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Haydays 2010: What You Might Have Missed

Only 12 miles to go

Yes, the biggest story of the weekend was the Saturday traffic jam to get there. It would be comical were it not so extraordinarily frustrating for thousands and thousands of people. Reports of a 10-15-mile line of traffic… people waiting an hour just to move 100 yards… and even ONE person uttering an f-bomb… emerged. Around 1pm on Saturday, Minn. State Patrol essentially “shut down” any further hopes of attending and told people to turn around and go home. Not good. 

plenty of parking... or not?

Hard to say if there was enough parking or not? As an aside, getting to Haydays on Sunday was a snap. I arrived at 10 am, driving straight to the parking entrance without one extra second of traffic.

 

New Old Stock?

Once you did get into to the new digs, it was business-as-usual, with a feast for your eyes, ears and nose. One of the first things to capture my attention was this Jag/M sled, built by Todd Hunter of Sly Dog.

 

The Panther Arctic Cat dared NOT to build

For me, the best part of Haydays has always been the swap meet, so that’s where I spent a major chunk of the weekend. This custom 793 Panther explains why the swap is the cultural epicenter of this massive event.

 

Sensational custom Arctic Cat Z racer

Who says that engineering stalled on on leaf-spring racers? Sleds like this absolutely thrill me. Do they have the same affect on 20-somthings?

 

Arctic Cat el Tigre

Haydays is loaded with diamonds amongst the rubble. This stunning ’73 Arctic Cat el tigre is one of dozens of examples.

 

Trio of Arctic Cat EXTs

Same goes for these sensational Arctic Cat EXTs. Lovely.

 

The new Grass Cat?

I love the beauties and beasts in equal measure. This little number merged the work/play sensibilites of a Grass Cat/Arctic Cat, and could be ridden away for a measly $800.

 

Ditch Bangers?

The ditch banger specials were going for a paltry sum. Maybe not all would-be buyers agreed that these two were destined for ditch approaches?

 

Original M-10 spenny

Yep, Haydays and other swaps are wonderful because they’re a trip back in time. Walking past this colorful M-10 rear suspension, I was whisked away to 1992. Anyone think that neon pink, purple and green are ripe for a comeback?

 

Arctic Cat minibike

I’m not sure I’m ready for neon, but I’d love a reprisal of Arctic Cat minibikes. I wonder how many road rashes this little number caused for helmetless lads in the ’70s?

 

Hood River

I’m amazed at the number of hoods, seats and suspensions some of the swappers have. Are these swappers getting parts from insurance companies or something? Seriously, how do they accumulate such inventories?

 

Arctic Cat Kitty Sno Pro

“Dad, I want to race Kitty Cats on the oval circuit this year, but only if it’s on an immaculate repro of a 1979 Sno Pro.”

 

A little sweaty in the swap

Rain on Friday night prior to the event caused a wee bit of moisture in some of the swap’s low-lying areas. It dried out by mid-day on Saturday, with only 17 people having fallen face-first in the muck. The average BAC of these face-planters was 0.14.

 

Need a seat for your old Arctic Cat Jag?

There’s plenty to eat at Haydays, although the food prices sometime seem a little steep. But there are always less-expensive options for food in the swap, like this aged cheddar that was selling for $5/pound. Tasty.

 

Arctic Cat Sno Pros, barely ridden

Haydays has long been an outlet for “lightly ridden” race sleds. These Arctic Cat Sno Pros from the Sobeck crew did battle last season in USCC cross-country.

 

Glen Plake rides Arctic Cat

Lots to see at Haydays. Just don’t make eye-contact with some of the people.

 

Tires for your Arctic Cat wheeler

Haydays has a deserved reputation for having a lot of junk sellers, as well as vendors who are pedalling non-sled stuff. When space is limited, there should be a qualification that all vendors/sellers have snowmobile stuff. This guy was all tired out by Sunday.

 

Christian Bros. Racing rig

Race transporters like this puppy from Christian Bros. Racing have been part of the Haydays spectacle for the past decade. Lots of dealing, contract conversations and snowmobile racing culture to absorb in the “race team area.” And lots of racers claiming they’ve been training all summer.

 

In the Fox booth

The Fox Shox booth has a lot of traffic. Jim (left) from sledRacer.com and Mark (right) from Fox share a laugh about their days at Sno-X magazine.

 

Dreaming of winter

Haydays is the de facto Minnesota snowmobile show, and it’s always great to see people “kicking the tires” and figuring out how to convince mom that a new sled is needed for the coming winter.

 

Thomas Sno Sports

Thomas Sno Sports always has good deals on sleds and clothing, plus something from their mind-boggling collection of collectable Cats. Plus owner Tom is likely one of the most knowledgeable people you will ever meet. And the nicest.

 

Country Cat

Likewise, the folks from Country Cat were dealin’ all weekend long on new and used stuff.

 

Todd Sandberg at the Speedwerx booth

Todd Sandberg (no relation) built this custom Arctic Cat ATV as a tribute/memorial to all of the Minnesota soldiers who have given their life in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It was on display in the Speedwerx booth.

 

Speedwerx 730 kit for the Arctic Cat Sno Pro 500

Speaking of which, lots of traffic at Speedwerx as is usual. The 730cc Kit for the Sno Pro 500 is now truly complete and running. Yes, we’re going to ride it.

 

Mike Houle

Legendary oval and ice lemans racer Mike Houle was hanging out briefly in the Speedwerx booth, wearing the colors of his favorite companies. Mike is still involved with oval racing, building and setting up sleds for several top Ski-Doo racers.

 

Don't mess with Texas

People watching is a Haydays highlight. This guy was going to kick my butt until I told him that I’d make him famous. I learned long ago not to mess with Texas.

