Gophers and Cheese

I went to the Frankensteiners Ball 16 on Saturday, October 9th at the Isanti County Fairgrounds in Princeton, MN.  It's been a few years since I attended the show and I haven't been since it moved from the Anoka County Fairgrounds to this much bigger location.  It's a great collection of classic cars, hot rods, and rat rods with a splash of bikes and vans too.  Lots of kids attend in costume as candy is left in front of cars for a little early trick-or-treating. I'll spread the photos I took into 3 parts: Cars, bikes, and vans.  This post will have the most photos and I'll lead in with a photo that I think sums up the show pretty well.  Enjoy!

 Is it Moto Mania???  No, it's the next best thing... Vintage Torque Fest .

Will I actually go back and clean out my archives?  There's a lot of photos from past shows I haven't posted.  I don't know... maybe one day.  For now, enjoy another big batch from Vintage Torque Fest 2019.

Nearly 2 years ago, I finally made the trip to Dubuque, IA for Vintage Torque Fest .  It was definitely worth it.  If you've never been, it's a great mix of hot rods, motorcycles (including mini bikes!), music, and there's even camping available.  It's not just a show where you walk around and look at parked cars & bikes - there's action too, over two jam-packed days!  On top of all that, it's a fundraiser for a good cause .  I chose to camp and rode my Road King from Minneapolis to Dubuque.  You can pretty much follow the Mississippi River, and if you're on a motorcycle, I highly recommend you do for the scenery and curvy roads.

Here's my last batch of photos from the Polar Devils Vintage Racing last Saturday.  It was all fun and games until the vehicles started breaking down and the cops showed up.  Isn't that always the way??? I found a good spot to get a lot of the photos you see below, far away from the crowd, but found it odd when the cars and bikes stopped going by.  It was about 12:30 and the event was supposed to go from 10-3.  I walked back towards the starting line area and overheard people saying the event was shut down for lack of permits and saw a Sheriff on a snowmobile that seemed to be telling people to leave (last photo) so I headed out.  I have since heard it was due to COVID restrictions, not permit issues. I'll admit that it was nice to be out - to see, hear, and smell motorcycles and hot rods again.  Hopefully it was a small taste of things to come but, in the mean time, stay safe out there and try to look forward to fun days ahead.

While they weren't actually racing each other, occasionally seeing cars and bikes side-by-side on the track reminded me of Moto Mania.  This event actually had a bit of that Moto Mania fun-and-free-for-all vibe.  The only real restriction was trying to limit it to pre-1955 vehicles.  That didn't stop one or two newer models from sneaking onto the track but most seemed period correct.

Here are more photos from the Polar Devils Vintage Racing on Saturday.  There was a wide array of unique vehicles, all set up for snow and ice.  Towards the end of this set, you'll see Kevin Baas riding around on his knucklehead with a checkered flag.  I initially thought he was just holding it but I later saw a video where someone tossed the flag up in the air and it amazingly landed perfectly in his forks, as you'll see in the photos.  He rode a few laps like that.

After a few bitterly cold weeks here in Minnesota, the weather on Saturday could almost be described as beautiful, even though it was still below freezing.  It was sunny and felt warm(ish) but I was layered up.  The event drew a good-sized crowd, including families.  While it was outdoors, I still did my best to keep a safe distance from others.  I took most of my photos farther down the track, away from the crowded starting line.

On Saturday, February 20th, I headed just south of the cities for the first motorcycle event I've attended in over a year, ice racing on a frozen lake.  Under the banner of the Polar Devils, vintage (pre-1955) motorcycles and hot rods took to the ice for a little fun.  Over the rest of the week, I'll share a bunch of photos so check back daily.