From the Minnesota DNR:
Planning resumes for OHV recreation area expansion at Virginia
The public is invited to share their thoughts about the design plans for the addition to the Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area (OHVRA) with citizen advisory committee members and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resourcse (DNR) at a committee meeting on Tuesday, July 22.
The meeting will be at held at 6 p.m. at the Mountain Iron Community Center, 8586 Enterprise Drive South, just south of Highway 169 between Mineral Avenue and Mud Lake Road.
The 11 members of the advisory committee will discuss recommendations for developing and using this new 2,500-acre site near Virginia. Project planners and site designers will also share their recommended design plan for the site. They will also summarize issues and options that they considered in selecting a final design plan.
Public review of the proposal will continue until Sept. 15.
“The Iron Range OHVRA has been operating on former minelands near Gilbert since 2005,” said Les Ollila, DNR regional trails and waterways manager in Grand Rapids. “The Legislature authorized the addition of the 2,500-acre site east of Virginia in 1999, but planning was slowed by continuing negotiations with land and mineral owners.”
When completed, the Gilbert and Virginia sites will be linked via an OHV trail under Highway 135. Both sites will feature recreational trails and riding areas specially designed for OHV use. Construction on the Virginia addition to the OHVRA is expected to begin in 2009, following revisions to the facility’s master plan and completion of a project environmental assessment.
To review draft site designs or to submit written comments, contact DNR planner Brian McCann by calling (651) 259-5627 or toll free 1-888-MINNDNR (646-6367), or at brian.mccann@dnr.state.mn.us. The DNR Web site, brian.mccann@dnr.state.mn.us. The DNR Web site, www.mndnr.gov or www.findthetrails.com and have more information about this proposal.
It’s not to late to get the kids registered in one of the Youth Safety Training classes scheduled for this summer! There are classes spread out all across the Iron Range but where ever you live, you can find a training class near you.
If you need help or just questions about how to get started you can check the DNR website, ATVAM.org, and/or ask me and I’ll help you through it the best I can. I’m a State Certified Youth Safety Trainer and promote youth safety 100%.
Listed below is the summer Youth Training Schedule, I hope you still have room in your busy schedules to get the kids signed up to attend. If your weekends are full, there are some classes during the weekdays. If the mornings are full there are classes in the evening. Whatever works for you and your family will be time well spent at one of these classes.
The class is easy, interesting and fun. The kids will spend some time watching a DVD and answering questions and about 4-6 hrs of hands on training depending on the class size.
For additional class information or local instructor contacts, please check the All Terrain Vehicle Association of Minnesota website at www.atvam.org. For general information on ATV safety training call (888) 646-6367 or (651) 296-6157.
Mine is SPEEDWERX.com (651.982.6020)
Clutch kits, CDI boxes, Exhaust, Apparel, Tires, etc…..
Being one of the few out there with a new Arctic Cat Thundercat 1000, I was suprised to see an ad about a new line of performance parts. The company had the Thundercat on the list of machines in which they have performance accessories for. They were right!
In “awe” of actually finding a vendor that makes performance parts for the new Thundercat, I forgot the gentleman’s name that I talked to! But when you call (651.982.6020) there you won’t get an automated recording and have to push 50 different combinations of numbers to talk to someone. When I called they answered the phone on the first ring & had all the time I required to talk about what is best for my machine and/or style of riding! They have a full line of ARCTIC CAT and POLARIS performance parts and they’ll even tell you what they’re working on that isn’t released yet. Not convienced that SPEEDWERX is the company to do business with yet??? Check out they’re website www.speedwerx.com, find what your looking for and read all the info on the products they have. If you’re still unsure, they have a tech line you can call and talk to them about your question. They even recommend that in some/most cases you should call them BEFORE ordering to be sure your set up right the first time.
My order is on the way!!!
Let me know your favorite performance accessory…
We didn’t break the World Record for Minnesota at the ATV Parade in Silver Bay but it was a good time had by all!
Everyone I talked to in Silver Bay had a great time. Can-am and Polaris showed up with there race and demo trailers. Can-am was letting people take test rides on a full line of ATVs they have out. The hotels, restaurants and bars were full all weekend and were overly nice to us. I haven’t gotten an email from ATVAM yet on the final numbers from the weekend but as the news and news papers reported we ended up with 1084 machines riding in the parade, about 50 short! It was a bummer to hear that after all the work everyone had put into it. It was a learning experience for ATVAM and all of us on what it takes to get that many machines together, but now we know what we have to do to beat the WORLD RECORD next time.
Share your pictures and stories from your weekend at the ATV parade!
Thanks to everyone that came up and said “hi”, hope to hear from you!
Just a quick note…I uploaded some ATV parade photos on my MySpace and Facebook pages. I’ve posted a couple here, but check out my other photos, too, on MySpace and Facebook. And, don’t forget to leave me a note and let me know where you are planning to ride on the Iron Range this weekend!
I plan to blog a little more about the ATV parade when I get a spare moment here. But, if you were in attendance, let me know what you thought. I had a great weekend!
It’s set to be a great weekend of ATV’ing in Silver Bay this weekend! It’s not very often we get this many ATVs together for a weekend of fun. The fun starts Friday afternoon at the AmericInn parking lot (in Silver Bay) with registration.
I’m meeting the crew from Northern Traxx ATV club in Chisholm at noon on Friday to load machines. Pat from P.R.O. Trucking is pulling all our machines up to Silver Bay with his Peterbilt! It will be quite the site to see the BIG RIG pull into the AmericInn parking lot with a full trailer of machines (16+) for the parade. That will be hard to top!
Be sure to stop by and say “hi” and see all the machines from Northern Traxx Friday evening and Saturday during the day in the AmericInn parking lot. We’ll have our banners hanging from the semi and I’ll be there with the crew getting our machines ready for the parade.
I’ve listed the schedule for this weekend in case you’ve missed it.
See you in Silver Bay to break the world record for the longest ATV parade in history!
Friday June 13, 2008
3 - 9 p.m. Registration in front of the AmericInn Motel on Hwy # 61
Saturday June 14, 2008
6:00 am Silver Bay Fire Dept Pancake Feed (Fire Hall)
7:30 am Registration and Staging for Parade (please come early so we have time to line up ATV’s for parade)
11:15 am ATV Parade
Northern Helicopter will be giving rides throughout the day for a fee
3 - 6 p.m. All you can eat buffet for $10.00 a person at the Union Hall provided by Zup’s in Silver Bay
6:30 - 7 p.m. Announcements, Legislative update at the Sports Arena
7 - 9 p.m. Famous ATVAM Auction at the Sports Arena
9 p.m. - 12 a.m. Dance to the “Northern Lights”; 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s at the Union Hall
Thank you for your support of ATVing in Minnesota!
Be sure to check back for photos of this awesome event!
I went out and did some test runs with the Northern Traxx ATV club’s pull sled yesterday and shot some video when I was out there.
I posted them on YouTube for everyone to see.
Here are the links to each of the test runs:
Test Run 1
Test Run 2
Test Run 3
It’s a great time to hop on the ATV trails on the Iron Range right now! Everything is nice and green and it’s not too hot or too cold outside!
Be sure to keep checking back & let me know where you’re planning to ride on the Iron Range!
Where did you ride this past weekend?
On Saturday morning, our group left from Chisholm, did our bi-annual highway clean-up, rode up to Hwy 5 Bar & Grill for lunch, continued to River Side in the Side Lake area and headed back to Chisholm about dark. Another group I talked to left from Virginia and made a full day of riding on the trails between Virginia to the Britt Lounge.
Everyone I talked to said the trails conditions all across the Range were GREAT! It will be hard to beat the great weather we had on this Memorial Day weekend! Saturday was almost 80 degrees all day with a late night thunderstorm that was cleared out by Sunday morning. The rain late Saturday night really helped knock down the dust for the Sunday afternoon ride. With the wet spring and then a week of dry nice weather, you could play in endless mud holes or stay high and dry on the trails. Either way it was a weekend for the books!!! I have to mention NOT one mosquito bite over the weekend, but from here on out I’d recommend a good bug and tick spray for every ride……
Meet me and the crew from the Northern Traxx ATV Club up the North Shore in Silver Bay! Though I mostly ride on the Iron Range, I’m a member of ATVAM and I’ve gotta tell you about this great event.
ATVAM is hosting an ATV PARADE to celebrate its 25th anniversary. We are planning to break the WORLD record for the most ATVs in a parade. The Parade is being held in Silver Bay, MN, on Saturday, June 14th. Our goal is to have 2500 ATVs to participate in the parade. So grab your family, friends & buddies and plan on making history with us this year in Silver Bay!!!
For more information you can contact me or visit: http://www.atvparade.com/.
Preregister before Saturday and get a free Memorabilia T-Shirt. (you may register anytime up until the event).
See you in Silver Bay the weekend of June 14th!!!
Don’t let the forecast stop you!!!
The forecast for the coming weekend isn’t bad for riding the trails here on the Iron Range. Friday is calling for a 50% chance of rain (perfect dust control for Saturday). Saturday is 45 degrees, Sunday is 55 and sunny. Whatever the weather, I’ll be out riding! Last weekend I was up by the Thistledew Camp and had a great time on the trails up there. We rode for over 6 hrs and never had to ride on the same trail twice. With awesome sand trails winding through the huge growths of Pine trees, this area is perfect for ATV riding.
This weekend? I’m probably going east right out of the Hibbing/Chisholm area. Final destination? Liquid Larry’s in Kinney. The ride to Liquid Larry’s is great, you can stay high and dry or get full of mud. Either way, Larry (owner of Liquid Larry’s) will welcome you and your crew in for refreshments and some great chow. If your wondering about fueling up or grabbing more ice, you’ll be going through the north side of Buhl and riding right by a convenient gas station.
If you’re planning to ride on the Iron Range this year, let me know where you’re planning to hop on the trail…and let me know when you’re headed this way.
See you on the trails!
