On the ice

Sandy Noce invited me out to try his YZR450 on the ice this past Sunday. So down to 12 O'clock point we headed. Sandy headed out with old Dodge truck and plow and created a circuit on the bay. Being it was my first time on the ice and with someone else's bike, I thought I'd just watch these guys go a few laps before I gave it a go. So I observed some of Canada'a best motorcycle road racers take to the ice on their 450's with studded ice tires. Jodi Christie, Sandy Noce and Kenny Riedmann where out tearing up the bay.
When it came to my turn to give this completely foreign to me type of riding to me a try, I took advice from the young Riedmann, "you will have lot's of traction. If the front starts to slide, get on the throttle and it will hook up." Sounds simple enough. The first couple of laps I was brutally slow. Later in my second session I graduated to just slow but was getting the feel for things. I think this is going to be my winter thing from here on in. I had a very good experience and loved that I can be on a bike in the winter also and it's just a 1/2 hr from my house. So I will have to shop for a 450 in the near future. And I'll have to get faster.
To see what this looks and feels like from Kenny Riedmann's point of view, have a look at this video he created from the day. He did a pretty good job in the edit also.    http://vimeo.com/36711964
 Sandy, thanks for the experience.

Samantha Dalby took some very good shots on the day. This first one is of me contemplating my slowness.

The fast guys being fast.