2023 ARCTIC CAT SHARE THE RIDE – ERX MOTORPARK, ELK RIVER, MN
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I felt pretty fortunate to be able to represent ArcticInsider at the Arctic Cat Share the Ride event at ERX Motorpark in Elk River, Mn this weekend. As much as I love the thrill of riding snowmobiles, I equally enjoy meeting others emersed in the sport. I enjoy seeing/hearing about the snowmobiles you own, the rides and riding areas you’ve experienced, the photos and videos shared and just plain hangin out on a nice winter day with friends. These are all things Arctic Cat nailed with the Share The Ride event concept, and one I hope they continue throughout the season next year at varying popular snowmobile “hangouts”.
One of my favorite snowmobile hangouts is ERX Motorpark. If you’ve never been to ERX for a winter event, I urge you to put it on your list of must-attends next season. ERX packs the house with Thursday night grassroots snocross racing, hosts a National Snocross and even fills their 500 acre facility full of family snowmobile fun during the annual Midwest Ride-In.
Here’s a list of 2022 ERX Motorpark events…I highly recommend attending the Off-Road National in July.
When the snow melts though, you can check out a plethora of summer events too including one of my family’s favorites – The CHAMP Off-Road National truck and UTV races. As a motorsports enthusiast, Im really happy this location exists for all of us to enjoy and Im happy Arctic Cat chose this location for their Share the Ride event…here’s a look at my day.
It was great to have Willie Ewing’s “ThunderOne” on display under the ArcticInsider tent. Willie (green pit coat) talked to one of the first consumers on-site, Richard B (L of Willie). Richard has some pretty cool custom El Tigre’s which Ive featured on AI, and it was a pleasure to meet him in-person after exchanging many emails this year. My intent is to share a follow-up story on Willie documenting his trials and tribulations on the road to breaking a World Record riding 2,125.04 miles in 24hrs. It’s a fantastic story and testament to how well his 2022 Thundercat withstood some serious abuse during his “day ride” and performed incredibly. CLICK on this photo. It’ll take you to Willie’s 1Day4Kids website. You can follow his journey there and even donate to his fundraiser which will help send kids to bible camp.2,125.04 miles in 24hrs, AVG Speed 88.59mph, AVG Cruising Speed 100-105mph, Top Speed Used 116mph. Noice.The ZR8000, Norseman X 8000, Thundercat, RIOT 8000, ZR6000R XC, Blast M LTD and M8000 Mountain Cat represented the 2023 snowmobiles on display. Ill continue sharing Inside Look stories on all these models so keep visiting the site. Ive kinda got my eye on that Norseman X as one to order for 2023. It just does so many things right…2023 M8000 Mountain Cat in Medium Green/Spark Orange2023 Blast M LTD in Phantom/Spark Orange is a new Blast model this year featuring the narrow front end from the M8000 Mountain Cat/HardcoreThroughout the day Arctic Cat served food from local caterer, Serrano Brothers. Im pretty sure I ate my weight in their Italian pasta salad and 8 dozen chocolate chip cookies. I should be ashamed, but Im not. Have I ever shared the story of eating 9 cans of Ravioli? Nevermind…I enjoyed watching the groups go out and experience running laps around the track at ERX. An opportunity most don’t get to have. The snow here was extensive as the motor park hosted the National Snocross race the week before. https://www.arcticinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_2998-1.movA quick video of the above group taking a handful of laps. The sound of that Wildcat with twin Decker pipes brought me back to my youth. I remember our neighbor buying one when introduced, and I was in awe and jealousy every time he fired it up.This is Troy Halvorson. He’s the Director of Product Strategy for Arctic Cat snowmobiles and has been featured many times on ArcticInsider in his varying roles throughout his career at Arctic Cat. Troy is a true rider and he literally jumped at the chance to ride Kirk Hibbert’s P.U.T.S (Pipes Under The Seat) ZR race sled owned by Tom Rowland at Thomas Sno Sports.One thing I admire about the Arctic Cat snowmobiles in Tom Rowland’s collection is that he rides them, and allows others to ride them. Many times Tom has told me, “These were built to be ridden, and that’s what we should do when we own them.” https://www.arcticinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/IMG_3013.movIt was fun to watch Troy rip some laps and hear that Ol #41 howl through its twin tunnel dump exhaust.This guy was ripping a different pipe…one with smells of cherry tobacco that took me back to my youth and remembrances of my dad and his pipe. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed this great day. Thank you Arctic Cat. I hope you continue these events next season.
