Flashback: Friday, Feb. 8, 2013.

Inside the Arctic Cat snowmobile engineering shop, engineers Greg Spaulding (left) and Larry Coltom inspect the APV exhaust valves on the Arctic Cat C-TEC2 599cc engine that Coltom will take for a test ride in short order.

It's late enough in the afternoon that these two racing veterans are asking the photographer questions about what happened during the second leg of the USXC I-500 cross-country race that had concluded a couple hours earlier.

They're interested in the stories about eventual race winner Ryan Simons soaring over approaches with a speed and severity that brings gasps, but they're mostly concentrating on inspecting the engine in this pre-production snowmobile. There is still much work to squeeze in, before the phone calls from home wondering about dinnertime.

Click to read more.

Arctic Cat sent an email blast with the above information.

Two new sleds will be revealed at Hay Days!

So let's have a quick contest: Guess The New Arctic Cat Sleds!

A special care package to the winner!

Arctic Cat just released their 2014 Accessory Reference Guide for snowmobiles.

The reference guide features updated/new products (as well as older products for previous generation snowmobiles) not featured in the color accessory catalog.

New items include skis, tunnel straps, tunnel packs, clutch guard updates and more (to see the items and page numbers of the new products, click for the full story).

CLICK HERE to download the PDF. The guide is 3.3MB, so the download takes a moment.

I'm thankful for snow.

I'm thankful for four-passenger roominess available with so many different automobiles.

I'm thankful the human spirit is infused with a sense of humor.

I'm thankful for door locks.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

Below is a 1-min. radio advertisement that Arctic Cat produced for the 1975 season. It highlights the success of the Team Arctic race program.

The Team Arctic race program is still exceptional today... but the years of having radio ads about the race program are waaaaaaay in the rear-view.

I suppose the upside is that we can play such vintage spots on our comp-u-tators as frequently as we wish...

I hit my first snowmobile show/swap event of the 2013-14 season this past weekend in Princeton, Minn., where the 20th Annual Outlaw Drags unfolded in perfect opposition to a blasted heat wave.

It's awesome how trailer loads of sleds and parts combine with conversations about snowmobiling to put you in a winter state of mind.

Click to see some pix.

I'm thankful for water. I'm thankful for snowmobiles.

I'm thankful the human spirit compels us to occasionally throw caution to the wind, hit the gas and hope for the best.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Aug. 23, 2013.

I was at Arctic Cat in Thief River Falls this week, where the engine of progress was humming along at 8100 RPM and the people who make it happen opened up the doors for all of us to see.

Click to read about (some of) what was going on at my favorite place in the world.

Flashback: Tuesday, March 30, 2010.

The springtime ice on the Lake of the Woods near Warroad, Minn., is dark, with 10-ft. gaps between it and the shoreline where Arctic Cat engineers Larry Coltom (left) and Ryan Hayes are testing prototype ProCross and ProClimb snowmobiles.

The deteriorating ice conditions will soon force the various engineering crews to move to Colorado’s Grand Mesa and to Thompson, Manitoba, to continue development of the prototype machines.

But there are still a few days worth of testing in Minnesota, and on this day Coltom and Hayes are comparing and calibrating the F800 and XF800 prototypes...

Click to read more.

I'm thankful for the humor and confidence that infused so many Arctic Cat ads over the years.

I'm thankful for the 1970s.

I'm thankful for the mighty good feelin' that comes with the Cat.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Aug. 16, 2013.

The year is 1977... after you hear the last rocking notes of Meatloaf blast through the single speaker of the clock radio in your bedroom, an ad from Arctic Cat is broadcast during which you hear this great line:

"Owning an Arctic Cat feels like you can lick the whole world."

Yep, it really happened.

Click below to hear it for yourself.

I'm thankful for snow. I'm thankful for the rubber track.

I'm also thankful for skis.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Aug. 9, 2013.

(Super-thankful to Minnesota Rob continuing support of TGIF.)

On Sept. 13-15, former Arctic Cat President Lowell Swenson will be postumously inducted into the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame in Eagle River, Wis.

Swenson was a key figure in Arctic Cat history, guiding the company through the tumultuous decade that began in 1966.

Click to read his bio.

What do you think of a return of a point-to-point I-500? 

Brian Nelson, owner of USXC, thinks enough about it that he and Joey Hallstrom spent a day last spring doing reconnaissance of a route from Winnipeg to Thief River Falls.

Nelson's goal is a return to the Winnipeg for 2015. 

Click to read more.

I'm thankful for snowmobiles and choppers.

I'm thankful for the inventive spirit that pervades the world of snowmobiling. 

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Aug. 2, 2013.

(Thanks to Minnesota Rob for the submission.)

Click below for a 1-minute transport back in time to 1980 (when you might have been listening to the radio and heard this commercial for the Arctic Cat El Tigre and Jag).

Adam Kuiken is an Arctic Cat Senior Test Engineer whose job is to develop and collect test data during product development.

It's amazing (to me) the kind of data he's able to collect, and how that translates into the machines we buy.

Click to read the interview with him.

I'm thankful that the human spirit naturally compels us to compete, no matter what the vehicle or circumstance.

I'm thankful that the dreaded "inside ski lift" is a rare occurance when these guys take to the race track.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, July 26, 2013.

I'm thankful it's Friday, July 19, 2013.

And I'm especially thankful that all kinds of people like Arctic Cat.

Last Friday, after 30 years of dedication to their jobs at Arctic Cat, Lauretta and Roy Blomker stepped out of their weekly routine and into retirement.

I enjoyed a nice conversation with both of them during which they talked about what a pleasure it's been to work for Arctic Cat customers (and the company).

Click to read.