 

Who's this f.h.u.c.-s.t.i.c.?

I don’t want to start anything, but this is the guy who is singlehandedly responsible for the Saturday traffic jam at Haydays. His name is Rodney, and he’s really into draggan’. More importantly, however, he runs one of the THE COOLEST racing circuits in the free world, with the most entertaining snowmobile Website on the planet (yes, even more entertaining than arcticinsider). Is it just me, or does he look like a blind person with a walking stick?

 

Racing at Haydays

The grass drags remain central to the Haydays experience. Arctic Cat racers did their fair share of winning (I’ll make a separate post when the race results are made known).

 

Inside the Arctic Cat booth

Lots to dream and wish for at the Arctic Cat booth.

 

One Millionth Arctic Cat

The 1 Millionth Arctic Cat (a Crossfire  800 LE) was on display in the Arctic Cat booth.

 

Team Arctic autograph signing

The always-popular Team Arctic autograph signing was especially cool this year, with a backdrop of winning Sno Pro sleds parked behind them.

 

Get Schooled by Bret

Bret Rasmussen was WAY busy all weekend long, booking Ride Rasmussen Style riding schools for the coming winter and answering questions about his sweet turbo’d M8.

 

Arctic Cat Wedding

There was much hype about a big announcement at the Arctic Cat booth on Saturday.

 

Arctic Cat Wedding

To help with the hype, free tuxedo t-shirts were given away to the crowd. Someone-who-shall-remain-nameless accidentally rifled one at Andy from Snow Goer magazine. Sorry Andy.

 

Arctic Cat Wedding

The t-shirts were to help celebrate a historic wedding, between Mother Nature and Arctic Blast Guy.

 

Arctic Cat Wedding

The ceremony was interrupted by Team Arctic’s Tucker Hibbert, who announced to the crowd that he will contest the entire ISOC National Snocross circuit this season! Not surprisingly, the crowd cheered the news. Then Tucker threw down a killer rendition of “Honkey Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones, and the crowd went CRAZY.

 

Arctic Cat Wedding

Consumated!

Thanks for reading, folks.

(To see a 3-minute news video about the Haydays traffic fiasco, watch THIS. )

 

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25 COMMENTS

  1. Well, now I feel like I was at Hay Days…. : ) Thanks for the tour! All I saw at Hay days was the back end of Ford F150 for an hour and a half…Any pics of the 2011 Sno Pro 600 race sled? Was it unveiled? Any changes?

  2. Why does Tucker’s stage stunt remind me of Kanye West and Taylor Swift with a little bit of “LeBron’s bringing his talents to….” mixed in? Any more pics of Mother Nature? She looks much better in person.

  3. Thanks alot Mr. Sandberg, I had a good thing going with the “blind man delivering newspapers” routine. You blew it for me. Now I am homelss.

  4. Pleasure to have met you John! GREAT recap. Wish I could have made it there Saturday….if I had only waited another 4 hours I may have gotten a glimpse of the parking lot. Sunday was much better and I enjoyed myself immensely.

  5. Went to my first Hayday! Only took me 2.5 hrs to go the last 4 miles. To me, it was more fun than winning the Eagle River World Championship! We’ll be back for sure next year, and I’m sure they’ll have the bugs worked out!

    Was disapointed that Arctic Cat didn’t have their parts semi-truck. I had a list of things I would have liked to buy.

  6. my buddies and i walked 11-12 miles to get into haydays, two cops told us to turn around but we didnt drive 6 hours to have to turn around, i wasnt going to miss haydays and i would do it all over again, we did get a ride on the way back that was nice, it took us the same amount of time to drive from home to the cities as it did to drive from st paul to haydays. it was well worth it though. anyone know where i can get one of those arctic cat tuxedo t-shirts since i didnt make it to the wedding in time ha those things are awsome.

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  8. hi stefan, it was just ok. tyacipl taiwanese tourist trap i thought. olivia did enjoy the mini-train train, other than that there’s really not much else there. however, it’s always nice to get out of the city especially when it’s sunny!

  9. hi stefan, it was just ok. tyacipl taiwanese tourist trap i thought. olivia did enjoy the mini-train train, other than that there’s really not much else there. however, it’s always nice to get out of the city especially when it’s sunny!

  10. hi stefan, it was just ok. tyacipl taiwanese tourist trap i thought. olivia did enjoy the mini-train train, other than that there’s really not much else there. however, it’s always nice to get out of the city especially when it’s sunny!

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  12. I grew Kale in my garden this year. Bought the ptlans at an area garden store, they all came and I am still picking it. I have froze it by parboiling it, put in cold water and put it in zip loc bags to put in stews. Want to do some dehydrating for chips. I also am interested in some recipes. found your article in Yankee magazine at my dentist’s office. the recipe is a kale salad with cranberries, feta and walnuts. Thank You, Cindy http://gvqyjjtym.com [url=http://tzcskmbwtzu.com]tzcskmbwtzu[/url] [link=http://fqxyaanzj.com]fqxyaanzj[/link]

  13. I grew Kale in my garden this year. Bought the ptlans at an area garden store, they all came and I am still picking it. I have froze it by parboiling it, put in cold water and put it in zip loc bags to put in stews. Want to do some dehydrating for chips. I also am interested in some recipes. found your article in Yankee magazine at my dentist’s office. the recipe is a kale salad with cranberries, feta and walnuts. Thank You, Cindy http://gvqyjjtym.com [url=http://tzcskmbwtzu.com]tzcskmbwtzu[/url] [link=http://fqxyaanzj.com]fqxyaanzj[/link]

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