First off I nominate Young Ted for "Tough Man of the Year" Ted was the ONLY ONE that braved the trip all the way over to ride with me. He left his house at 4 AM! Thank you Ted, we had an excellent day all in all. I mean it was in the mid 20's and there was maybe 10 inches of snow so it was pretty much a perfect day. I headed out about 8 Am and stopped in West Branch for breakfast. I got through St Helen about 9:30 and soon happened upon Ted in his van at the entrance to the Geels South Loop. I went over to talk to him and he's all geared up already and ready to ride! After deciding the best placed to park so we don't end calling a tow truck we end up on the road next to the Geels Trailhead. We're unloading and along come a Sheriff. I am thinking to my self that some how we're not going to be able to park here or something. He turns around and pulls up along side us and rolls down his window. A friendly guy just wanting to know if this is where the MOTORCYCLE ONLY Trails are because some one asked him where they were yesterday and he didn't know. I showed him the CCC map and explained how to get maps on line. We chatted about the bikes for a minute-he never knew you can ride in the winter. I got the impression he rode bikes too, any way he was a nice guy and we made sure us motorcyclists were nice guys too. It's easy when you as nice and Ted and I!!! Ok so off we go on the south loop. I decide to ride that one because last I knew the north loops was messed up by loggers and the trail was hard to follow. At first the trail was well used by snowmobiles and the whoops were packed pretty good so you could hit them but Ted’s not really a "stand on the Pegs" kind of guy at the ripe age of 78 understandably so and they were a bit of a challenge for him but he made it not crashing. We went down a well traveled road for quite a while and came to an intersection where the trail makes a "balloon" type route. We went to the right and immediately the snowmobiles inflicted their grief upon us. I stopped and waited for Ted at the spot where I was getting excited because the snow mobiles pulled off. Ted had a small encounter with the white fluffy stuff but no damage done-he did have some snow in his helmet but Ted makes anything look good on him! :cool: Off we went stopping occasionally to take a rest and get back together. Most of the trail was unaffected by snowmobiles but when it was it was 20 times worse. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day to be outside so I really didn't care! I stopped at about the mid way point and Ted said "hey I should take a picture of you in the fresh snow" and me being game for a "photo op" I said I’ll go ahead and see if there's a spot. Once we got out the snowmobile ruts again I signaled for Ted to head down the trail while I waited. I shut off the bike and listened for Ted and after a while I saw him walking. So I kicked the bike over and spooled up through 4th gear and I saw Ted set up at the apex of a nice left hander so I kick it down the 3rd, put out the left leg grabbed a handful of juice and did my best Robbie Jenks impersonation. I’ve hit like 3 corners well in my life and this was one of them, the picture got me just before I had it sideways throwing some snow roost-but it felt good! I circled around back to Ted and checked the photo-it was a success. Ted took off and I cleaned the snow out form the rad fins and took off after him. We rode on and off taking a few breaks and chatting out on the trail from time to time and eventually made it back to the trail head after the 28 mile loop. Deep snow makes 28 miles seem much farther! Ron Sape was waiting for Ted back where we were parks so we loaded up, got dressed and chatted for a few minutes. I wanted to try to get back in time to see the Supercross on TV so I shook Ted’s hand and thanked him for being the only one that was not a sissy and came out to ride with me! Thank you Ted –you are “Tough Man of the Year” in my book! :yeehaw: