Surly and I met up at Cedar Lake yesterday to check out the ice races. I was wondering on the way over if they were going to have any sidecars and, sho - nuff, they did. I talked to a couple of the guys about the bikes. Three of the rigs were just set up with a third wheel. The Sportster in the top photo was actually set up for a passenger. However, the course they ran on was just an oval, so all a passenger would do for you would be additional weight over the drive wheel. The sidecars can run screws in the front wheel only, so they don't build up too much speed. Apparently the trick is to cut slits in the knobbies to get a little more traction and refine the handling by moving the sidecar wheel for or aft as needed.
In addition to the sidecars, they raced quads and solo rigs. Most of the racing was without spikes around the oval. Not real exciting to watch when you're standing on the ice in 15 degree weather. The bikes with spikes, however, that was a whole different story. Instead of running just on the small oval, they raced on a big slalom course - and race they did. One guy took off and left the pack but he dropped out before the half way point in the race. He was flat gettin' it. Most of the rest of the racers were no slouches either.
This is the first ice race I've been to since the early 70's here at the same venue. There were a few years back then when there wasn't enough ice to race and I guess everyone gave up. They started back up again a few years ago. Glad I went, in spite of the cold. I was dressed warm but my feet were getting cold about the time the main was over. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow again so I'm planning on heading back out to the shop to do a little more on my rig.
The group that put the show on can be found on Facebook: MotoOnIce Cedar Lake, if you're interested.
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