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Hi Fellow ATV fanatics,

Hi Fellow ATV fanatics,
Hope you all enjoy the wintertime photos from our last expedition northward?? Saturdays venture to Paragon ATV Park was to find out IF it would make a good club ride in the future? The answer is YES!!!! BUT you DON'T want to go there in the winter UNLESS you have a 4x4 & NO large trailers!!!!!! The entrance to the park is easy to find, but goes steadily downwards & is EXTREMELY technical when covered with ICE & SNOW !!!! Our ride Saturday was limited to three + hours due to this particular feature & up to 6" of new white stuff forecast by the local weatherman. BUT what we saw was very encouraging! A HUGE parking lot, where we can set up my 8x10 E-Z lift canopy from my BMX days. Plus set up a grill & chairs & circle our rigs all together & have a good ol' time! So come spring we'll plan a club rides so EVERYONE can traverse the access road SAFELY

After successfully navigating the ice- covered road to the staging area, we unloaded our quads to have some fun. The guy running the place came over & gave us the forms to fill out to make us legal, maps of the trail system & collected $ 15 from all of us. ALL quads today were of the 4x4 variety.

Dave Porzi & his new 2002 silver 660 Grizzly (Spider Tracs), Barry Strohl & " 500 Rubicon (Bear Claws), Mike & his 350 Wolverine (Titan 489's) & me & my 2002 660 Grizzly (Spider Tracs) his we lost our first rider Chuck & his Polaris due to

?????????'S about his truck with severely worn rubber being able to go back up the road if the 6 " of snow came down as predicted. After saying good-bye to Chuck the rest of us put on as many layers of clothes as we could scrounge together, while our quads engines warmed up.

Upon leaving the parking lot it began to snow harder & harder, but this only seemed to push us to venture out as fast as we could & see as many trails as possible before even our 4x4 trucks were forced to retreat to safety of the main road. One thing became apparent from the outset! If you ride the main trails encircling the park & the one that cuts through the
middle, NO one will have problems!

The hill climbs & mud pits at one end of the park will provide plenty of action for the young riders. BUT if you venture on ALOT of the trails that traverse through the mountains, you better have a 4x4 or a sport quad with plenty of undercarriage protection & stiff walled tires! Remember this was a 4x4 ORV park to start with for TRUCKS!!!!!

This place has trails that will CHALLANGE the most radical 4x4 quads & experienced riders!!!!! But if taken SLOWLY I believe most of our club members can traverse the majority of these trails with little or no damage to their quads. The stream crossings are MANY & BEAUTIFUL with huge hemlocks acting as umbrellas, that will provide much needed shade in the hot summer months. The " RAT PACK " out of Annapolis, Md. would LOVE some of the KNARLY, steep & rock strewn trails that we bypassed on our scouting trip through the park. THESE trails were made for the " RAT PACK "!!!!!! They won't have to drive to the " Hatfield McCoy Trail in West Virginia to find some serious challenges to their quad skills.

As we slipped & crawled our way across mile after mile of snow covered trails, narrow, but deep creek crossings & snow covered boulders, it became apparent that with rate of snowfall increasing by the minute this ride was coming to an END in the not too distant future! . NOT because of NOT being able to navigate the trails, but our fear of NOT being able to exit Paragon ATV Park if it snowed too much more. So onward back to the trucks to load up & see if we can safely navigate the ice crusted hills exiting the ATV Park???

Just as we expected the first pass by Dave & his 4x4 Chevy ended just where we thought it would occur! So back down the hill & another run at the snow covered icy road. This time with a ALOT of gas & more speed Dave successfully gets to the less technical portion of the road. Now my turn TOWING a trailer with Barry's Rubicon onboard. After watching Dave 's unsuccessful first attempt, I already knew my plan of attack! 4x4 LO Range & put the HAMMER down!!!!! The Dodge Ram scratched & clawed its way up & over the hill to join Dave. Mike had NO problem after seeing what we did to traverse the icy hill.

Once on the main road we said good-bye to our local ATV buddies & wished them a safe trip home. All in all it was a SUCCESSFUL adventure to Paragon ATV Park & looking forward to having MORE riders in BETTER weather for a LONGER ride in the future! Till next time. SPEEDY RACER ps I did manage a few photos.

