Chequamegon Fat Tire 40: Part 1

The big event that has been on my calendar since early 2011 has come and gone. I am left with some seriously sore legs, a big sense of accomplishment, a bit of disappointment and a few "what if's", but overall I am quite happy with how the day went.

Race day started at 6:30 am when Andy, a fellow Johnnie, and I headed out to put our bikes in line for the start of the race. The start of the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 is a mass start with the only guaranteed spots at the front given to those with prior race results in either the Fat Tire 40 or similar races to justify a place with the fast guys/gals. Needless to say, my prior race results guaranteed no such priority! People start putting their bikes in line by 4:00 am to guarantee a spot towards the front. Surprisingly, we were probably at about the halfway point of the pack when we put our bikes in line. After dropping our bikes we headed back to Grand Pines to get dressed, choke down some breakfast and attempt to suppress the nerves.

We had about three hours between dropping our bikes and the start of the race at 10:00am. It was nice to not be rushed and to be able to eat, pack for the day and sort through the right clothes to wear. I also found myself pacing aimlessly though as my mind tried to comprehend what laid in front of me.

The part of the race I was most nervous about was the start.  One of the biggest things I struggle with when racing is riding my own race, trying not to get caught up in the pace of the riders around me, the adrenaline dump at the start, and worrying whether or not I am holding up other racers.  One of the downfalls of doing a majority of my mtn biking alone is that I am not accustomed to having someone on my wheel at all times and when I am riding in a pack I tend to get over anxious about the rider behind me and I forget to concentrate on my race/ride.  So with 1,900 other racers, chances were pretty good that I was always going to have someone on my wheel, unless I went really, really slow.

Wondering what 1,900 mountain bike racers looks and sounds like?  Check out the video!

Chequamegon 2011 from Butter on Vimeo.


Luckily for me, the start went off without a hitch.  Andy was not so lucky.  His day was almost ended within 300 yards of leaving the starting chute.  As we rolled out, a rider that for some reason was super paranoid about the space around him, gave Andy an elbow that Hulk Hogan would be proud of.  As a result, Andy was sent careening towards the curb.  Luckily, he managed to avoid an endo and recovered nicely to race a great race.  The 3 mile pavement lead out to Rosie's field and the start of the off-road portion of the trail would be the last I would see of Andy.  The real race for me was about to begin.