This past weekend was the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival. If you’re not familiar, it’s a huge MTB race held in the northwoods of Wisconsin every year. It features a 40 mile race on Saturday as well as a 16 mile, and Sunday Crit-Cross, Poker Run, and Sunday funday events. All in all it’s pretty tough to not enjoy yourself with all the festivities.
And that has been true for me for the past nearly 2 decades. While for most it is just a race, for others it’s a whole lot more. To some it’s a Wisconsin Icon, it’s a MTB icon, an epic race, or even just another challenge. But for me, it’s a family tradition. Every year my family in some form or another has been up in Hayward in the early fall racing their mountain bikes. I have literally been there almost every year since I was born. In fact, it’s more than a family tradition, it’s a family identity. It always has been, and hopefully will continue to be for a long time.
And to make matters more special, this was the race’s 30th running. I remember as a little kid running around the bowl, looking at the helicopter, and waiting for my dad to ride in after completing “the most brutal race in the world”. I have so many memories about going up there, I could go on and on and on. But to sum it up, I’d say this. Every kid has that special place, or special memory which defines there idea of happiness as a kid. For me Chequamegon is that special place and those memories are how I define my perfect childhood. To drive my point home, this race means a lot more to me than any other.
So to say the least, I get a bit nervous. And this year was no exception. Coming into it after pushing through both a broken collar bone and Mono, I knew I was not going to have my best race possible. But I was hopeful for something I could be happy about. I’d go as far as to say I needed a good result to keep the spirits up. I lined up after a pretty solid warm up and got comfortable in the 5th or 6th row in Gate 1.
The race started up as it always did, with a slow roll down main street and then onto the highway. As the quads pulled away a few people tried to attack, as always. The pace on the start this year was fast as it usually is, but it lacked the aggressiveness it had in the last few years and instead there was an overwhelming sense of nervousness. There were a lot of tires rubbing, every few moments there would be someone grouching as the “braaaap” of the knobs grinding cried out. It was a very nervous time, but I stayed cool and held my position in the top few rows.
When we hit Rosie’s field, I gunned it and got to the front as best I could, rubbing elbows with Tristan and other childhood heroes. But by the time we started out on the trails, I was getting gassed. Maybe 5 miles in I was hurting and lost contact with the lead group as they pulled away. I was overtaken by a few riders and fell into the back of the second group on the trail. I was struggling to stay there, and everytime I felt better, I’d get hit with another hill or another attack. And I’d like to make it clear. There are two things that make the Chequamegon hard. First, each hill is like the main climb in a WORS race, and they come one after the other without relief. And second are the attacks. The attacks are more vicious than in any other race I’ve done, because this race really matters, and people fight for every spot. So needless to say, I was in the red.
I dropped off the second group on a climb and slowly faded back just as the group was catching Bryan Fosler, a KS Energy Services/ Team Wisconsin teammate. I checked my computer and I had a long way to go so I settled in an focused on getting my breathing and heart rate under control to bring myself back within my limits. Once I did that I set about trying to keep it on the limit to try and catch any riders dropping off or maybe even a group.
I mostly rode solo through Hwy OO and beyond. I picked up a few riders on Fire Tower, but they were only in sight at that point. Once I hit the Berkie Trail, I began to close on the riders in front of me, but so did the riders behind me. With a few miles to go a small group of 5 riders including myself formed but quickly broke up after some shuffling around on the logging roads before the Mt. Telemark climb. I got to the top right on the heels of Justin Piontek as we began the descent into the finish area. I pushed hard, giving it everything I had. I didn’t touch my brakes once in hot pursuit. But in the end I just couldn’t close the gap. I rolled in alone, as I spent much of the race, for a 25th place finish.
I wasn’t sure about my finish position when I was done, but I knew that I had given everything I had, and whatever spot I got, I earned it. When I finally found out it was 25th overall, I was pretty excited. It’s important to remember, that while Chequamegon isn’t the most important race of the year, it in some ways is to me. This is because it is to my parents. And I love making them proud. But I was also extremely happy with the result for myself too. I see that as the first awesome result after being injured. In fewer words: I’m back.Saturday night was filled with some good food on the grill, good beer, and good company as we celebrated with the team, friends and parents. But it was an early night to get ready for the Crit-Cross in the morning. A huge congratulation does go out to Bryan Fosler, one of my teammates, for placing 20th. It was cool to see him go up there and be recognized with the rest of the top finishes.
So I was up at the butt crack of dawn again on Sunday to head over to Telemark and race in the Cable Crit Cross. My history with this race is interesting. I race it every year, and as I’ve grown I’ve done better and better. But in last few years it’s been 2nd, or third. That win seems to elude me. After a 3 lap pre-ride, a fast 2 lap qualifier and a good warm up on the fund-raising trainer, I headed over for the finals. The course this year was different than before. Since changing to a Cross style race, the designers have struggled to make it a true CX course. But this year they’re starting to get it. More so than any year, the course suited a CX bike. But of course, I had my mountain bike. I started off fast and didn’t look back. I was able to pull away, but never really got away too much. I think I was about 5 seconds a lap faster than 2nd place. So when I dropped my chain on the last lap, I was in a hurry to get going again. Luckily I was able to get it on and win the race. Pretty stoked about that too. More than anything, It’s a free reserved entry into next year. That’s the best prize of all!
So the relative huge success of the weekend has me feeling awfully thankful and happy to make my family and sponsors proud. A huge thanks goes out to my mom and dad for always being proud and supportive. Of course the Team Wisconsin crew is a huge part of that support too. The support from KS Energy Services is unlike any I’ve ever had, and Trek is spot on supplying the team with the best bike around. And looking back, I realize I’ve never really thanked Emery’s a whole bunch. Emery’s has been there the whole time supporting us riders with gear and advice. I remember going through the bike buying process and I can tell you, they make it easy. They really did go the extra mile to make sure we were taken care of and ready to dominate the season. The whole team owes Brent and the whole crew at Emery’s a big thanks. If you need anything bike or Triathlon related head over there and be sure to mention my name and team and they’ll be sure to go the extra mile for you too.
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