Folks, After relaxing & watching football Saturday night & a good nights rest, I bounced out of bed Sunday morning to see if the weatherman had kept his promise about 6 to 8 inches of fresh snow overnight? As I peered out into the parking lot in the wee hours of the morning, I was greeted with a snow covered truck & quads! HAPPY DAYS are here again!!!!!!! With a solid base snow already on the ground from Monday & Tuesday's first snowstorm, this is what I LIVE for!!!!!!! To wake up & being able to break trails in freshly fallen snow!!!!! First I got my buddy Barry Strohl to freshen up & go to Granny's with me for a good HOT breakfast to provide energy for the hard day of busting trails across the snow covered mountains towards Pottsville, Pa

With appetites satisfied, Barry with his new Bear Claws on his Rubicon was almost as anxious as I was to plunge out into the fresh powder & enjoy what Mother Nature had delivered overnight. After extracting our quads from beneath the blanket of fresh of snow, we both attempted to fire them up to get ready for the days adventure. The " Grizzly " popped right to life with a loud growl from its HMF exhaust. The Rubicon made a faint " ERRRRRRRRR " sound & then silence! DEAD battery & NO way to get it started!!!

So off to Wal-Mart in Pottsville, to purchase a set of jumper cables. After returning from Wal-Mart & hooking the cables to bring life to the Rubicon, another problem confronted us! NEVER wash your quad in FREEZING weather the night before or you will have similar problems facing Barry at the moment! His choke cable was FROZEN!!!!!!!! NO CHOKE!!!!!!! So with Barry using an ink pen as an extension, he constantly worked the primer on his carburetor as I hit the starter & feathered the throttle ever so gently. The DAMNED thing finally sputtered a few times & then the Honda came to life! BOY !!! Were we relieved!!!!!! We'll get to ride after all! Once it was insured the Honda would continue to run, we threw on as many layers of clothes as we could scrounge together. Plus I put the jumper cables in my rear racks storage bag. NOT taking ANY chances!!!!!!!

As we boarded our quads & departed the parking lot of Motel 6 the sky was clear blue & the sun beaming bright as it was creeping over the horizon. The weatherman was right two days in a row!!!! With only two 4x4 with knarly aftermarket tires, we had confidence that there was almost NO place that was off limits for today's ride.

Once exiting the city limits and gaining access to the main trails over the mountains it became apparent that this was truly 4x4 turf, under these conditions! A sport quad could have made it, providing they were 3rd or 4th in line, but NOT before! BOTH quads had to claw their way through a continuous stream of ice & snow covered ruts & small drifts leftover from the first storm to pass through this region earlier in the week. BUT IT WAS FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We scratched & clawed our way, mile after mile through the maze of pine trees, that hung down almost to the ground under the burden of last night's freshly fallen snow. As you could tell from the pictures I sent out last week, the views were breath taking!!!!!!

The ride over mountain after mountain continued to bring an endless stream of wondrous wintertime beauty!!! The two Pottsville Reservoirs provided some of the most wondrous wintertime views of all!!! We even spotted hoof prints from an adventurous deer that took a short across the frozen lake. SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! WE continued this wondering across the countryside taking in ALL that Mother Nature had to offer, until Barry's Rubicon registered 1/2 tank of fuel left. Hopefully enough to make the return trip??? The trip back to Motel 6 was sad in the sense that we WERN'T ready to leave all of this WONDEROUS beauty behind & head for home!!! But back to Motel 6, but not before taking in a few detours along the way to see some sights unseen. This was one day that could have NEVERended & NEITHER of us would have complained!!!!

Begrudgingly
we loaded up our quads, showered & hit the road homeward bound. What a GLORIOUS day Barry & I shared together this fine day in the hills of PENNSYLVANIA !!!!!!! My ONLY other regret was that MORE SPEEDBALLS couldn't have joined Barry & I on this wonderful ride!

So till next time, ride SAFE, wear a HELMET always, get your quad or dirt bike in shape and get ready for our next GREAT ADVETURE!!!!!! YEAH BUDDY!!!!!!!!! SPEEDY RACER