I-500

[Jesse]

Word is that the powers that be are setting up the 2012 I-500 from Winnepeg to Saint Paul, just like it used to be. I am very interested in running this on my '68 ski doo. I know, Arctic Cat and Polaris sleds were way more advanced at the time, but thats not what I'm worried about at this point. What I would like to know is this: Are they actually going to do it? The official I 500 website doesn't say anything, and I can't get a straight answer out of anyone else that is in the know about these sorts of things. Are any of you guys on this board involved with cross country racing? Do you guys know anything about this race?

Thanks in advance!
Jesse

 

[t660redrocket]

This has been talked about for years.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

Jesse, I have a book called Vintage Racing-1967 to 1973 and it has pictures of the I 500. That must have been an incredible challenge with those old machines and technology of the day. Everyone of those drivers and machines looked completely "used up" by the end of the race.

I recall that Rhinelander also had a smaller version of this, maybe held on a track, but still a long endurance effort. HODAG 500? Anybody?

There's a short mention of the World Jump Record too. Apparently they had a ramp that would launch the sled and driver depending on the take-off speed. There's no word of distances, but they said it only lasted one or two years because they ran out of drivers and sleds for the event. Sheesh!

 

[G]

Cannot believe it is possible. Border issues, MN DNR, insurance, land use etc. We live in different times.

 

[Jesse]

I'm not so sure it is possible either. But if it does happen, there is no way I can stand on the sidelines and watch everyone go by. There is something about older sleds that seems so much cooler to me than the way things are today. It took real skill to ride them, fix them, and plan for a big trip. Now any average Joe can go out for a 150 mile ride in one day and never have a single problem. This is great and its fun to go out and not have to worry about any problems, but it just isn't the same.

 

[G]

Jesse - Go and find yourself a 1977 Polaris TXL. You know, steel skis with leaf springs, no IFS, cleated track, about 3 inches of travel in the rear suspension. Then go out and ride it wide open in an ungroomed ditch for about 10 miles. I bet you won't think it was so great anymore. The guys that raced the original 500s were ironmen. The guys that won the 500 were very lucky ironmen. Nowadays the few cross country races that are left are run on groomed ditches or trails. Cross country is not a big deal anymore mainly because it is basically un-televisable. Snow-Cross is much more TV friendly even though it only represents a very small part of what snowmobiling is. There is a guy near here that took third in one of the original 500's. He can't walk anymore.....

 

[Jesse]

Oh I understand riding those things, they are not easy to ride all day long, let alone 500 or so miles. Lets get past the fact that it is really hard, I would still try to do it if it was 1000 miles. Hopefully someone will come by and give me a straight "No, we won't do this race ever again" or "Yes, we are planning on it for sure" Then I can plan on doing some other race someday (or not). You never know, race directors look at snowfall too!

Gary, have you seen some of the old Arctic cat race videos from the early
70's? Some of those guys still rolling with one ski were totaly nuts! good thing those el tigres had nice smooth bellypans. I even read about one guy that broke a throttle cable, so he wired it wide open and would tap the kill switch to slow down. Thats as BA as it gets.

 

[bearrassler]

They are running a one day vintage cross country race with the Red Lake I-500 this year. It is ditch riding like the old I-500 was. The web site is usccracing.com if you want to get any information on it.

 

[united]

Looks like biggest 2 stroke allowed to race is 600 cc or smaller. 4 stroke can be up to 1050cc. That does not seem to be a level playing filed and why no 7 or 8 two strokes?

 

[Jesse]

I know they restrict it to 600 cc to keep the speed down a bit, I guess there are some straight shots that people get really hauling on. You are right though, why would they allow over 1000 cc for four strokes? Rules are a little unclear sometimes, especially if you don't know the background behind them. The only reason I could think of is that most new four strokes have really high cc ratings but might not be lots faster despite the fact. The classes are seperate anyways, so maybe they don't care if the four strokes could potentially run a bit faster.

 

[skidont]

They want yamaha to come play and they feel the nytro is pretty equal to a 600 2 stroke , it hasn't won or even came close so it stays in the class