Fun Terror
Mar. 27th, 2004 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deguspice A while ago I received an invitation to go snowmobiling with some people in New Hampshire. Since I've never been on a snowmobile before I accepted the invitation. But because of various scheduling issues, we finally settled on March 27th (today).
Unfortunately by now most of the snow had melted, but they planned for this eventuality and had a couple of ATVs available for backup. So we would still able to head off into the woods.
This is the first time I've ridden on an ATV, so rode around the parking lot getting used to the brake and the throttle. After a couple of laps around the nice smooth parking lot I was comfortable with the controls.
So we headed up a logging trail, at first it was kind of fun riding through the woods, but then we started heading up hill (or should I saw up mountain?).
[Now I should explain something about northern New England weather, unlike the rest of the US, the season between Winter and Summer is not Spring, but something known as Mud Season. This is the time of year that the frozen ground turns to gooey mud, plus you have run off from melting snow.]
As we went up hill, the logging road we were following was very rutted because of the the running water and the various vehicles that had previously traveled on the trail (in some spots the banks along the trail were a couple of feet high). And where the trail wasn't heavily rutted, there were large rocks or stumps. Most of the time I could easily steer around the obstructions, but once in a while, the ATV would refuse to change its heading despite my trying to turn the handle bars. But most of the time the ATV would go where I wanted it to, but I worried about what would happen when it didn't.
Hitting one large rock, caused the ATV to tip over. I held on as it went over sideways. When it came to a rest, I hit the red kill switch and then I crawled out from under and slowly got up. One of the other guys stopped his ATV and carefully slid down the hill to where I was and helped me get the ATV back on four wheels. And we continued up the hill.
Eventually we go to the top of the trail, about 400 feet above were we started). Getting up to this point I was busily concentrating on controlling the ATV, so I didn't get to enjoy the view. But now I had a chance to admire the view of the Mount Washington Valley, but Mount Washington itself was hiding behind some clouds.
The guy leading the excursion said that the trip up was a bit rougher than he expected and they probably will think twice before bringing up more people without first making some changes to the trail.
Now that we're at the top of our destination, we still have the problem of getting back down. Instead of going back down the way we came, we would try out another trail.
So I pointed the nose of the ATV down the trail and cautiously proceeded slowly down the slope, using the brake to slow the ATV as it bounced down the muddy trail.
[Did I ever mention that part of the reason I don't ski is that I don't like heading down mountains with minimal control?]
It wasn't too bad, and I managed to survive various bumps and jumps on the way down. Once we got down to fairly level and drier terrain, it was possible to go faster without worrying about rocks and stumps.
Overall I had fun with a few moments of terror. But not while I rolling the ATV (I tend to deal with crises calmly, it's the anticipation that bothers me).
-------
Getting into Ann's car to drive back home, the car's steering felt weird. It took me a moment to realize that I was expecting it to handle like the ATV.
Unfortunately by now most of the snow had melted, but they planned for this eventuality and had a couple of ATVs available for backup. So we would still able to head off into the woods.
This is the first time I've ridden on an ATV, so rode around the parking lot getting used to the brake and the throttle. After a couple of laps around the nice smooth parking lot I was comfortable with the controls.
So we headed up a logging trail, at first it was kind of fun riding through the woods, but then we started heading up hill (or should I saw up mountain?).
[Now I should explain something about northern New England weather, unlike the rest of the US, the season between Winter and Summer is not Spring, but something known as Mud Season. This is the time of year that the frozen ground turns to gooey mud, plus you have run off from melting snow.]
As we went up hill, the logging road we were following was very rutted because of the the running water and the various vehicles that had previously traveled on the trail (in some spots the banks along the trail were a couple of feet high). And where the trail wasn't heavily rutted, there were large rocks or stumps. Most of the time I could easily steer around the obstructions, but once in a while, the ATV would refuse to change its heading despite my trying to turn the handle bars. But most of the time the ATV would go where I wanted it to, but I worried about what would happen when it didn't.
Hitting one large rock, caused the ATV to tip over. I held on as it went over sideways. When it came to a rest, I hit the red kill switch and then I crawled out from under and slowly got up. One of the other guys stopped his ATV and carefully slid down the hill to where I was and helped me get the ATV back on four wheels. And we continued up the hill.
Eventually we go to the top of the trail, about 400 feet above were we started). Getting up to this point I was busily concentrating on controlling the ATV, so I didn't get to enjoy the view. But now I had a chance to admire the view of the Mount Washington Valley, but Mount Washington itself was hiding behind some clouds.
The guy leading the excursion said that the trip up was a bit rougher than he expected and they probably will think twice before bringing up more people without first making some changes to the trail.
Now that we're at the top of our destination, we still have the problem of getting back down. Instead of going back down the way we came, we would try out another trail.
So I pointed the nose of the ATV down the trail and cautiously proceeded slowly down the slope, using the brake to slow the ATV as it bounced down the muddy trail.
[Did I ever mention that part of the reason I don't ski is that I don't like heading down mountains with minimal control?]
It wasn't too bad, and I managed to survive various bumps and jumps on the way down. Once we got down to fairly level and drier terrain, it was possible to go faster without worrying about rocks and stumps.
Overall I had fun with a few moments of terror. But not while I rolling the ATV (I tend to deal with crises calmly, it's the anticipation that bothers me).
-------
Getting into Ann's car to drive back home, the car's steering felt weird. It took me a moment to realize that I was expecting it to handle like the ATV.
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no subject
Date: 2004-03-28 07:55 am (UTC)but harder to right when it rolls over, i'd imagine. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-03-28 11:03 pm (UTC)