So, I was eager to get out on the quad now that the snow has melted, and riding season is once again starting. I am a member of the ATV Connection Forums, and there is several guys from Minnesota that are members also. GCExtreme (Glenn), his brother Matt, and myself set up a group ride for the Tri-County ATV Pit for this weekend.
Now, Glenn and Matt are two displaced Arkansasans now living in the urban Siberia of Alexandria, Minnesota. They have been here for only a few years, and their southern drawl still comes through strong. Glenn and Matt are both new to quad riding, but were ambitious to try the varied terrain that Tri-County has to offer.
We got geared up, and got out to Tri-County at about 10:30-11:00 a.m. or so, and it was just starting to rain. I unloaded my Scrambler 400, and Matt unloaded his Raptor 660 from the trailers. While we were waiting for Glenn to finish unloading his Honda 250EX, Matt and I headed down the main path between the parking lot and the pit at nearly full throttle … just testing out the waters for later.
After all three of us were ready, we headed into the pit.
The pit mostly consisted of sand and rocks. There is a trail that circles the top of the pit, and many steep decents (greater than 45 degree angles) that go to the bottom of the pit, probably 75-100 feet or so below. There are many U-shaped berms on these steep hills to whip around on, if you care to play with the benefit of centrifigal force. In the bottom of the pit, there are several smaller sand mounds to ride on and jump off.
We were taking it pretty easy in the pit at first, as everyone was adjusting to the new riding area. Naturally, when you get 3 guys with quads in a gravel pit, someone is going to start the progression to more challenging obstacles. Through the next few hours, we all had our close calls getting up on two wheels, almost rolling. As the rain picked up, the right hand grip on my Scrambler slid off when hitting a berm, almost making it a bad deal for me.
Easily, though, the award for the “closest close call of the day” went to Matt on his Raptor 660. I was following right behind him with my Scrambler on a large hill, about a 30 degree incline, with a grove of trees and brush just down to our left. Just as we were cutting sharp to the left to sidehill it uphill from the trees, Matt’s brand new Holeshot tires start setting up roosts of sand down the now rain-soaked hill. The damp sand on the hill is starting to give way! The more he gives it throttle, the more his rear end starts sliding downhill. Even though his front wheels are pointed uphill, he is heading down sideways, fast! I come to a pretty fast stop, just in time to watch his quad slide about 5 feet further down the hill, now to an area with about a 45 degree decline. The quad STOPS, with Matt still on it, just inches from rolling! Smart ass Brian, as usual, needs to make a comment, so I do.
“Need a new pair of pants?”, I ask. This was easily Matt’s closest accident ever, and he was definitely shocked at how fast it happened.
All three of us approach the Raptor with it’s front-right tire slightly in the air. For the next 15 minutes or so, we pull, push, and lift the Raptor out of its situation, and to a safer area. Naturally, since I was right behind him with my Scrambler, we need to do the same for my heavy ass quad. By the time we’re done, we’re pretty tired, and need to take a break!
By this time, it is POURING! You might think we are ready to leave, but we’re not. Matter of fact, we can’t figure out why there’s no one else down here having fun!
Finally, after another hour or so of follow-the-leader, muddin’, and havin’ fun, we finally see a few more quads in the pit. Ironically enough, another ATV Connection member, MN250R, had his Suzuki Quadracer LT500 out there, along with a friend of his with a newer Scrambler 500. These guys were insane, and obviously have been riding for quite some time. I saw the Scrambler go up large hills I’d never think of climbing. Unfortunately, it all caught up about 15 minutes later… Hitting some object buried in the dirt while coming down a hill, the Scrambler rolled 5 or 6 times, bent handlebars, broken plastic … amazing more damage wasn’t done. He was alright, but had some repairs to do in the pouring rain.
We called it quits at about 2:30 in the afternoon, loaded the quads back up, and headed home. We grilled out on my very-ghetto “gas grill on a big black barrel in the garage”, as pictured below. Unfortunately, because of the constant rain, I wasn’t able to get ANY action shots like I wanted to (although I came prepared for anything). I have included a few shots of Glenn, Matt, and myself below.
Overall, it was great fun, and my arms, legs, and back still ache as I write this. Once quad riding gets in your blood though, you know you’ll be back next weekend doing it all again! Thanks for coming down guys, and thanks for the good time!
