| Newsletter October 27, 2002 Frackville,Pa |
| Jim ( Crash ) is a little slow this morning , getting his 502EX & himself ready , but by 8:30am our merry group rumbles out the parking lot towards the mountains that becon us! With Jerry Compton & his new Honda 650 Rincon acting as rear guard , the Speedballs begin the start of another Great Adventure. With the air very crisp & with some new young riders on thier first Speedball ride , the pace is very modest for the next half hour. As the ride across the mountains towards Pottsville , Pa. continues, the pace gradually begins to increase as myself & the others loosen up & we see that the skill level of the youngsters is such , that everyone is comfortable that these boys can handle themselves very well. By the time we hit the first place to Speedball , Tim's son on a 350 Yamaha Warrior & his buddy on a Honda 250EX are at the front of the pack , challenging whomever is near them for trail position! As we BLAST down our first serious Speedball trail, the youngsters , the Raptors, 502EX'2 & Grizzly's are going FULL bore into each & every turn! YEHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! This is FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chris Compton on a 400EX , is soon in the mix , along with his buddy Josh , riding Chris's 250X as we barrel down the mountain !!!!!!! This mad dash continues until we are forced to enter some tight twisty trails needed to access our next mountain. After exiting the woods , we travel down a work road & enter Mike's home turf near Kasta, Pa. . With Mike now leading the way , he leads us from one play area after another , with some cool trails in between. As we enter the last play area near Kasta, Pa. the youngsters go off in search of jumps & bumps , while Mike points to the 502EX's in the general direction of some apparently NASTY hill climbs! The 502EX's make short work of these HILLS as usual , so I leave my camera tucked away & go about talking to my other ORV fanatics & occassionly glancing in the direction of the 502EX's as they blast up & down the hills with the greatest of ease! As I'm chit chatting with Jerry , I hear " OH SHIT " & then a " KA BONK , KA BONK , KA BONK & as I quickly glance towards the hill the 502EX's were chewing up earlier , I see a blue Raptor about SIX FEET in the air tumblersaulting backwards down the HILL & everyone at the bottom of the HILL scattering to avoid the wayward quads death roll!!!!!!! THIS WAS NOT GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As the quad made once last KA BONK & settled to the ground in a twisted heap of atv , the hillclimbers rush towards the Raptor , while others look up the hill to see if Doug is OK???????? |