Calendar Events:

Change: February 21^st:  Membership Meeting at Westmoreland Town Hall @ 7:30PM – All are Welcome.

SnoCross Racing at Vernon Downs is postponed

March 1^st:  EZ Riders Poker Run & Dinner at Hotel at Vernon Downs

                                                ***Cookout on the trail*** To be announced***

If you want to host an EZ Rider event, let us know and we’ll email the event to all registered members!

Just email event to kirkedonley@aol.com.

• Showing our Colors

Available are Long Sleeve T-shirts in color GRAY and PINK $20 and Black/Grey winter beanie hats $15 for small & medium noggins!  Available at meetings & events, pickups call Bill Shanley 853-8402 or Kirk Donley 853-5081.  – Don’t forget NYSSA raffle ticket for chance at (4) New sleds @ $5.00 each

• Twisting Wrenches

Although we’ve only been out on the trail with groomers once we had breakdowns.  Our big groomer, tracktruck is down with an internal problem.  After some experienced mechanics overlooking the issue volunteers began eliminating issues starting with the oil pump that drives the hydraulics, only to find the engine has internal problems.  The engine was removed from tractor and is being dropped off at United Auto Parts (UPA) in Utica.  UPA is going to open up the engine and provide better estimate of extent of damage and cost to repair.  Officers will be contacting surrounding clubs to assist with grooming if required.  Skandic, small groomer is getting some additional plating on the rear tunnel to support the gooseneck drag, and it’s scheduled for completion within first two weeks of February.  Your patience is appreciated on the trail as repairs are in progress.  Breakdowns are unfortunate and costly, one reason why your support in fundraisers and as members help absorb the expense and get the equipment back on the trail.

• Funding Foes

Our club only receives money for trails classified as “Funded.”  Several clubs similar to EZ Riders maintain both un-funded and funded trails throughout the season.  This year trail funding is almost cut in half due to late registrations last year and we’re not sure about next year.  Our total grant money from NYS to maintain trails for is $1850.00, so support from our members is crucial to keep moving.  Our spending on just a handful of items gobbles up almost the whole amount as we try to keep our trails and equipment in working conditions.   Some expenses just in getting trails ready for snow: Equipment Insurance $550, signs $300, equipment seasonal maintenance $200 and office supplies $250.  We estimate fuel expenses to be $700 – and now we have to look at repairs on the tracktruck engine that could cost up to $3000.  The goal of your club officers is to maintain equipment and trails while saving $$ to replace worn equipment or unexpected expenses.  Support the club by attending fundraising events or we can’t keep moving forward.

• Run at the Downs

On March 1^st, EZ Riders will participate in their first Poker Run.  There are several stops to obtain the stamps and collect the cards throughout our membership territories.  The event ends at the HOTEL at Vernon Downs, with a nice buffet to be served from 2-4:00PM.  $20 includes Poker Run and buffet, those looking to just stop by for buffet $10 each.  Door Prizes and Poker Run winnings.  Special rates offered by the HOTEL include $59 for a room on Saturday night, enjoy a night away from home! Be sure to make your reservations in advance incase of unscheduled events.  We are not sure what the status of the Racino will be next to the HOTEL in a few weeks but we are hoping that issues will be resolved, either way we have been assured that the facility will be OPEN for our use.

• Don’t leave home without it

The new Oneida County snowmobile trail guides for 2008 are available at several trails stops.  The maps are $3.00 each.  Beware of trail closings and mid-year reroutes to adapt to ever changing conditions.

• Making Lemons into Lemonade

2-CENTS from PresidentNo doubt this year is more frustrating than last season because we are getting snow almost every month to ride locally on our trails but it keeps melting!  But it will be back again to provide our last Harrah!  A year of hurdles with our big groomer laid-up and the firehouse construction project behind schedule preventing us from gathering at the annual Pig Roast and charity ride for kids.  With a couple months left it’s time to rally and when the snow flies encourage friends and family to meet on the trail for a cookout, cruise out for some lunch or dinner or just ride and sing your favorite song in the your helmet, loud as you can!

