A Ride
When I was little, we'd go to Swift Current for Christmas Break. My favourite part was going to the farm and riding around on the snowmobiles. We'd tie a toboggan to the back and give rides. But inevitably, the snowmobile would stall and we'd have to get off and try and get it started again. We all knew the drill. You get about 2 or 3 pulls and then you flooded it. So you'd play in the snow or walk back to the house. That was just how it went. By the time you got back to the machine, it would be fine and you could drive around again until it stalled again.
Fast forward to the present. We went to the ice shack last evening after work. We fished for awhile then I got bored so I drove the machine around the lake. I got back and another guy came so we ran out of chairs and it was really crowed in there so I decided that it was a perfect time to got for another, extended ride. I decided to go to the other side of the lake to see what's over there. Well, I'm turning around to go back and I realize that I have to make the turn pretty sharp because I didn't leave myself enough room. I slow right down and grab onto the one side of the handlebars to crank it and really lean in. I slowed right down to make this turn and the engine slows to a crawl and then....dies. Oh crap! So I try to start it. But with this new fancy-pants thing, it's a key start. There's no little button to push for the choke. I have no idea what to do. So I turn the key and give it gas. I do this three times and then I smell gas. That was my signal to start walking. Of course I had to be as far away from the shack as possible. And it had to be nighttime. I tried to follow the tracks of the snowmobile but I kept falling off so I walked through the snow. I got back to the shack and I guess Mark had been yelling to me. I had been gone too long and he was getting worried. So the boys went out to see what the problem was. Awhile passed when I see the headlights of the snowmobile coming back. It hadn't stalled. When I turned the handlebars to make that sharp turn, my arm hit the kill switch. So once they figured out that was the problem, it was easy to fix. Well, won't be making that mistake again. Here I was worried I wrecked the machine!
Fast forward to the present. We went to the ice shack last evening after work. We fished for awhile then I got bored so I drove the machine around the lake. I got back and another guy came so we ran out of chairs and it was really crowed in there so I decided that it was a perfect time to got for another, extended ride. I decided to go to the other side of the lake to see what's over there. Well, I'm turning around to go back and I realize that I have to make the turn pretty sharp because I didn't leave myself enough room. I slow right down and grab onto the one side of the handlebars to crank it and really lean in. I slowed right down to make this turn and the engine slows to a crawl and then....dies. Oh crap! So I try to start it. But with this new fancy-pants thing, it's a key start. There's no little button to push for the choke. I have no idea what to do. So I turn the key and give it gas. I do this three times and then I smell gas. That was my signal to start walking. Of course I had to be as far away from the shack as possible. And it had to be nighttime. I tried to follow the tracks of the snowmobile but I kept falling off so I walked through the snow. I got back to the shack and I guess Mark had been yelling to me. I had been gone too long and he was getting worried. So the boys went out to see what the problem was. Awhile passed when I see the headlights of the snowmobile coming back. It hadn't stalled. When I turned the handlebars to make that sharp turn, my arm hit the kill switch. So once they figured out that was the problem, it was easy to fix. Well, won't be making that mistake again. Here I was worried I wrecked the machine!
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