Gordo's Brain

Bridget had some stuff going on with several of her brothers and sisters this afternoon, so she needed us boys to make ourselves scarce. Boy, did I have something in mind.

Every year around this time, an “event” takes place about 15 minutes north of Kingston, about halfway between the villages of Inverary and Perth Road. Under a bridge over the narrows between two arms of Loughborough Lake.

It tends to be kept quiet because it’s dangerous, technically illegal and loads of fun to watch. It’s so sooper sekrit that there’s no way to find out in advance if it’s happening. Unless you know a participant, which we don’t. So, we were left with playing $1.06/litre gas roulette and driving out to check it out. I didn’t even tell Phil where we were going, I didn’t want him to be disappointed if it wasn’t running.

So, there we are: just outside of Inverary, we crest the hill just south of bridge and what do we see? More than 100 vehicles lining the sides of the road. What were they gawking at? This:

That’s right, friends and neighbours. These guys run their snowmobiles on open water. For kicks. The current in this area of the lake scours through the ice very early in the melt process. So, while there’s a 150m+ stretch of open water for these guys to run on, the rest of the ice is thick enough to be safe for spectators. More than 100 on the ice alone this afternoon.

Because it’s dangerous (that water’s just above freezing, kids) and illegal (unsafe operation of a motor vehicle), the only thing at stake is one’s pride. I don’t know what the drivers were running on, but some the crowd seemed to be fairly well lubricated. Phil noticed one guy riding a case of Coors down a snowy slope.

Naturally, I shot some video as well. I couldn’t let you snow-deprived folks miss out on the auditory assault now, could I?

Yes, I did get wet from the first two flying past me. Yes, the water is frickin’ cold!

This has been happening every year for more than a decade. The police decided a long time ago that, while it may be technically illegal, about the only people who have ever been hurt are the handful who have lost control of the machine or lost grip of the throttle at an inopportune moment. So, they just check in periodically and make sure there are no pressing dangers. Very pragmatic of them, don’t you think?

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