Gas and fuel prices are the subject of much contentious debate as of late.  Pair that with job layoffs, cuts in hours, increases in benefits premiums, increases in housing and food prices, an overall increase in the cost of living and a whole host of other financial stressors, and what do you have? 

Many of us have a hindered ability to enjoy the sport we love most.  I know that the many economic factors have come seriously into play in our vacationing and snowmobiling plans this year, and I grew curious over how other snowmobile addicts have been affected.

This year, the price of gas, decreased income, and increased expenses have made it so that we’ve cut back on trips to Maine.  We almost opted out of our annual February snowmobile vacation to Maine, but decided we have to live life, too, so the trip is still on.  But that will be it–no more Maine snowmobile vacations this year.  Since the ‘economic relief’ rebates won’t be out until June or July, I guess we can’t earmark that money for this season.

Riding in Massachusetts just can’t compare to Maine for us (we’ve been spoiled by Maine snowmobiling).  It’s unreliable, too, since the snow tends to melt before you can take the time to go snowmobiling in Massachusetts.  If we’re lucky, we’ll get in a few local rides, but it looks like our snowmobiling will be pretty negatively impacted for the year.

Of course, whenever we have a year of minimal riding the thoughts creep in about whether or not we can really justify owning sleds that only get ridden a handful of weekends per year.  On the other hand, at least our snowmobile investments are stretched out!

In the end, we always seem to come back to keeping the sleds.  It’s the only thing we really share in common as a couple as far as recreation is concerned.  It’s the only real thing we do outside of work and home and kid’s stuff.  So the snowmobiles always end up staying.

But what of it?  Is the economic stress affecting your ride?  Have you cut out all or part of your snowmobile vacationing this year?  Were you lucky enough not to have been too adversely affected?

Leave me a comment and let me know how the strain of the economy is bearing on your favorite vice!

While you’re at it, why not chime in on another conversation I’ve started?  Let me know your opinion about what Bill should have done on this post.

I hear tell from Kitty at Sledderwear.com (actually from her blog) that there’s a big vintage snowmomobile show this weekend in Waconia, Minnesota.  Apparently it’s a big deal and has been going on for years. Guess I’m the last to know.

I’m afraid I’m a bit too far removed from Minnesota to make the weekend trip, but for anyone planning to go or close by, here’s a list of events from the Midwest Vintage Snowmobile Shows Waconia ‘08 Website:

2008 Events:

• Featured sled: Polaris!
• Saturday: ROLA One-Lunger racing
• Saturday: Swap meet & radar run
• Saturday night banquet
• Saturday: 11 mile Vintage ride - “C.J. Ramstad Memorial Trail Ride”
• Sunday: World’s biggest vintage show
• Sunday: Side-by-side drag racing

…and one from me…Kitty will be there with her selection of SledderWear clothing & accessories!  She’s cast a call across the net to all who hear her for coffees, so stop by, buy a great t-shirt from Kitty, and take her a cup of Joe to warm up!

 Looks like a great list of events!  I hope you’ll go and have fun! 

 And by the way…did anyone happen to notice the featured sled this year?…..just asking

Two posts back, I told about our long and harrowing ordeal with Bill’s sled up in Maine (and about how those great guys at Custom Sled and Cycle saved the day).  Now that you know the details, maybe you can weigh in on an issue….

 If you recall from the original post, the problem all comes back to the recall work (that we didn’t pay for, but Polaris did) at our local snowmobile dealer before we left.  Some (ehhem) service tech there routed the pull cord all wrong (that’s pull-cord, Bill, not rip cord…I now know we’re not parachuting but I still don’t care).  The cord rubbed on a clamp and tore through.

 Now–there’s been some discussion here as to whether or not Bill should have had a polite conversation with our dealer regarding the events.  It’s questionable whether it would get us anywhere, and a couple weeks have passed now, but I maintain that he should have, and maybe still should.

