Evidently, we have fans again for this trip. I apologize for the long story, but it was such a long trip. Such a long trip.....
I'm listening to Van Halen's "Hot Summer Nights" as I write this, and what irony. The big complaint last year was way too cold, this year not enough cold. Not enough snow. But as Van Halen says, "We celebrate when the gang's all here!"
Van Halen
So here we sit, on the side of the road thanks to me. Danny, Edmund Fitzgerald already in my ears..... Grandpa!!! Danny! What do you need? Danny, I need you to shut that song off, and go run into the woods. Go play hide and go F*&k yourself! A single mile from camp, and here we are.
A single effin mile. I got this, "new" build on this sled, coolant hose rubbing up against something it shouldn't. Jerry rig, LET'S RIDE! I know we have Curtis 2 miles through the windshield, I'll fix it then. We roll into Curtis like we own the place, but by then I'm already overheating again. I just needed 2 miles, and here we are. Got my two miles, got more problems than I anticipated. Still, not a problem, I have a swiss army knife and a gas station, I can fix the space shuttle here if needed.
Eddy jumps in to help, that's just how he is. I run inside, buy a gallon of antifreeze and two gallons of water, As Eddie and I are fixing my little cooling problem, minor engine mount problem. We got this, We're in Curtis, on sleds! Wait a tick, it becomes painfully obvious that I still see no snow....... Pat walks up "Have any of that antifreeze left? I tried to peel some snow off of the bank with the right ski, it didn't work." My XCR is down for the count, Pat's Edge is SCREAMIN hot. Well, shit....
12 hours from home. It's gonna take more than this to bring us down. Before ya know it, we're ready to roll forward. As we're leaving the gas station in Curtis, we happen upon riders heading back in. "You have about 3 miles of crap before you see rideable snow." Well, SWEET because we only have another mile of dry blacktop between us and the trails.
I'm hot, Ed's Hot, Pat's hot, So are our sleds. Two ways to go about this. Slow and conservative, try and get snow off of the banks with the right ski. Or just get there quick and dive into a snow bank.
Fueled up, looking at a stop sign.... "You Assholes ready??" Got the OK from the crew. Look left, look right. Anticipating how long it will take 10 sleds behind me to get through this intersection. Wait...wait.... BOOM. They all know I don't "do" conservative. Giddy Up!
In one instant, with the best interest of our group in mind. Look left, clear. Look right, clear. Look down between my legs and the XCR is ready. With a handful of throttle, the XCR set us off on a path of speed, destruction, ghosts, mayhem, and friendship that none of us expected. Helmet on, Edmund Fitzgerald playing in my mind, skis not on the ground, nothing but sky in the windshield, and the smell of 2 stroke Polaris..
At that exact moment, in Curtis Michigan, my right thumb grabbed more Polaris than was expected. The XCR threw me down onto my seat, and made damn sure I knew who was boss. I wasn't sure how long she would last, Pretty sure with the way she wanted to dislocate my arms she didn't know how long I would last.
Let's find out..... 1 mile of blacktop, then 2 miles of slush.
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