Somehow being the president of a snowmobile club is associated with having a vast knowledge of snowmobiles, mechanically along with current values.  Well over the years I’ve surely had my share of buying and selling including the “ONE” that blew a track within first hour of riding.  Recent example was a person asking me about buying a YR 2000 sled with over 6,000 miles and owner commenting- Never had to do a thing!  My 2-CENTS- I too once believed that doing nothing meant everything was good and I had a dependable sled.  I found that to be a myth when I had to do some maintenance and discovered several parts worn out ready to break or severely effect the performance of the sled.  At 3k miles the wear & tear on the clutch was so bad it was almost to the point of having to buy new clutch, big bucks!  I never had problems-but things were bad.  Rebuilding clutch every couple years is worth the small investment.  The shocks in the suspension were all gone!  They held the sled up but would fold under any mogul riding.  Two bearings in the idlers wheels needed replacing and two grease fittings were not accepting fluid.  So, be cautious in purchasing that sled, check out any part that moves.  Preventative maintenance is a great idea!

NYS Voucher Info:

As registration time comes near many are probably wondering what’s going to happen this year so members can receive their discount with DMV.  Club memberships expire same time as registrations with the new system for discounts, so be sure to renew your club memberships previous to mailing your registrations for renewal.  More work has been completed providing renewals on the NYSSA website.  Joining online members will be able to print the vouchers with identification code for discount.  Mailing renewals to club will also work same as last year and club officers will return quickly as possible.

So here are the methods for this year:

1. Return club membership renewal form to club, and you will receive by mail the voucher to either mail into DMV with renewal or visit DMV office to renew this years snowmobile registration.
2. Visit the NYSSA website www.nyssnowassoc.org, click on the “Join a Club Online” icon middle right of the screen, click on Oneida County from the NYS map, scroll down and on the left below EZ Riders Snowmobile Club, click on the highlighted “Click here to Join this Club.”  Complete the information on the form, **Be sure to UNCHECK the $0.25 from your membership to go towards PAC (political assoc.) unless this is your desire, and finish.  You will need credit card.  Then print voucher and dues are sent to EZ Riders so we can forward your membership cards.

Club President’s 2006-2007 Summary

When I look back at the 2006-2007 season its easy to find the good, bad and always the Ugly.  First, without our volunteers on trail, on the groomer, on the phone and on the road we truly would not have any trails to ride at all.  And as bad as some trails may seem before being repaired it’s no comparison to what would be waiting for those who don’t see the trails before the first snow.  I can write that in confidence as one of the first who step onto the dormant trail with volunteers to look at the work ahead.  Trees down, limbs hanging, bridges broken, culverts washed away and grass reaching our shoulders it’s hard to imagine that any of us would ride further than a couple yards.  With the surge of new members last year I hope all of you will encourage each other to join our efforts to trim, clear and repair trails for this coming season.  Recruit a friend to help out one or two weekends this fall and feel a new sense of pride when you ride.  Having more members is great for the whole community but once again it’s rough on our core of volunteers and officers, so I encourage you to get involved in our fundraisers and event planning.   The effort continues to upgrade our existing grooming rigs and we are careful to keep the equipment repaired and maintained.  The purchase of the outdoor garage last year was great and everything is undercover year-round.  The heavy snowfall crippled some of our grooming efforts to keep trails under control for safe riding and the recipe for optimal grooming wasn’t in the hand dealt by Mother Nature.  High snow banks, warm packing snow and rain are the ingredients for grooming disaster.  We can control some parts of the recipe, such as how many cooks are in the kitchen, so we will work at a plan to turn up the HEAT when conditions give us the green light.  How?  Well back to the first part of this message, with our volunteers and that could be you!  Suggestion to adopt additional qualified operators and set a schedule for the year.  Operators may only be assigned two or three days a month, if conditions are good groomers go out, if conditions are poor they get the night off.  More on this new program will come at our first membership meeting and upcoming newsletters.  Overall, we’re getting better every year adjusting to changing trails and snow conditions.  In regards to our finances, we look good going into the season, most of our bills are paid, tracktruck is paid off, the new skandic is half paid for, so another wide track would be nice to keep on the North end in our future.  We also will continue working with our members in south end to provide route to Paris and beyond.  So please join all your neighbors, friends and club members in helping make this year another step forward for EZ Riders!

Thanks for your support – See you on the Trail !