For the next couple days I’m going to ride in this Arctic Cat Wildcat on a 400 mile trip to Thief River Falls.
The journey will begin in St. Cloud, Minn., with an overnight in the Akeley, Minn., area followed by the final push to TRF.
Except for a few short sections of ditch, the route will be entirely on gravel roads. Official road experts call the gravel/dirt combo of these roads “Class 5.” And since we like the sound of “rally,” we’ve decided to call this adventure the Class 5 Rally.
I keep saying “we.” My partner in this perfectly legal adventure is this guy, Pat Bourgeois, erstwhile editor of OSM and ATV World. Hopefully he won’t be wearing his snowmobile gear, since the temps are supposed to be around 90. I’m okay with the chicken hat though.
Pat wanted to call this trip “Thelma & Louise, the Sequel,” which I thought sounded a bit to feminine for my tastes.
The sun should beat down on us too much, thanks to the Arctic Cat Soft Top Kit.
A Half Windshield to look cool, and to move some of the wind off of us.
Rear storage bag to contain all of the sweet deals we hope to find at garage sales along the way, in addition to our essentials (cameras, fireworks, potato guns and a change of underwear).
Just in case we get lost, which is highly probable. We might even put the cap on the spout.
Some Maxxis meat. For kicking up a little dust, should the desire arise.
For checking out our wicked trail of dust, and to watch the RZRs trying to keep up.
We’ll be listening to Pat’s collection of Barry Manilow songs, courtesty of the P.C.I. Race Radio kit.
The PCI kit is a full communication system, with push-to-talk. I expect to hear, “Dude, you missed the turn again!” roughly 37 times per day.
So that’s what I’ve got cooking for the next few days. Look for a full-blown story sometime in the coming week or so.
In the meantime, wish us luck.
Thanks for reading.
How can this be legal? Don’t stop, hammer down… Watch out for smokeys…
Good luck and guys! I think I speak for more than just myself when I say that I’m a little jealous of the adventure you guys are about to experience. I hope you’ve packed a nice supply of AI decals too… just in case (I hear they have nearly as many uses as duct tape, except that they look even cooler).
Be sure to keep us posted, I can’t wait to read all about it!
Making the stop in Bemidji Sandberg? Its only a “few” extra miles from here to TRF! haha
I wish I had some free time this week…I would drive ahead of you guys and organize tailgate parties in some of the small towns you are passing through where all of your fans could paint their bellys metallic Arctic green and wave banners emblazened with words of encouragement as you pass by.
I’m with Tom R. We could scout out the best cheeseburger stops and make sure there was fuel etc. How many days will this take ? 200 miles / day ? WOW!
Yep, I’m jealous !!!
Chicken hat is better than boost! Love it! Good luck guys!
skinny pedal is on the right! have fun boys.
Be sure to say hi to cousin Joey from me once you get to Thief River Falls! And, if you happen to pass through Fourtown, stop and have a beer on Polly.
I was thinking what kind of shinanigans do you get when a Frenchman and Sandbag decide to take on a journey such as this..Let the dice, good times for sure, but bring some of that “anti monkey butt powder”…