 Here are some points to consider:

• We have bought a total of 5 snowmobiles from this dealer over the last say 7 years (2 for Bill, 1 for me, 2 for the kids–why am I the only one left out of the deuces?  We’ll have to remedy that).
• In addition, Bill’s given this place a lot of business over the years buying chainsaw parts, etc.
• We buy all all our fluids, oil, etc, and a lot of parts and accessories from this store
• We spent hundreds of dollars on a trip that almost wasn’t, lost a day of snowmobiling, and really lost our best chance for riding that weekend
• We had to pay over $100 in labor in parts (all told) to fix their screw up!

I maintain that we should gripe for whatever it’s worth.  Even though they’ll probably give us a courteous, ‘Gee, sorry…’ I’d like to let them know what they did (and why they won’t see our sleds back in their shop).  Not only for ourselves, but for other area customers–how many more sleds will they be ‘fixing’ like this!?

 So please comment and tell me your opinion.  What would you do if this happened to you?

It’s not a big envelope by any means, but I’m finding this year, as I did the end of last year, that I’ve grown a little more comfortable on my sled.  Practically, all that means is that I feel okay going a bit faster and don’t have to slow down quite so much for the corners.  And Bill and the guys are wasting a little less time waiting at intersections.

 I guess this was a natural progression of things that comes with practice and with familiarity with my sled ( I guess it’s time after 3 years…).  Mostly, I can attribute this new-found comfort to learning the responsiveness of my sled, trying a few small new things here and there, and trusting myself and my machine just a little bit more.

I’m not the only girl to report this.  My best girl Sarah says the same thing.  She’s pushing it a bit this year, too, and honing her skills to stay a little closer to the boys (but I doubt either of us will really ever ‘keep up’ with them).

The point?  Who knows if there is one.  I’m a bit scattered this morning.  I guess the point is just that if you are still starting out as a rider, you don’t need to worry that you’re too slow or too unskilled. These things come in time.  Add to this, though, that as long as you are riding smart and safe, it still doesn’t matter.  It doesn’t kill the guys to wait a bit.

More importantly, ride within your own limits and respect your abilities.  It’s okay to push things a bit, but take all things in stride.  Just stop worrying about the rest of the crew, take confidence in what you can do, and end every side safely!

I promised to elaborate on the snowmobile break-down fiasco that kicked off (or more accurately, delayed the kick-off) of our recent Maine snowmobiling trip.  Here it goes!

 If you own a Polaris made somewhere around 2004, you might already know that there has been a recall twice on this sled due to cracking and breaking around the fill cap on the gas tank.  (Which makes, models, and years, I can’t exactly say–you should have gotten a notice from your Polaris dealer, but if you bought used you might not have.  Check with a Polaris dealer or on the Polaris website if your sled is in question.)  Both of our sleds were subject to the recall–mine is a 2004 Polaris ProX Supersport, Bill’s is a ProX 2 700–a limited production, not widely known sled.

Just before New Year’s, our sleds went down to our local Polaris dealer (now, as you read this post, think back to Mark Lester’s advice about finding a great dealer!!).  The recall work–which consisted of replacing the gas tanks on each sled–took an extra day, but as there was no riding snow, it was no big.  The sleds were picked up Friday at the dealer, loaded on the trailer by forklift, and soon that afternoon we were off to Maine.

The next day, Saturday, we had our babysitter lined up (thanks, Gramma), sleds ready to unload and go.  My sled came off wihtout a snap and Bill’s….well this is where trouble starts.

 Three pulls to a cold 700 and Bill’s pull-rope snapped.  Turns out the reason is that the mechanic at our local dealer (who will remain nameless for now pending outcomes, but if you know who I am you know who you are…and so do lots of our snowmobiling friends…) routed the pull-cord all wrong and had it slicing against a steel clamp on one of the hoses.  Since the sleds weren’t started when loaded, the cut didn’t happen until we were 360 miles away–and thankfully still in the yard!!

