Ready to spend the big bucks huh?

There are thousands of things to consider when buying a new toy.  As anybody will tell you, the more choices you have the harder the decision is to make.  If the choice was only between two variables then you could easily go with your gut feel.

The problem with power sports is there are so many opinions out there on what is important, that if you are buying for the first time it becomes daunting.  Here are some things to consider when buying your first toy:

When work gets in the way

My sister and brother-in-law invited me to go to St. Anthony Sand Dunes.  They are going tomorrow thru Thurs.  It is the only time my Bro-in-Law could get off work.  Unfortunately I cannot take time off.  This is a major bummer.

What do you do when life conflicts with fun?  Well at different times in my life I might have responded differently. When I was a teenager I would have said "screw work, I am going to play."  The perspective was much different back then.  I didn't have a family to take care of. If I took work off it really didn't effect me.  I didn't have bills to pay.

Cornice Jumping Anybody

Winter is getting closer and closer. My wife keeps telling me that she is not ready for winter yet. I keep countering with BRING IT ON. I am so excited for this snowmobiling season. I have upped my gear this year with the addition of a BCA avalanche air bag system, Contour GPS helmet Camera, Suspension upgrades for my sled, and other various changes to be safer, or to help have more fun.

 One of my best rides last year was with my brother. The same brother that shattered his knee (read my blog post named "Wrecking" for this story.) It was the day after one of our larger snowstorms. The snow in a lot of places was up to our hoods. On this particular occasion we found a Cornice that was steep and had a sharp lip at the top. We spent several hours tearing it up. Out of all that time there, we didn't get a lot of video but here is a quick edit of what we did get that was remotely entertaining.

Thanks for Reading,
DPS

First attempt imbedding a video. Let me know in the comments if the quality is better, or if there are any issues.

Helmets

I have never been a helmet wearer.  When I started ATV riding with my wife eighteen years ago, we never owned helmets.  It was always easy to justify not wearing them.  After all we were just putting around in the mountains on trails.  How could there be any danger?  4 wheels, not likely to tip over, groomed roads and well traveled trails.  No problems.  By and large I never have had any close calls out ridding.  Hooray for me save some cash on safety equipment.  6 years ago when I got my snowmobiles, still I rode without helmet.  Snow is soft, no need to strap the heavy thing on.  Balaclava for the cold and goggles for the eyes, good to go.  Many enjoyable trips again with no problems.  4 Years ago I purchased another snowmobile.  It was a Skidoo MXZ 800 that had twin pipes and didn't have a muffler.  That sucker was LOUD.  An interesting side effect, I started to wear a helmet just to protect my hearing.  After a period of time, it just became second nature to have one on when riding.  Other than protecting the noggin, the helmet began to have other uses;  Intercom, speakers, wind breaker, and sun visor to name a few.

Friday my wife and I went for a ride in the beautiful mountains by Mantua.  When we were preparing to leave my wife asked about helmets.  I thought, "We never used them before when we went riding."  By way of information, it had been about 7 years since our last ride together, due to raising kids and health issues, but that is another story.  Rather than voice my thoughts, I dug up some helmets and goggles and got set.  As we arrived in the staging area, the air was cool and crisp.  The views were amazing as the trees were in the height of changing colors preparing to drop the excess weight for the winter snow. Single track zigging up the hill, through ruts, around trees, over rocks, it couldn't get any better.  We spent the day exploring new trails and terrain while getting to know the area better.  After hours of sure enjoyment we were ready to head back to reality.  As we traversed the single track back down the mountain as we had done several other times, we hit a stump.  For the next 5 to 10 seconds, slow motion events were imprinted on my brain.  First thing I thought as the ATV was thrown to the down hill slope is, "Don't loose it over the edge the trees, it will hurt."  My next thought, while breaking, was to shift my weight to the uphill side to prevent a roll over.  Meanwhile my wife was tossed to the down hill side of the ATV and was falling off.  So I started to try to turn the ATV and adjust to keep everyone on.  A concert of motion, wrong direction, ruts, hill and gravity nearly rolled the ATV or tossed us off the mountain. However, we escaped with just a bruise to my wife's ankle.  Never before have I came that close to a roll over while riding ATV.  I can see that helmets are only good when you need them, but the problem is you never know when you will need them.  

Fall time

The colors in the mountains are wonderful this time of year. You should really try to get up there if you live near any. The leaves are changing and the air feels clear and cool.  Sometimes it is nice to stop for a minute and take in the beauty.

Sweet Setup

My brother came by my house today.  It made me a bit jealous.  He has a sweet setup.  It will be nice when the time comes for me to get set up in a similar fashion to my brother.  I can be patient though.  Fist problem, I don't have room at my house to store anything this big and fun.  Second problem, I don't make enough money to purchase anything this big and fun.  Third issue, even if I did own these things it might be hard to get my wife excited to use them.  She is not an outdoor camping lover.  This trailer toy hauler combo might be a good solution to that.  I almost had her convinced that we should get a pop-up tent trailer. The problem with that is it would have to be one that could haul 4-wheelers and such.  They cost around $13,000.  I might as well find a used toy hauler.  Then the problem is that if I had a large toy hauler I would need a bigger truck. 

Power sports will never be an investment for money.  However I do believe it is an investment for family memories.  It is expensive to get set up fully.  The truck, trailer, toys, gear, electronics (GPS), gas and cost of maintenance and repairs is almost too much.  There are many people who give the sport up for those reasons.  It is too bad really.  I believe it isn't worth stretching your family thin and going into exuberant amounts of debt, but it is worth the memories.  You won't look back on your life and think, yeah I had money back when i was raising my kids... Rather you will think on those times you spent as a family out exploring the mountains on your UTV, or riding in the sand dunes on your Sand Rail. My most fond memories growing up are our trips to Lake Powell and Lake Mead. 

You need to think of some way to create these memories for your own family.  Getting involved in Power sports of any kind is one of those great ways.

Thanks for reading,
DPS

Making S's in the snow

I was just reviewing some video footage that my brother took of last years winter (2011-2012).  One of the videos was with me out in front of him making S's in the snow.  It started conjuring up the feeling it gives me to be out on the snow on my snowmobile.  It is feeling of freedom. It can be challenging too, so my competitive nature loves that.  Maybe the S's in the snow represent dollar ($) signs because of the amount of money it cost to get involved in a sport like that.  But when you are out there the thought of the motor guzzling down $4.00 a gallan gas drifts out of mind.  It is where you can clear your mind and foget your worries.  Maybe this is why riding is so addicting.

In the video we were at Monte Cristo Utah.  It was the best snow all year.  Still wasn't great but it was really good none the less. We usually ride with a larger group, but on this day it was just my brother and me.  We spent the day scouring the mountain for some good powder, and then we found some.  The searching all paid off. I hope you enjoy the footage. My editing skills are sub par, so there isn't music or anything else. 

Thanks for reading,
DPS

ps. my brother is the one wearing the camera on the 2012 Polaris Pro RMK, I am the other guy on the 2008 Ski Doo XP.