TRIMMING THE FAT
Popular Chequamegon Fat Tire
Fest has creative writers looking
for entry into the sold out event By Mark Parman It's a testimony to a bicycle race's popularity, tradition and success when that race must turn away riders. The Tour de France imposes a field limit of 22 teams composed of nine riders for 198 total, and this year 2003 world champion Mario Cipolinni's Domina Vacanze team was passed over in favor of Jan Ullrich's Bianchi team. Yet while journalists cried for
the Tour organization to let in more teams, the riders, Armstrong among them, complained of an already too large field, the catalyst for the massive first stage pileup, in which Tyler Hamilton broke his collarbone.
Now, the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival is a far cry from the Tour de France (although Greg LeMond did only win the CFTF twice whereas he won the Tour three times), but the CFTF, like the Tour, must also impose a field limit, albeit a much larger and less exclusive one than the
Tour.
According to festival director Gary Crandall, the first Chequamegon field limits came about in the early '90s as the race's popularity, and mountain biking in general, steadily grew, and a lottery to select the 2,500 rider field was first used at the 1999 race. Since then, the CFTF has turned away about 400 to 500 mountain bikers per year.
The CFTF limits the number of riders in the Chequamegon 40 and the Short and Fat for several reasons.
"I call it the three S's," says Crandall. "Sustainabilty, safety and sanity. In the monsoon years of '90 and '91, our eyes were opened to the trail damage possible."
The staff of the CFTF decided to manage the race so it could be held year to year forever, which meant protecting fragile trails, particularly the Birkebeiner Trail. Even our recreation must be sustainable.
The 40 mile point to point course, from the armory in Hayward to
Telemark, also necessitates a field limit to ensure maximum safety for the riders. Each September the event employs ATVs, 4x4 trucks and a helicopter in case an injured rider needs to be evacuated from somewhere along the course.
"It's not rocket science," says Crandall, referring to setting a field limit for rider safety.
Crandall continually stresses keeping a limit on numbers for "organizational sanity," knowing that growth and record numbers are
tempting carrots. However, he focuses on quality, not quantity, striving to make the CFTF better each year.
That organizational sanity also keeps his 600 plus volunteers happy for the most part.
"We didn't want the event to grow so big that we didn't have fun putting it on."
Unfortunately, the three S's mean that riders get turned away, although mountain bikers can still register for the Sunday Funday events, and
there's always a spot in the Cable Criterium and the Rough Stuff Rendezvous.
Even so, those riders denied entry in the lottery drawing in March still have one last chance to get in the race through the essay contest, the "50 Ways to Ride the Chequamegon," which with each passing year grows more and more competitive, like the race itself. Reading the winning entries, after they've undergone the unerring literary judgment of the
festival director, is one of the highlights of my job.
Craig E. wrote in this year summarizing his desperation to find the words for a winning essay. Finally, he gave up and offered a deal, enclosing a single die. "I'm asking you to roll this die to determine my fate. Roll an even number I'm in, odd and I stay home this year." Craig ends his letter with "Evens baby, evens!!!!!!!!!!"
Another letter, written by friends, asked that their buddy, a Marine
reservist, be entered in the Chequamegon. He wasn't able to register since he was shipped off to Iraq at the beginning of the invasion. This Marine was due back in the U.S. this August, and we hope and pray he makes it. After dodging bullets and RPGs as well surviving the heat and the terminal boredom, the Chequamegon should seem like a Sunday school picnic.
Jim, a rider on Team Fugazzi, begged to ride the Chequamegon because
the "festival is the site of my stag party." Apparently, Jim is getting married two weeks after the race, so his Team Fugazzi members decided what better place to host the bachelor party than the sacred CFTF grounds.
"Don't get any ideas about not wanting to be the site of a crazy stag party. My teammates and I are a mature group of men. In fact, everyone is married except for me, so I'm told they have to behave themselves, at
least to a certain extent," wrote Jim.
My advice: Stay away from Phipps then.
Another rider from Iowa narrated his midlife crisis at the age of 43 and spins his fantasy of beating three time champion Steve Tilford if he gets into the race, of course. He even mapped out his Tilford conquering race strategy. It essentially boils down to, "Wait for Steve to blow up and/or have a mechanical ... or succumb to the pressure of knowing that
I will be along ... eventually."
My two favorites aren't even essays at all, but verse set to show tunes. This first, penned by a 12 year old, is set to the theme song of "Gilligan's Island."
