Some youngins I work with invited me to join them on a trip to HM. There was only one problem with that plan. ~~ My Grizz was disabled. Here's the short Readers Digest version of events. ~~While trail riding in Maine, it just quit. Seemed like a fuel issue. These new quads sure are nice. Until they quit running. The day mine stopped running, I could not have ask for a better collection of mechanics to help get it going. But, about all that can be done (trail side) to a modern quad is to check for spark, air and fuel. There doesn't seem to be a runs-bad-mode. It's run, or no run. That's it. After that, it's time for a tow. Fast forward to home. Couldn't get it into my dealer of choice until the day I was supposed to leave for HM. The problem, more than likely, was electronic. Just wanted to take it somewhere that could plug it in and KNOW what's wrong. Too expensive to guess-repair-it. Took it to second-choice-dealer. They didn't have the plug in equipement. Huh??? Long story, but they had it narrowed down to two things. The ECM or the crankshaft senser. Couldn't guarantee either one would fix it. Ugh! Called my cousin. He told me to bring it to him and that he would do his best. He come up with a bad ignition coil. The bike had spark, but he felt it was weak spark. Worth a try. Rush ship from Yammer. Part arrived Thursday. Fired right up. Headed to HM the next day with crossed fingers.
For this trip we headed to Williamson. Stayed at the Sycamore Inn. The location is better suited for
stuff to do after the riding is over. In English that means the single guys prefer a hydration facility within walking distance from the hotel that is likely to contain girls. On this trip that wasn't quite true though. Dandy's was closed while trying to sort through a "legal issue". No bar. No band. No biggie. We just spent more time at Starters. They had plenty of everything we needed.
We unloaded our quads Saturday morning and off we went. The plan was to see as much of Buffalo Mountain as possible. We saw most of it. The trail conditions were ideal. The area had seen plenty of rain before our arrival. There was no dust, so we were able to ride in a pack instead of having to space out to avoid clogging a lung. It was a fast "track". The HM maintenace guys had the trails in rippin and tearin mode. Even the connector to Delbarton was actually very enjoyable to ride. Not sure how long it's been since I could say that. A very long time. We had mostly taken that trail off our list. For anyone that rides the Delbarton connector in search of food, you should consider turning left (away from town) and ride 2-3 miles to a place called 3C's. It's a DQ kind of place. We have been there before. Good food. Nearly free. BM had added some trails since our last trip. There is a couple trails off the Williamson connector that are very nice. We rode nearly the entire system and can't imagine how the riding could have been any better. Even the Double Balck Diamond trails were very rideable (IMO). They were steep, but without any type of crazy obsticles that needed to be conquered. One rain storm can change that. Matewan is always a fun stop for newbees. One of the guys with us really enjoyed the hour or so we spent there. People not used to flooding have a hard believing how high water has been on the town's flood wall. Day one~~Give or take 75 very fun miles.
On the way home we stopped at Waterways. Once again, excellent trail conditions. Kudos to the HM crew. We pretty well covered this system in the five hours we spent there. Much like how we used to feel about riding to Delbarton, we hadn't given Waterways much attention during our trips. We had a
blast riding it during this trip. There is more variety than in years past. Not just "flat" trails that provide zero challenge for talented pirates such as we are.
This trip only made us want to go back again real soon. Great riding with a fun group of guys (no girls were
allowed on this trip) on fun trails. No quad breakdowns of any kind. No shortage of good food.
Need to thank our sponsors.
The good folks at Maxxis, the maker of Bighorn Radial Tires.
Shamrock Kid for
allowing us to borrow her 16' Aluma Trailer.
My cousin at Pit Boss for being a ride saver.
Here are a few pics that I hope you enjoy!
This BM Newbee on the right was happy to have secured his yard pass.
A nice platter at 3C's. Really good peanut butter milkshake is in the background. We watched some football and everyone left full for about 6 bucks.
Beautiful weather...
...for horsing around...
...and getting stuck. That hole was much steeper than it looked!
Even the Double Blacks were very rideable.
Time to rest the horses.
There's the moon. Better head back to town.
Subject: Buffalo Mountain/Waterways Ride Report 
Tue Sep 27, 2011 6:36 pm
