Ride Report for Tanana Flats 9 February

[larry morris]

Flat Light, Flat Trail on the Tanana Flats

Ride Report 9 February 2013

I just opened the refrigerator and thought to myself “*beep* that’s a lot of hotdogs”. I did, however, smile thinking about how they ended up in my fridge and the various aspects of today’s ride. It was one of those special rides where the weather, snow, and the company can turn a ride into something special. The beginning of the day did not foretell it however……

When the alarm went off and I looked at my phone and saw it was -14F the trepidation set. Not about the ride itself but, about a possible low ridership and the 50 hotdogs in my refrigerator. Eight people and, well, do the math. The temperature steadily rose as I got ready and loaded the 100 hotdogs and accoutrements into my truck and left for Chena Landing. I arrived at 8:30 for the 9:30 departure. Stoney was right behind me. If you read my report from last week, this is further evidence that Stoney and I need to get a life. My earlier trepidation about rider count and my 200 hotdogs was for not. At the time of departure more were arriving. The final count was 17 machines and 19 riders. By far the largest ride of the season so far. Of course one of the riders who arrived by snow machine was the Emperor of the Tanana Flats, Paul.

Paul gathered everyone together and explained the route we will take and we then proceeded down the Chena perfectly on time, 10:00. The trip went down the Tanana to where we left it and crossed under the intertie and to the “big field”. From there we headed to the Bonneyfield trail to Clear Creek Butte then back around the other side of the Butte to the Saltjacket down to the Tanana and the beginning. For those who have not been out on the flats on one of Paul’s rides, there is trail riding amongst trees and brush, open trails and even a little climbing onto the Butte. The open areas include frozen marshes and ponds and today they were covered with 2-3 feet of powder. The ride had something for everyone and every level of experience. Good technical riding in narrow trails winding among the trees, open and go trails in the open and some powder for those wanting to play. While riding along I saw some of our group out on the powder crisscrossing and making long sweeping arcs in the snow. It reminded me of sail boats out on a mirrored lake.

We made frequent stops for nature breaks and to make sure all were with us, thanks John for again riding sweep. We stopped for a lunch break on the Butte. This involved turning on the Butte, in two feet of snow, back in the direction of travel from which we came. A first for me to be making turns in this depth of snow. At the stops in the open flats, many took the opportunity to play some more in the powder racing and turning. At our last stop, there was such a magnificent display of ridership that must be mentioned. It involved a sharp turn in the powder, riding for a while on his back with his head forward, a dismount into the snow while his machine ended upright as if nothing had happened. The acrobatic prowess brought the group to a standing ovation complete with clapping and comments about the feat, or that’s how I remember the comments.

When we got back John unloaded the cat kitchen, thanks again John, and brought over so I could load the 400 hotdogs into it. We then went under one of the covers and started cooking. Peter brought some chili for chilidogs and some wonderful mint chocolate chip cookies. JasJew and their two wonderful daughters brought chips. While the dogs were cooking, there was lots of talking, laughing and planning. It was a very good to make a trip complete. The cook tried to get more of the dogs eaten so that he would not have to take them home. Some had seconds and even thirds. In the end, there were still 600 to take home.

This is the third ride that involved having a cook-out after the ride. It allows us some time to enjoy the company of the group and makes a fine end to a ride.

Next ride is Sunday the 17th to the Monderosa.

Now back to what in the heck am I going to do with all of these hotdogs? Maybe an Alaskan Casoulet, beans and franks.

[dragonman]

Just bring them with you this weekend
and have everyone pack one in their hotdogger
for a snack on the way to the mondo

[txcanyon]

Any pictures available? Trying to convince my army friend to join us. He likes to hot dog it and carve like some folks were on Saturday. So if any pictures of that please post em.

As for my reaction to the ride, it was the most fun I've had in years. Great camaraderie among the riders, and the side shows were a thrill to watch. Glad to see whole families get out in it, quality family time is . Definitely looking forward to Sunday.

[paulneva]

Go to the Gallery. There are two + pages of photos posted.

Paul

[jasjew]

Who do we send pictures to? Jewell has a video that we would like to upload.

[john]

Jason, you can upload the pictures yourself. Just go to the Gallery and click on the 2012-2013 season, you'll see a link for "Image Upload".

Only thing is your images have to be 1000x750 pixels and no bigger than 1/2 meg. So you may need to edit them a bit for size as most cameras these days create an original of 4 to 5 meg in size.

Email or PM me if you have any issues. If you want you can email me the video and I'll see about getting it up or if you have a YouTube account, you can embed the YouTube in a post.