[Belmont Resident]

I can see if skimming was a necessity like it was last weekend while crossing Moosehead Lake for us. But to just go out and drive over open water is pretty ignorant. Same applies with riding and helmets. Yup it is your choice but why should we feel bad when someone dies when they are not wearing a helmet or doing something like skimming?
We witnessed a guy who pretty much scalped himself when he went over the handlebars of his ATV up in the Forks area of Maine 2 years ago. He went over the handlebars on a rough section of trail because he grabbed front break going down hill over bumps.
We assisted in the rescue of this person by posting people at intersections so rescue equipment could be brought in.
Had the guy been wearing a helmet he probably would have ridden out with some bad scrapes and bruises. Instead he took more than a dozen people away from their Labor day plans just to pull him out of the woods. Oh and the cost of the med flight on top of that.
Just like hiking they should charge the person for the rescue if they are negligent, and not wearing a helmet falls under that category as does skimming.
As for sledding we just rode 270 miles Saturday and another 110 Sunday up in northern Maine. We had great spring riding Saturday until afternoon then about 75 miles of bumps.
Long track sleds tame them down at about 60 while standing up but still a workout.
This has been a really crappy year for riding no matter where you rode from the reports I’ve heard.
We were spoiled the last 2 years with above normal snows throughout the winter.
Now it’s time to start working on the trails to get them ready for ATV (mud) riding.