As boncrshr and I are riding down a trail , we then come to an open area with a few large mud holes here and there . As I drive my Max IV forward I see a large mud hole straight ahead..... and then think to myself,,," should I or should,nt I " ? Just as soon as I had driven my Max IV half way across this mud hole ,,I knew I had made a BIG MISTAKE .
I could now see how soft the mud was as my tires tried to dig through it .
I knew then that I had to go to plan B ----> hang off the side of my roll bar and rock the Max from one side and then the other .
I told boncrshr " this is some REALLY soft mud ,don,t even try to follow me "
Boncrshr then says " Dave ,,I,m going to try it with the Vampires , and see if I can make it " Bad choice .
As boncrshr drives his Hustler by me , he begins to loose traction because the mud is just too soft . He then has to rock his Hustler side to side , to gain any forward momentum at all . While he is doing this , I lean out from my Max by hanging onto my roll bar for support . With my left leg extended , I push his Hustler as hard as I can with my foot . The Hustler now slowly begins to move ,,,,,just as long as I push it with my foot .
When boncrshr,s Hustler is almost past the rear of my Max IV ,,I hang off the back , and push with my foot as hard as I can .
We are both in a pickle now .
Now boncrshr and I are both stuck in the same mud hole , with no tree even close to winch from .
I wanted to say " I told ya so " ,,but I thought to myself , every man has to learn their own limitations .
I now lean out over the front of my Max IV , as I hold onto the roll bar ,to see if I can find any solid ground to stand on . What looks like a mound of hard ground in front of me ,,is deceptive , because it has slick sides . I had forgotten to bring my rubber boots when I left the house , so I,m now only wearing tennis shoes . WRONG CHOICE !
I then step out from the Max , and stand on this mound of dirt with one foot , and then try to jump across to a dry spot , with the other foot . Just as soon as I try this , my right foot slides down the slick mound of dirt , and down into the mud ,up to my calf . About this time , four or five 4-wheelers with kids , drive up to watch the fun .
I hear one man on a 4-wheeler yell out to his son ,, " be careful , and don,t fall into the mud ". Just as soon as he says this ,,I slip and fall into mud up my thighs ,as I try to climb up the soft sides of this mud hole . As I try to pull my right foot out of the mud , the suction of the mud pulls my tennis shoe off , and it slides off my right foot . ARGGH !! Now I have a tennis shoe on my left foot , and only a sock on my right foot , because the tennis shoe that slipped off , is now half full of soft mud !
With a long rope in my hand doubled , I wrap one end of the rope around his trailor ball , and pull as hard as I can with the other end , while boncrshr gives his Hustler slow steady throttle . With boncrshr,s Hustler now out of the mud , he drives around to the front of my Max . I then spool out my winch cable , attach to boncrshr,s trailor bar , and out I come ! Free at last !
My only problem now is : riding with one tennis shoe on and the other tennis shoe off , because the other one is half full of mud . I decided to deal with it and keep on riding ,because we had a lot of trails to cover . Boncrshr,s GPS said we rode almost 18 miles that day .