Update 3/26/14: I took a nice little spin around town yesterday evening after work. Bottom line: If you’re not up here today or Thursday, you’re missing the best riding of the season. It’s just as simple as that!
Ride Report 3/24/14: Last Friday’s ride was turning out to be one for the ages, until my XP lost a cylinder by the Ohio Tavern with 130 miles for the day. Powley Road was a like an out-of-body experience, good enough to make me wonder if I had died and gone to heaven.
After a great dinner at the Ohio Tavern, Pat (who had joined Cal and I at Speculator) rode over to Piseco, got his truck and borrowed a friend’s trailer to haul the XP to the Lemon Tree and got me back home to Indian Lake. Then he had the long 2 hour ride back to his home in Colonie. The coolest thing about snowmobiling is that riders will go out of their way to help fellow riders stuck in a bad jam.
While I was in the parking lot waiting for Pat to come back for me, I gave serious thought as to what snowmobile I would be getting next. I had been set to buy the Lemon Tree’s demo Renegade long track with the 600 E-TEC and R-motion suspension. It’s a SWEET RIDE! Call the Lemon Tree at 518-548-6231 if you want dibs on it!
But the 4-TEC started to resonate with me. I know the over 10K that I have on the XP is great for a 2 stroke. But it seems a shame to me that an engine would blow when the rest of sled is in great shape. The Ski Doo 4-TEC engines got rave reviews from the 4-stroke community and I’ve ridden Cal’s 2010 TNT 1200 4-TEC to know that I would love it. When Vince at the Lemon Tree told me about the leftover 2012 Ski Doo TNT 1200 4-TEC that he wanted to get out of the showroom for a great price, I pulled the trigger and went for it. Last night, I rode Cal’s sled one more time, just to make sure I wanted it.
Running it on Indian Lake’s shredded village trails on a Sunday evening would be sufficient test of handling and suspension. No 2-stroke oil, no worries about lean burnout, excellent snap on take-off, quiet engine, a nice ride and no smelling like a chainsaw: Just start the thing and ride it, BABY! This sled should last me for a long time. With the miles I rack up, I don’t want the engine to be a ticking time bomb after 10K. To each their own, but my big ticket purchases are for the long haul. Don’t even get me going about my 2005 Toyota Scion with 285K miles. 😉
Today, Mrs ilsnow took me down to the Lemon Tree to grind through the paper work and seal the deal. TJ and Bob were also able to cannibalize the 1+1 passenger seat off the XP and put it on the new sled. The ’09 XP engine will be rebuilt and provide a nice second sled, when I get the itch to ride a 2 stoke and smell like a chainsaw. Darrin Jr already has his eye on it for next winter. Great job by the Lemon Tree staff to prep the sled and have it ready for me to ride her home. 🙂
I opted for the long way home…via Lake Pleasant and Sacandaga. Lakes had the familiar dragstrips on them. DRAG of Speculator was doing their usual fine work on LP1/Page Street down to Moffitt Beach. Fawn Lake and Big Brook were both in nice shape. Jessup River Road was in its usual excellent shape. Mud Lake Road was great. Perkins Clearing Road was freshly groomed and stunningly AWESOME! When I got up to the north end of Perkins Clearing Road, I decided on doing the loop by Mason Lake down to S82C/Old Indian Lake Road which was another great ride.
2 Miles of Hell was a bit bumpy, but not terribly bad at all. Lewey Lake/Indian Lake campsites were bumpy and rolly. Indian Lake was a beautiful crossing in the late afternoon with the usual sensational view of the distant High Peaks.
C8/Sabael trail into Indian Lake village was in great shape, perhaps the very best ride through there I’ve had all winter. All of the trails around Indian Lake village were groomed and in sensational shape. Little Canada, 42nd & Broadway and Ski Hut trails were simply AWESOME!
I met up with Mrs ilsnow after 6PM, dusted off the Ole Formula S and led her on a tour of the town. Let me say she likes the 4-TEC TNT a lot better than the Formula S. 🙂 She hadn’t ridden in about 6 years, so it was certainly a cautious ride. But the near perfect trail conditions made for a great time! The only casualty was a rear idler wheel that fell off the Formula S while I was riding it. The bolt just came out: wheel and bearing are fine, so it’s a pretty simple fix. I was able to limp the Formula S back to the compound without any problem. All in all, 70 miles of Adirondack heaven today, breaking in my new ride. 🙂
I think Mrs ilsnow liked:
I had been quiet on ilsnow.com for a while. Had to take the necessary time to make a sound decision on my next ride. Special thanks to Pat for helping me out of a big jam on Friday night and the Lemon Tree for their work in getting the 4-TEC out the door today. Nothing is like riding your new sled home from the dealer! Snowmobiling is fun, but the people I meet while enjoying this pastime make it great. I truly appreciate each and every ride as a gift.
Midweek Outlook:
Call off work, sick or dead. Do what you must do to get up here!! Unless you’re near a road, you’d be hard pressed to tell it’s late March. In the woods, it resembles prime mid-February conditions. Snow pack is 18-30 inches in the woods around Indian Lake village and Speculator. The traditional “snow bowls” in south/western Hamilton County easily hold 3-4 FEET of snow. I’ll be taking almost any opportunity to ride this week after work. Great to do when it doesn’t get dark until well after 7PM.
Weekend Outlook:
Friday’s warmup and rain won’t wipe us out, but will certainly remove the winter-like luster. You’ll be able to ride this weekend, but you’ll find long stretches of bare pavement to reach the gas pumps. This will be the gateway into die-hard season.
Darrin @ ilsnow.com
