From the Vice President

From the MnUSA Vice President Happy New Year!

Tim Heinen

Wow—can you believe that it is 2023? Think about how far the advancement of sleds have come compared to the earlier days of riding, heck, even compare the progress from early 2000s, but we will not talk about the recalls that plague us.

As I sit here and write this article, it is snowing like crazy outside. Thank you, Snow Gods. By now, most of you have been out riding the trails, and I hope that you either have joined a club, and/or volunteered some of your time to get the trails ready for the season. Getting out and having the chance to ride the countryside in areas that you can’t see by car, is both breathtaking and relaxing. There’s nothing like riding to take the weight of the world off your shoulders. At the same time, it can take a fun run and turn it into a bad situation.

For example, it was early January in the 1970-something. We had plenty of snow on the ground and the riding was good. Later that week, the weather turned, and there was a major rainstorm. You might say to yourself: Rain? Come on, it’s January! Well, it rained the whole day and then turned to snow that night—and boy, did it snow! You would have never known that it rained earlier.

Being young and dumb, I went ditch riding in the country the next day, and the temps dropped into the single digits. What a blast I was having, but it quickly turned sour. As I was riding along the bottom of the ditch in the deep snow, I broke through a thin layer of ice that had formed from all the rain we had. In haste, I steered the sled to get out of the water, and one ski went under the ice, causing the sled to roll back down into the ditch, with me hanging on.

Next thing you know, I am underwater. I wrestled the sled off me and stood up in water that was waist deep. Crap! Now what do I do? My sled wouldn’t run as the engine sucked in water. I looked around to get my bearings and noticed a farm about 1.5 miles away. So, I took off running, then walking, then crawling to the farmhouse; my right leg was getting very stiff as it was freezing.

Luckily someone was home, but by then my leg was frozen hard as a rock; the skin wouldn’t even push inward. With his quick thinking, we got my frozen wet clothes off and he had me sit in front of those old-school hot water radiant heaters to let my leg warm up very slowly. He then called my father and mentioned to him my circumstance. As my leg was thawing out, my brother and father retrieved my sled out of the ditch. By the time they came to pick me up, a few hours had passed, and I was able to bend my leg a little, but the pain was horrible. What was going through my mind was— Am I going to lose my leg? Time will tell. I went home and allowed the leg to thaw out slowly. I went to the doctor the next day to have the leg checked out and there were no problems. Today, the cold weather does bother the knee some.

I know that there are “Ditch Bangers” out there, and they love it. I used to like it, until I realized all the hidden dangers that are under the snow. There are more “so-called” dangers with all the road construction going on. Road departments are putting in more and more holding ponds, and they love to pile up the culverts with large, jagged rocks called “rip-rap.” They even lay the rocks across the width of the ditches to slow down erosion. This stuff will “rip” your sled apart and if you “rap” your head into one, it’s a big ouch!

So, with that said, I will not break trail in a ditch, as there are too many hidden dangers, and I like my sled to last. Heck, I would like it to last at least through this season!

On Nov 26th, 2022, I attended the Dakota Trails setup appreciation dinner at Cannon Falls Golf Course. This is a yearly event that Dakota Trails puts on for all who lend a helping hand in getting the trails ready in Dakota County. The attendance for this event was roughly 70 people. Besides the happy hour and dinner, door prizes were given away at the end, thanks to sponsors that help support our clubs in Dakota County. Everyone walked away happy, with a prize, and a sound mind that the trails are ready for the season.

Thanks to all that helped get the trails ready in Dakota County and of course throughout the whole State of Minnesota.

Be safe out there and ride smart!

• On-site restaurant • Airport shuttle • Swimming pool and hot tub • New construction • Meeting room