(Season 2008-09) TY Mileage - mdkuni

[mdkuni]

Another winter is here in Northern Michigan! What a start we have had. I can not remember the last time I have seen snow like this in lower Michigan especially in early December.

I was getting the Apex ready to roll when we got our first rideable snow. So I headed out on my Dad's Venture on November 24th and put on 52 miles just riding some local trails at night. It was great to finally be back in the woods. It is amazing how high the brush grows in the off season. A couple weeks and you will not even know it is there.

I started the Apex out with 14006 miles but forgot to take a picture right away.

This past weekend was the first time out on the Apex this year. On Saturday I took a short 50 mile trip to make sure things were running good, which they were. Then a group of us headed out and went to Charlevoix. It was a 250 mile round trip. The snow was incredible. The powder was deep. We had some rough sections of trail but it was a great time.

The picture of the boat is a hotel that does dinner cruises. Usually the boat is stored at a marina but this year they decided to leave it right out in the open with an aerator running around it.

Oh, and yes the big lake is frozen and rideable!

On Sunday I took a solo ride to Lake City and back (160 miles). This was a great time for me to test out the new Curve XS skis as it is a very tight twisty trail. The skis seem to be performing great so far. I love this motor, it is such a rush to be ripping through the snow covered trails.

Total weekend miles: 460

 

[07Nytro]

Boat frozen in?

 

[mdkuni]

07Nytro, yes the boat was left in by the Hotel for some strange reason.




Well it has been awhile. As usual I seem to fall down on the job of keeping this updated. I am usually to busy riding to post or take pictures. Can you blame me? I don't know how Hondo does it.

Northern Michigan has had one of the best starts of Winter. We were getting storm after storm. It is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately we did get a day of rain that wiped out most of the snow. Since then we have recovered with a couple inches here and there.

I have had some exhaust problems that set me back and now a sensor problem. So the riding has not been as extensive as I had hoped for. Hopefully that will change soon. I am up to about 2,400 for the season.

I made a trip to Cross Village a couple weekends ago. That is the first time I have ever been there. It is right on Lake Michigan so it was neat to see 2-3' waves crashing. I also headed to the bridge from there and got another view of the Great Lakes. That was a 380 mile day!

Currently with the cold temps the lake is already supporting car and truck traffic with ice depth well over 12". We are seeing ice walls pushing 6' up the seawalls. It is so nice to see this happening in December.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

[rx1ryda989]

I cant believe those idiots at the Comfort Suits left that boat in this year!!! What a safety hazard for tip up town this year. I've already warned my friends coming up to watch out for a house boat on the west shore. How crazy?? I hope that no one hits that thing this winter. Im on the south shore in prudenville directly behind the island and theres a good 5-6 foot ice wall formed in front of my place that is going to be a hazard for the next two weekends also. Be careful everyone!!

 

[mdkuni]

I cant believe those idiots at the Comfort Suits left that boat in this year!!! What a safety hazard for tip up town this year. I've already warned my friends coming up to watch out for a house boat on the west shore. How crazy?? I hope that no one hits that thing this winter. Im on the south shore in prudenville directly behind the island and theres a good 5-6 foot ice wall formed in front of my place that is going to be a hazard for the next two weekends also. Be careful everyone!!

I feel the same. What really gets me is they are not even lighting the boat up! No spot light, no markers on the boat, no nothing!!!

 

[rx1ryda989]

Well I wouldnt expect anything less from the management there either. Look at the way they have ran that beautiful hotel in the ground the past few years. I went past there on the boat a few times this summer and the place looked like a war zone from the lake. The dock was all torn up and there were weeds 3ft tall on the front lawn. Pretty sad.

 

[Curve Industries]

Mark, did I read that right?... You RIDE to work?? It doesn't get any cooler than that!

- Sean

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.RideWithRobbie.com

 

[mdkuni]

Mark, did I read that right?... You RIDE to work?? It doesn't get any cooler than that!

- Sean

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.RideWithRobbie.com

Yes, and I couldn't agree more! It is another one of those reasons as to why I moved to Northern Michigan.

 

[Curve Industries]

.... And unlike me zipping across the lake to school in the late 90's, you don't smell like anything once that suit comes off!

- Sean

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.RideWithRobbie.com

 

[mdkuni]

.... And unlike me zipping across the lake to school in the late 90's, you don't smell like anything once that suit comes off!

- Sean

www.CurveIndustries.com
www.RideWithRobbie.com

You got it!


Here are some new pictures from this month. It has been great riding and I have been able to put on some decent miles. I am up to about 4,400 to date. We could use some more snow but conditions are still really good around here!

We had our winter festival called Tip Up Town (T.U.T.). We actually for the first time in who knows how long had great weather both weekends. The festival is the last two weekends in January for over 50 years now. Things at the festival include: softball on ice, petting zoo, ice slide, mini fair, demo rides, helicopter rides, fishing contest, air boat rides, fireworks, and all kinds of random games. It is a great thing for our community and is a lot of fun!

 

[mdkuni]

Last Sat. I decided to take a big trip. I went from Houghton Lake to Tahquamenon Falls and back in one day. I also took the ice bridge and rode around Mackinac Island. It was a 546 mile trip, and a fantastic one at that!!! I left at 7:15am and made it back by 9:15pm. Heading out first thing in the AM is great. The trails are all flat and you can really rip on the rail beds. You get over the Mackinac Bridge by calling the Transit Authority and they come and pick you up with a van and trailer and take you across. Going over I had to wait an hour plus by the time we made it over. Coming back was much less of a wait.

The ice bridge to Mackinac Island is a lot of fun. It is a three mile stretch across Lake Huron and is marked by the locals who put up Christmas trees. There are very few that live on the island year round and only a couple places are open.

Things were smooth in the U.P. going out and coming back. The only problem is I ran into freezing rain on the way back which made things very difficult (see pic below). The lower peninsula on the other hand got quite bumpy. Not horrible but not good by any means. This was to be expected.

I like to take at least one of these bigger trips a year.

I also rode on Friday and Sunday which put my weekend mileage around 840 miles. Enjoy the pictures!

 

[mdkuni]

Last weekend we had a warm up. It has carried into this week and basically destroyed all that we had, especially with the rain today.

I was able to get a ride to Bois Blonc Island last sat. This was my first time going to this island. It was a 300 miles round trip. The trek out to the island was very scary. It is a five mile ice bridge across Lake Huron marked with Christmas trees. With the warm weather there was a lot of slush and melted snow on the way out. About 5-8 miles east of the ice bridge is open water. The island is quite the place though. Only about 50 year round residents. One general store that is a restaurant, gas station, gift shop, and carries basic supplies. Great people there! The island is 30 miles around. I started around but with the warm weather and the roads being partially plowed, things were pretty thin. It was a great trip though and is somewhere I would like to return when there is more snow and cold weather.

Things got warmer that day but the trails held up. Although Houghton Lake was mostly water on the ice when I got back. The north east shore still had slushy snow but check out the picture of where I get on the lake.

I was also able to ride the powerlines last Sun. and yesterday. They are usually one of the remaining places to ride when warm weather sets in. They are 18 miles long and can be quite bumpy, but there are many decent spots as well.

 

[rxrider]

Very cool pics. The lakes are a blast to ride I guess? I'm very familiar with the kind of trails in the Bumpy powerlines pic, our trails are mostly like that below the treeline in the walleys. No wonder you get a lot of miles on your sled riding cross the lake every day on you way to and from work

Thanks for shareing

Jan-Ove
rxrider

 

[hondo]

Nice presentation,

Thanks for sharing this winters experiences with everyone!