Now, I don’t know if you’ve looked at gas prices lately, but they’re pretty high.  Getting 360 miles away is not cheap.  Imagine spending that money for a wasted snowmobiling trip?  In a year when those trips have already been deemed “limited”?

Some of you, those of you who know a bit about fixing snomobiles and replacing rip-cords, might think I’m just whining–there’s no reason a cord broken at 9:00 a.m. can’t be replaced for a later start, right?  Right.  In any world beyond the ‘04 Polaris Pro X 2.

After working on the sled for a while, Bill was able to ride the 10 minutes into town and get a pull cord for his sled from a local Lincoln, Maine snowmobile dealer before they closed, but that guy recommended also replacing the recoil spring.  Because, he said, they almost always break when the cord breaks.  Oh yeah–but he didn’t have one (Bill hadn’t yet broken down the machine to see if the spring was broken or not).  Bill relayed this info to me when he got back–now after 12:00.  I suggested that it might be worth us girls locating a spring and going after it while he broke the machine down (since now we were stuck at home with our kids anyway) so that the part got replaced (us thinking if the spring wasn’t broken it was at least weakened) while the sled was already apart.

After a call up to a shop in Medway–those great guys at Custom Sled & Cycle that I mentioned the other day–we found a spring in nearby Medway.  Maybe a half an hour or so away.  As my sister in law and I were preparing to leave, though, Bill thought better of it.

   The sled offensive.  Poor baby, it wasn’t your fault….

The thing about the ProX 2 is that it has this really rugged, beefy suspension.  Everything is welded down, and welded frame encases parts of the motor–like the housing for the cord–in a way tht you can’t open the housing without taking the whole sled apart.  The exhaust had to come out, the entire motor had to come out–everything to get to the bottom where the cord-housing was.  Bill thought better of attempting this on the back of the trailer in Mom’s yard.

 Hoping he was not as smart as he really is, and thinking maybe there was a better way, Bill called back the guys at Custom Sled & Cycle and asked about it.  They told him that yeah–replacing the cord is no big deal, and often happens right on the side of the trail.  It’s a 45 minute-1 hour job.

By now it was around 1:30.  Custom Sled & Cycle closed at 3:00.  Bill could be there in around 45 minutes/an hour.  You do the math.

Nevertheless, these guys told Bill to bring the sled on up and they would stay an extra while and replace the cord–oh yeah, and the spring they had stocked, too. (What!?*?  I’m sorry, we’re from Massachusetts, land of the selfish people, did you say you would stay late to help us?!?)   Elated, but also knowing these guys would probably find what he did, Bill & Joe headed to Medway.  The sled was still on the trailer anyway…

The guys pulled into Custom Sled & Cycle in Medway, Maine 15 minutes before closing.  The sled was talken in, and when the repair guys (aka Bill’s new buddies–he tries to collect potential friends when we are in Maine) had a look, they couldn’t believe their eyes.  I think Bill’s quote of the remark goes something like…”NO…They didn’t do that!” (and by ‘they’ he means the Polaris engineers).

Well they did, and now at 3:00–closing time–the guys realized this should-be-really-quick-fix was a 4 hour job that entailed pulling the motor.  Now what do you think of your after-hours generosity?

 For these guys (brothers Pat & Robin Federico who own the shop), staying late was still not a problem.  By now, we are entirely dumbfounded by their dedication to their customers.

Bill and Joe were invited to stay and pitch in if they wanted.  The Custom Sled & Cycle guys made relatively short work of the project and reduced a 4-hour job to about 2.  By 5:30, this monstrocity was finally fixed.

Better still was what the guys charged!  They stayed at least 2 1/2 hours after closing, started a 4-hour job when they should have been going home, and charged us only $90.  WITH PARTS.  And that’s the other thing–the spring that was out of stock but would have been $35 in Lincoln was $9 in Medway!  (The spring didn’t break by the way, but was bent so replaced–there was no way we were doing this again!) Bill upped the ante a bit, cracked a cold one with the guys from a 30-pack he bought his new pals, and headed back home with a completely repaired sled.

