Chequamegon Fat Tire Festive (aka the Fat Tire 40)
Early this year I had the notion of doing the Wisconsin trifecta which I define as the Birkie, Downer Ave, and the Fat Tire 40. So, this notion is well before I ever heard of the horrible hilly and other nostalgic events (Wisconsin Iron Man) , I’ll remind you this was pre-internet. But back in the early 90’s these were the most prestigious events for non-traditional sportspersons.
So as the snow fell late December of 2008, I made it my goal to take part in each event. This last weekend was the culmination of almost a year of training with the Chequamegon Fat Tire festival. The event takes place in Hayward and basically runs the Birkie Ski trail in the opposite direction (minus the lake crossing). The total mileage is 40 miles that span a variety of surfaces and trail types. With that said there was asphalt, gravel, dirt, grass trails, single track, sand, and then there is the glorious fire tower hill.
There were two big lessons doing the ride for the first time.
1. Get up early and get your bike to the start line.
2. Camel backs rule when they have tools and liquid in them.
My goal was to ride the trail in 3 hours, which seemed reasonable, but as I read more and learned more about this race, the 3 hour goal seemed unreasonable, but I stuck to the goal.
Three moments:
1- Sealy Fire Tower Trail was shocking – why, because at the bottom of it, it appeared like the bean stalk that Jack climbed to meet the giant.
2- Two miles to go, One mile to go – the limit of perceived effort can you say leg cramps and pure psycho babble
3- A broken seat – From mile 25 to the end my seat began to function erratically, or erotically depending on if you were the seat or not.
Every fast downhill vibrated the seat so the nose of the seat pointed to the sky. For me not a preferred position. So with all the trials and tribulations, I crossed the line, my time registered 3:02, I was pretty happy.
Jim (Road Racer Cat 3)