Burandt had a very emotional story |
The Adventure Continues |
melted the snow away from the pipeline , |
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from a past season , where he took part |
Shortly before noon , the gang was |
leaving a foot or more gap around the |
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in a rescue of a friend . The friend , ulti- |
loaded and headed down the valley . On |
entire circumference of the 24-inch line . |
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mately , didn ’ t survive the ordeal , and |
this day we would ride what the locals |
After everyone made the crossing , the |
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it was a good chance to discuss back- |
refer to as “ Strawberry ,” so-called due |
group rebounded against the opposite |
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country safety . |
to the Strawberry Reservoir and Straw- |
hill-side and had to cross the pipeline |
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On this instance , the friend had gone |
berry Creek that denote the area . I ’ d |
again . This time , there was a narrow , |
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out to ski a couple of quick lines , plan- |
never ridden Strawberry before , so I |
wooden , make-shift bridge , which led to a |
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ning on only being out for an hour or so . |
paid special attention . |
10-foot long approach before an icy climb |
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The friend and his accomplice had no |
Just a mile or so north of the Bedford |
of about 30 feet in elevation . If a rider |
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survival gear and were not dressed prop- |
lot , Strawberry can be reached from |
didn ’ t carry enough momentum over the |
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erly . Burandt leveraged this situation |
by County Road 126 , also known as |
bridge , they couldn ’ t make the climb . But , |
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into the opportunity to make sure that , |
Strawberry Creek Road . This late in the |
the bridge was so narrow , it was mentally |
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as ambassadors of the sport , each of us |
season , we travelled a mile or so up the |
deceiving to maintain speed . But , once |
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was always prepared for each day ’ s ride . |
road before coming to an electrical sub- |
you made this final obstacle , it was a clear |
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He also shared some things he learned |
station , a house and a small parking lot |
shot up the valley to the riding area . |
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from this rescue . |
that was barely big enough for our four |
Each rider waited for the one behind |
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Burandt then divulged the contents of |
large trailers . |
them to make it through , then held their |
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his backpack and of his tunnel and han- |
The trail ride into Strawberry this late |
sleds wide-open , racing for the first hill . If |
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dlebar bags . Some things I took away from |
in the season was no joke , and only for |
possible , the terrain seemed even bigger |
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this ad-hoc course were the following : |
the advanced riders . After crossing more |
in Strawberry than it did in Willow , just a |
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Always be prepared to spend the night . |
than a mile of gravel covered with short |
drainage or two away from the previous |
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Have spare clothes , gloves , socks , etc . |
patches of snow , we were forced into the |
day ’ s ride . By the time I made it to the val- |
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Make sure you have fire-starting |
trees . There was enough covering , but it |
ley , the famous riders had enough time to |
continued up the trail , keeping in radio |
equipment and at least one saw . Chris |
was mostly ice , and special care had to be |
get the morning jitters out of the way and |
contact with Keith and Luke . |
carries two . |
taken to not overheat the sleds . |
were committed to finding the good stuff . |
Within a mile , we rounded the corner |
Communication is critical . We ’ re in- |
A short time later we had to cross an |
As the rest of us contemplated the |
and made a small climb , which dumped |
creasingly spoiled because many riding |
old , above-ground steel pipeline . Lead- |
route , Keith Curtis and Luke Rainey took |
the remainder of us at the base of a |
areas are starting to have sufficient cell |
ing up to the line-crossing , riders had to |
off up a ravine . Dan Adams cautioned the |
plethora of unique features and climbs |
service , but it seems to disappear the |
sidehill along an embankment of granite |
rest of us that we were still pretty low |
when something caught my eye . Throw- |
moment you need it most . A two-way |
scree , forcing an awkward approach an- |
and that limited snow might not have |
ing all caution to the wind , I fired up my |
communicator / radio set is best . |
gle . The water flowing inside the pipe had |
made their route the best choice . We |
Vohk-built Boondocker turbo 174 and |