The 31st annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival was this past weekend in the north woods of Wisconsin. This race attracts 2500 participants from around the world. 1700 in the 40 mile race from Hayward to Telemark Resort and 800 in the short and fat 16 mile race from Cable to Telemark.
The race is double track and gravel road dominated with a few rocky challenges thrown in. But what makes it truly a mountain bike race is the sheer size of the hills and rocks. It turns out; everything is bigger in the north woods of Wisconsin.
Team Wisconsin was painted all over the front of the race. Here is some great video coverage.
Leading the charge was Joe Maloney who battled in the front group for most of the race, falling off the pace in the last few miles. He finished 9th place overall about 45 seconds off the winner, Brian Matter.
Next came the Duo of Tim Racette and Mike Wenzel who rode with teammate Bryan Fosler in the second pack on course. Tim drove the second group, placing 27th overall with Mike Wenzel 15 seconds off his wheel in 28th place. Bryan Fosler fell a few minutes back from that to place 40th. All three were ever present at the front, especially in the first few miles protecting Joe and delivering him to front group.
Also joining the top 100 club was Tyson Hausdoerffer in 72nd place. A very respectable finish. He was closely followed by Jason Balden who started in the last gate and moved up all the way to 90th place before the 40 miles ran out. These two packed up early in time for Tyson to race the Lake Geneva CX race in which Tyson took the W for the second weekend in a row. 2 exceptional finished for him in one weekend.
Next came Tedd Jacobson in 161st. Royce Breckon in his first Chequamegon conquered it in a time of 2:26:51.6 good for 166th overall. If you could see and hear him at the finish, it was clear he gave it all. Dave Eckel, KS Energy Services/Team Wisconsin team director had what he called “a tough day” for a 235th place. When such a high finish is a tough day, you have to still be happy with your effort and the big smile on the big man showed this to be true.
Rolling in for 284th place was Mikey Verhagen who upon arrival had only to say that when the gun when off, his tire was flat. That’s a tough break having to complete such a fast course with no draft partners and to still be top 300 is even more amazing.
And we can’t forget Delfino Parra. In his first Chequmegon as well, rolled in for 395th. A perfect example of the Chequamegon magic, he finished looking tired but the biggest smile of satisfaction and joy on his face. Finally there was Timm Jacobson with a time of 3:22:14.8 in 1337th place.
Chequamegon is a fast and furious challenge and Team Wisconsin did more than just meet the challenge, we dominated it. When a team puts so many riders near the front of such a big race you know it’s more than luck, it a good organization and it cannot be that way without amazing sponsors. So thank you to all that make it possible. Thank you to KS Energy Services and MC2 for their great support in building such an amazing organization. Relatively new sponsors Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (MOSH) and Chiropractic partners for pushing the team to new heights. And of course our amazing equipment from Trek and Emery’s bike shop.
Make sure to check out some of the race coverage:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn7jYTH0BwQFejVLCjLfhrw6L8fowTMUW for video
http://www.cheqfattire.com/ for results
http://www.marathonfoto.com/site/viewphotos for official photos
https://www.facebook.com/ChequamegonFatTireFestival More Photos
See you next year for Chequamegon number 32! It’s sure to be exciting like the 31 editions before it!