Just sit right back and hear my tale
Of me and my good friend, Matt
How I got a brand new bike last year
Just to ride the Short and Fat
(Just to ride the Short and Fat)
My favorite this year is set to the theme of "How the Grinch Stole
Christmas," starring Gary Crandall as the Grinch.
All the Cabelians down in Cable liked John and Charlie a lot
But the Grinch who lived just north of Cable did not!
He hated the boys, no one quite knows the reason,
And determined to ruin the focus of their whole riding season!
It may be his shoes were a little too tight
It may be his helmet wasn't screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason is clear,
He was worried the boys would come drink all his beer!
But just like the Christmas special, this story turns out well. The two authors were selected to do the race, and the Grinch "got to hoist the first beer."
Tour de France director Jean Marie Leblanc supposedly had a difficult time selecting the final teams for the 2003 race. Perhaps he should resort to an essay contest like the CFTF. I'd like to read what Cipolinni or Ullrich have to say.
2003 SCHEDULE
The 21st annual CFTF sponsored by Trek takes place Sept. 12 14, with the main event, the Chequamegon 40, starting Saturday morning, Sept. 13, in downtown Hayward and winding its way north to Telemark Resort, the event host.
Registration is Friday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Telemark Resort. Late registration runs Saturday at the Hayward National Guard Armory on the west end of Main Street from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for the Chequamegon 40, and the same time at the Cable Community Center
on Highway M for the Short and Fat.
Both the Chequaegon 40 and the Short and Fat begin promptly at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The 40 mile race starts on Main Street in Hayward, and 1,700 mountain bikers will pedal down Main Street and out of town on Highway 77 until it intersects the Hilly Birkebeiner Trail at Rosie's Field.
Meanwhile, 800 cyclists will leave Cable in the shorter 16 mile Short and Fat and pedal south on Randysek Road and quickly encounter the
formidable hills of the junior course. Expect the first Short and Fat finisher around 11 a.m., while the winner of the Chequamegon 40 should hit the line sometime shortly after noon.
On Friday, the CAMBA (Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association) tour leaves Telemark Resort at 1 p.m. to sample a few of the group's trails, including the growing miles of new single track in Bayfield County. The approximately 10 mile ride gives those unfamiliar
with the trails a guided sample of the local fare.
Sunday features a full slate of fun events for both competitors and spectators. The Rough Stuff Rendezvous kicks off Sunday Funday at 9 a.m. Approximately 200 cyclists will orient themselves with a compass and a topographical map around the woods and ridges near Telemark Resort. They must find seven or so checkpoints along the route in this orienteering race.
The Cable Criterium, the best spectator event of the day, begins at 11
a.m. Mountain bikers will attempt to shake the lactic acid out of their dead legs after Saturday's taxing races and compete in this short, multi ap event. The approximately half mile course will circle around the bowl at the base of Telemark Hill. Competitors first race in their respective age classes, and the winners of each age group will compete in the six lap Overall Criterium Championship between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. Race or gather on the hill and watch and cheer.
Other fun events Sunday include the Hammer Slammer Hill Climb, the Klunker Bike Toss, the Lumberjack and Jill Log Pull and a Children's Bicycle Rodeo. These events take place between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
For best viewing, spectators can catch the race where it intersects several main roads. The riders will cross Mosquito Brook Road and County Highway OO on the American Birkebeiner Trail. They will also pedal down sections of Phipps and Boedecker roads.
At this writing the course is dry and fast, and the record time of 2 hours and 10 minutes, set by former U.S. Postal Service and Tour de France rider Marty Jemison in 1998, may be in danger of falling. Three time CFTF winner Steve Tilford plans to defend his title. Rumor has it that former U.S. Postal Service rider Frankie Andreu may ride his first CFTF, if he can break away from his media duties at the Tour of Spain.
TRANSPONDER TIMING
The CFTF will use electronic timing for the first time this September, provided by Finish Line Sports. The system, from AMB Information and Timing, will use transponders that pass over a detection loop, and then the results are fed into a computer.
Each competitor will wear a transponder about the size of a sports wristwatch (20 grams) strapped to an ankle, using a neoprene band. These ankle units cost approximately $70 apiece.
This unit magnetically trips a switch in a wire loop buried in the ground at the finish, or anywhere along the course for those interested in short cuts. The system works similar to a bicycle computer. The magnet on the wheel trips a switch in the decoder strapped onto a fork blade, which sends the information to the computer on the handlebar.
According to George Mehr of Finish Line Sports, the CFTF "will be the
largest worldwide deployment of the system to date." The system has been used extensively in auto racing.
For more information: finishlinesports.com or ambit.com
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