For Shawn Flindall, saying it was fun getting out on the Snowmobile trails in the North Bay area, was an understatement.
Shawn Flindall, marketing, and communications director with the North Bay Snowmobile Club, was one of many sledders who were able to hop on the area trails for the first time in 2021 due to the trail COVID-19 shutdown that was put in place in January by the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.
"There have been a lot of smiling faces on the trails over the past few I will tell you that much," Flindall admitted.
"The trails were busy but it was so good to see everybody back riding again. Saturday we had perfect conditions with a little bit of fresh snow on the trails. That was great, the conditions were amazing and the trails were perfect. Sunday we had a little of spring snowmobiling conditions so that was really nice. It was nice to see a lot of families out on the trails and everybody was really enjoying getting back to it."
Unfortunately, Mother Nature is not cooperating as changing weather on the weekend has significantly impacted the area trails. The mild weather along with rain and the flash freeze overnight have combined to mess things up.
"The trails are pretty much glare ice right now so it is not great riding conditions over the next couple of days until we get a little bit of milder weather to soften them up," he admitted.
"It is pretty treacherous out there right now and lakes are very very slushy from all the snow weight that has come in in the past week or so. So it is a little challenging right now but suffice to say that Saturday and Sunday was a very smiley day on the trails for sure."
While the season seems to have just started, Flindall reminds riders about what it is like to ride in March.
A lot of things change quickly from temperature to trail and lake conditions.
"As much as we know that everybody was frustrated from the closure and dying to get out and put some long overdue miles on, we just need everybody to be really cautious and remember that safety always comes first especially at this time of year - always on the trails but especially at this time of year things start to wind down," he said.
