Chequamegon 40

A race report by our good friend Gianni. Perhaps the secretary would feel so inclined to provide him with the instructions necessary to acquire his very own posting privileges.

Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival

Thanks to an invitation from Lindsay Gauld, I had the opportunity to race 40 miles off road from Hayward to Cable, Wisconsin last Saturday, along with Marty Halprin, Jeoff Chipman, and Blair Saunders (superfast former Winnipegger/national road team member, now from Delaware). The race is part of a 2-day festival that is one of the oldest mountain bike races in the world, started in 1983. The field limit is 1700, but is typically exceeded. Sunday has an orienteering race, an off-road crit and some fun events (like pulling a log up a hill as far as you can). And there’s a beer tent.

This event was incredibly fun and incredibly well-organized. Dr. H. told me he’s interested in doing the event someday, a sentiment that might be common amongst other FGBCers, so here’s what I can report that might be of interest:

1. The start is on Main Street, Hayward. I got there 3 hours before the start to see that about 800 people had already queued up their bikes by placing them upside down in the starting chute. I picked my way through the mess and ended up starting about 400th. Once the race started, it was a seething, knobby-buzzing mass of cyclists the likes of which I have never experienced. I started around about the 400-500th mark. In the photo of the start below, I am right in the middle (orange cambelback, baby blue perogy power jersey), and the photo only shows the first third of the field. Oh, and because this requires getting up/to the start at 6 a.m., driving down to the race on Thursday night (instead of Friday) is a really good idea.
2. Because the start is on pavement, it is fast. Really fast. 52km/h. This seemed to punish the singlespeeders (many of whom were riding 36x16), but they caught up eventually.
3. The race is mostly on fire roads and the Birkie ski trail (about 15 feet wide). However, there are usually only 1 or 2 good lines through corners. Because of the number of riders, you can’t pick your line. Oh, and it’s really rocky. So suspension would have been nice. I had a rigid fork and used about 28 psi in my 29 x 2.1” tires.
4. The bumps and bad lines = lots of loose water bottles. Usually about 30 of them at the bottom of each downhill. A Camelbak is definitely the way to go.
5. The average speed is fast… winner (Jonathon Page) averaged 30km/h, I average a much-less immoderate 23 km/h, ending up 707th in just over 3 hours.
6. The course is very sandy. So sandy that my bike hardly functioned afterwards (partially due to how wet it was). If you are keen to do the Sunday events, the more ability you have clean your bike up, the better. Taking a bucket and some sponges, lots of lube, perhaps some new cables and housing, brake pads, etc. would be a very good idea. There is a bike wash, but it was insignificant given the amount of gunk I was faced with on my bike.

A really great event which I would love to do again. Entry to the race is determined by a lottery, so you have to get yourself registered early – www.cheqfattire.com.