 Lest you think the story ends here–here’s the best part!  Not only did his cord break because of someone’s inattentiveness, but the mechanics in Medway found vacuum lines that were never reattached and an unsecured cover, too.  If memory serves, ‘monkeys’ were how the previous repair crew was referred to.

So on top of staying late, fixing the sled, and charging nominal fees, these guys also found work the other repair shop either missed or couldn’t be bothered with!!

Yes, we are big fans of Custom Sled & Cycle, even though I’ve never laid eyes on the guys.  Bill did stop in again when he was up that way on an errand for his aunt on Monday to say ‘Thanks Again’ and ‘Hey’ to his new friends.  Thanks to them, our entire weekend was salvaged.

After many starts and stops, riding finally got under way that night at 8:00 for a nice evening ride.  It wasn’t the all-out day we’d planned–Thanks for ruining my big ride, nameless local Polaris dealer–and it cost a lot more than it should have, but in the end, all was not lost, Thanks ONLY to Custom Sled & Cycle in Medway, Maine.

If you are in the Katahdin area and need snowmobile parts or service–THESE ARE YOUR GUYS!!!

Thanks for salvaging the weekend, boys, it’s not every day a sled chick has a chance to leave 4 kids behind to go riding!

Check out Custom Sled & Cycle in Medway, Maine at www.custom-sled-cycle.com.  You could tell them the Sled Chick sent you, but they’d probably think you were crazy…

We’ve been back for a bit now, and I’ve finally carved a minute to post pics of our ride! 

Last week east-central Maine was covered with about 40 inches of snow.  As Bill found out the hard way, there is no stepping off the trail to read the map.

The weekend started with the potential for disaster (thanks to some shoddy recall work performed at our local snowmobile dealer), ended with a nice scr***ing by the State of Maine (which I’ll be glad to warn you about later, but has little to do sledding), and in between was saved by a really, REALLY great parts and service shop in Medway, Maine (check them out at www.custom-sled-cycle.com —these guys are HIGHLY recommended to anyone needing parts or service in the surrounding Lincoln/Medway/Millinocket region; they deserve their own post, so more on them another day.  Even if you are close to another dealer or service shop, these guys are worth a drive!)

Anyway, here are some pictures from the trail!

  The Long Trail To Freedom!

 Bill And His Baby–His One True Love!

 Brandy Bringing Up The BACK (Not the rear, Joe)

 Pausing To Enjoy The View (the dork in the back is Joe)

 THAT Beautiful View!

Sights to behold, and I can’t wait to get back!

Get Out There And Enjoy The Ride!  EMail some pics to me at sledderchick at gmail dot com and I’ll be happy to share!

I’m finally starting to get a handle on my post-holiday stress–you know, the stress that follows Holiday stress because now you are close to broke and your work schedule (and everything else) is entirely backlogged because you’ve taken too much time off?  Yeah, that.  I’m just now beginning to get it under control.  Sort of.  Well, almost.  Well, at least I found time to stop by and give a quick post!

Of course, to add to my backlog, tomorrow we’re bugging out and heading north for the first big ride of the year!!  YEAH!!!!!  This is my first ride of the year (not counting a few buzzes around the house racing my boy on his 120), since Mass riding has been as unreliable as ever with the big storms and subsequent melting periods.  We’ve started to build a halfway decent base now, but that should be gone before we get back Tuesday, since they are predicting 60 degrees for early next week!

But I don’t really care.  As long as I can leave this place for a nice, long, extended weekend and stop thinking about everything else until after a couple of days of riding, I’ll be more than happy!

And that is exactly what I intend to do.  In fact, I’m so excited I’m about to call the work week now and just start packing!  Enough of this life of responsibility,

 It’s Time To Go Riding!

I’ll hopefully be back with some great pics next week.  Hope you get in some excellent riding, too, and do feel free to brag about it! (And please send us pictures if you do!)