Every Rider Has Experienced These Snowmobiling Rules…
Related: Trail Encounters
What are my top ten snowmobiling rules for snowmobile tours or snowmobile vacations? Before I started snowmobiling, I learned the “rules of the road”. It wasn’t until much later that I realized another whole set of sledding rules exists that only experience can teach. These snowmobile principles aren’t written down anywhere, but they’re as immutable as running out of gas if you don’t fill up – and there are many more than 10. Fooled ya!
Snowmobiling Rules Always Happen…
- No matter how smooth the trail has been, it will suddenly become bumpy after lunch. I won’t have any Rolaids.
- If there have been any signs for gas, there won’t be one marking that last critical turn-off to the station. Inevitably, I will be very low on fuel when I drive by.
- If I do find the gas station, the surface around the pumps will be plowed down to the asphalt. Then I’ll have to get off my sled to move the air hose that signals a car’s arrival.
- While gassing up, cars will park around me so I have to physically move my sled to leave.
- If I backtrack on a long, unmarked stretch of trail because I haven’t seen any marker for miles and am unsure if it’s the right trail, the proper sign will inevitably be just around the next corner after where I turned. I will discover it only after riding all the way back to the last intersection, turning around again and coming all the way back. Now I will really need gas.
- I won’t see any other riders all day, but at a sharp corner, I’ll suddenly meet a parade of oncoming sleds. They will mostly be taking their half of the trail from the middle.
- After a long, hard day when I most need it, the hot tub will be broken that night. It is the reason I booked this hotel in the first place.
- On cold days, when I’m especially looking forward to hot soup for lunch, the soup of the day will be a kind I don’t like. Or it will be luke-warm.
- Whenever I finally decide to ask someone else where I am, that person won’t have a clue about the local trails. That will make two of us.
- Even on the calmest day, if I need to consult my trail map, a high wind will start to blow.
And Twelve More Snowmobiling Rules…
- I won’t need to use the facilities unless there aren’t any.
- It will rain the one day that I’m not wearing my FXR waterproof snowmobile suit.
- I’ll arrive in town by snowmobile immediately after the street I must follow has been ploughed.
- If I don’t spread my gear to dry each night, I’ll be cold and sorry the next day.
- When coming to a point where the trail ahead is plowed bare, there will never be a sign saying how far the snowless section extends. Similarly, if the trail detours onto a paved road, a sign will rarely be in place that says how far I have to ride on pavement to pick it up again.
- If there is a logging truck anywhere nearby, I will meet it, usually at the most inconvenient place. Ditto for groomers.
- If I have to ride along the shoulder of a deserted road or highway, a large tractor trailer will appear to spray me with slush.
- When I arrive in a town, I will be chased by a barking dog. Or the whole pack. The trail will usually go by the dump.
- I will know when a small town isn’t snowmobile-friendly, if folks in the restaurant look at me as if I’m an alien. Or maybe it’s my helmet head.
- The guys with the hottest sleds will ride bumper to bumper at high speed.
- On each ride, I will see one hole too late, bottoming out to compress my spine like an accordion.
- When riding with a smoker, it will take at least ten minutes to get going again any time I hesitate at a corner or otherwise appear to be slowing down.
The tips and advice in this blog are the opinions of the author, may not work in every situation and are intended only for the convenience and interest of the reader, who has the personal responsibility to confirm the validity, accuracy and relevancy of this information prior to putting it to their own use.