:00am , wondering if I'll have any riding buddies today? Before I get too lazy , I better take a peek across the parking lot & see if any Speedballs have decided at the last minute to show up unannounced ? As I peek out the door , I hear the familar rumble of a four stroke quad with an after market exhaust coming from across the road behind Motel 6. Once I focus my sleep filled eyes , I see Dave Porzi & Brent both getting gear on & warming up thier Grizzly's. YAHOOOOOO!!!!!!! Someone to share some trail time with!!!!!! Within 10 minutes, I'm dressed & across the road unloading my still mud caked Grizzly & refueling for todays run. The weather forecast looks GREAT for today , so with only three 4x4 Grizzly's , we'll be able to cover some serious ground NO MATTER the terrain! By 8:30am our group is headed out past the power plant & under the steam pipes , headed due east across the mountains . The pace remains brisk & before too long , we approach the second Pottsville, Pa. reservoir & see that with all the rain Pa. has had the last few weeks , our normally dry trail to the damn is under water. So I skirt the outside edge of the water until I reach the dam face & then veer hard left into the water & within seconds the floorboards are submerged & getting deeper by the second. Not a good time to stall or wander off course , or there could be trouble! By the time my Grizzly's tires grasp the first boulder & begin to scratch & claw its way up the face of the damn , the water is about halfway up the side of my quad . Within seconds Speedy Racer has found level dry ground atop the damn & motions for the other Grizzly's to follow in my EXACT path. The first thing Dave says after wallowing through the water & up the face of the damn is " Shit that was DEEP !!!!! " while shaking his head. After crossing the top of the damn , the pace becomes brisk once again , since we have alot of ground to cover & its only a half day ride. The miles click off fast as the Grizzly's maintain this pace until we hit the narrow rocky trail that heads south down the mountain towards Kasta , Pa. After accessing a trail just north of Kasta, Pa. we head west towards Pottsville, Pa. Along the way we see motorcycles jumping at the playground area just north of Pottsville, Pa & before long are crossing RT# 61 near Walmart. Once across Rt # 61 we begin to Speedball in earnest & covered the next 15 miles in a very short time! Up & down one mountain trail after another , floating over rocky terrain and not slowing up much for anything ! HA! HA! After directing a lady to her lost dog which we had spotted earlier on the last mountain , we were off to the power line that parallels I-81N & would take us to the Rt 901 trail crossing above Minnersville, Pa. This trail also lets us bypass all the homes below in the valley & prevents us from stirring up the hound dogs that would have disturbed the locals early Sunday morning tranquillity. One thing the Speedballs try to do is be respectful of the locals & thus maintain & good relationship with whomever we come in contact with . Before too long we are bouncing along the power line & its sometimes rugged sections. |