Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival 2001

Mike Clark finishes longest Fat 40 ever!!

By: Skip Holschbach

Fat Kats MTB Club

The year 2000 saw Mike Clark and I enter our first Chequamegon 40 race. We didn't know what to expect. However, after talking to many experienced 40 riders in the club, we were able to create 3 goals for ourselves-in this order. Goal #1: Ride together. Goal #2: Finish the ride in the top 1000(out of 1700). Goal #3: Ride the Seely Fire Tower Hill climb from bottom to top clean. The 2000 race saw us meet all of our goals for the ride, finishing 964/965 in 3:29:30. Not a great time, but as first timers, we were happy. I also rode the Seely Fire Tower a.k.a Seely Death March clean despite a few close calls with other riders bailing in front of me.

Fast forward to 2001. The three of us- Mike, Cliff Henning and I- set out for Telemark early on Friday morning to arrive at Telemark earlier on Friday afternoon than last year. This would allow us to take advantage of the daylight to ride some of the fantastic single track CAMBA has built around Telemark Mountain. One section, called the Single track Terrain Park (or something like that) is located right behind the condos amongst the former ski runs. This loop is very short, probably about 1/2 mile long, but foot for foot it may be sweetest piece of single track in the Midwest! It is super tight, and twisty. The first 1/2 is all climbing and the second 1/2 is descending. There are numerous 180 switchbacks, and lots of roots and rocks. You can ride this loop many times before you are bored! A second as yet un-named section starts about 1/2 mile past the Sleigh Trail head. This section was brand new for this year. At this time it is a point-to-point trail about 5 miles long. This trail is more sweet, super tight single track. You almost have to see it to believe it. Twisty, rooty, rock gardens, switchbacks, woop-de-doos, never flat- it took nearly 45 minutes to get out 4 1/2 to 5 miles. Then we got to turn back, and the trail was brand new all over again. The folks at CAMBA did a fantastic job of trail designing and trail building. These trails, in addition to the other hundreds of miles of CAMBA trails make the trip worth it even if you are not racing!

Saturday morning, and time for the 40. As seasoned veterans, we approached this year's race a little bit differently. First, the reason we conned Cliff into joining us for the weekend was to serve as a driver. This way, we wouldn't have to shuttle back to Hayward from Telemark just to get the car (you'll laugh about this later!) Next, after being nearly last in the start chute last year, we decided to show up a little bit earlier. This paid off, as we were about 1-200 yards closer to the start line, definitely worth a few hundred places. For some reason, we had a much cleaner road heading out of town on Hwy 77 than last year. We were cruising at about 26 mph, and we picked off a lot of traffic by the time we hit Rosie's Field.  The start!!

The weather had been good leading up to the race, with a brief drizzle early in the week being just enough to knock down the dust and firm up the sandboxes. The course was otherwise very dry and fast. Despite riding much less this year (due to taking care of my baby boy Derek) the race was going very well for Mike and me. We were keeping up a very good pace. Cliff had managed to drive ahead and, having a course map, was able to get in position for a few photo opportunities.

Minor Disaster struck around a mile mark 20. I got a severe case of chainsuck on one of the sandy/baby head fire road climbs. Mike had been just ahead of me, and did not notice that I had to stop, so we became separated. I spent about 5 minutes trying to pry my chain out from between my middle and granny rings to no avail.Oh, well, time to start running. Run up the hills, and coast down....After about a 1/4 mile of this I came to a marshaled turn. The marshal was telling all riders that the next food stop was only 5 miles further. Only 5 miles?!? There was no way I was going to continue to run, coast, run for the next 5 miles. I renewed my efforts to free my stuck chain- but this time I decided to think a little more, and lay off of the brute force. After a brief contemplation, I got my minitool out of my pack, and using the flathead screwdriver part I was able to free my chain. I'm back in this thing! It is difficult to estimate, but I may have lost anywhere from 10-20 minutes. A slight depression came over me at this time, as I was now riding alone. Well, not literally alone, as 1,700 riders tend to take up a lot of space. I kept hoping Mike would be waiting around the next turn, but of course not he never was, nor did I expect it of him. "Get over it and ride" I told myself. As I rode closer and closer to the Fire Tower Climb, I began talking to nearby riders. Most had ridden the 40 before, so we all knew what was coming, and we began to give ourselves pep talks.

The Fire Tower arrived, and having ridden it clean in '00, I attacked with confidence. I can't speak for the top 100-200 riders, but when you are in the middle of the pack (like me) perhaps only 20% of the riders can climb the Fire Tower clean bottom to top. The Fire Tower climb is nearly 1/2 of a mile long and rises about 300 feet. The numbers on paper do not seem that impressive, but when you factor in the loose, rocky trail, and a steady dose of hike-a-bike traffic, it becomes a very difficult climb. Very similar to our Equalizer, riders are loudly cheered and encouraged by hike-a-bikers and spectators alike. This really helps you dig a little deeper for whatever it is that keeps you going! Much to my surprise, Cliff had managed to arrive at the hill ahead of me, and had walked about 1/2 way up. As I passed, he told me that I was only about 1 or 2 minutes behind Mike! With renewed spirits, I vigorously finished the climb. There was that familiar Fat Kat jersey waiting for me at the top! What a guy. Now the fun factor was again maxed out. Apparently, Mike did not know when I dropped off, and was never quite sure if I was behind or ahead. As he rode along, he had stopped a few times to wait, only to second-guess himself, and charge ahead double-time thinking I had gotten by. That's when he decided to wait at the top, and by this time, he didn't have to wait long.

Skip and Mike defeat the Fire Tower Death March!!

Time to crank it up, only 13 miles (give or take) to go. After the fire tower, there are a few long, flat fire roads where you can really hammer. We continued to make up time, and then managed to keep pace on the last, grueling 5 miles of Birkie ski trail roller coaster- always more up than down! We hit the 2 miles to go marker, very near to the backside of Telemark Mountain. A quick glance at the time showed that, despite my mechanical difficulties, we were well ahead of last year's time. I experience a little bit of minor calf cramping, but it soon went away, and we began the final climb up Telemark. Side by side we crested and hit the final descent. DISASTER!!! As we are heading down a grassy slope, out of the corner of my eye, I see Mike spontaneously fly over his bars. I hit the brakes and pulled over to the side. I turned to run up the hill, and saw Mike lying crumpled and unconscious in the middle of the hill. A course worker rushed up, but neither of us were able to get a response from Mike. The course worker called the safety/rescue patrol. Meanwhile, I continued calling to Mike and splashing water in his face, but still no response. Riders were blasting by on both sides and one jerk even managed to tell us "Get the hell out of the way, that's not a good place to lie down!" After many minutes, the safety crew arrived, and began helping Mike. By this time, he was starting to respond. He was able to squeeze hands and wiggle toes- a good sign. He also managed to answer questions with the right answers, such as "Who are you?" " Where are you?" "Why are you here?" In a still dazed voice, Mike said that he had to finish the race, but in his groggy state the crew wasn't even going to think about allowing him to. As there was nothing more I could do, I remounted my bike, and rode into the Telemark bowl to finish the race- but not as happily as I had imagined a short while before. Surprisingly, despite the mechanical problem, and the long wait with an unconscious Mike, I managed to finish about 30 seconds and 10 placed ahead of last year- a small comfort.

After a brief wait at the finish line, they managed to haul Mike down the hill strapped to a body board on the back of an ATV. Although Mike's lucidity was improving, they decided to give him an ambulance ride to the hospital in Hayward for some routine tests. Well, tests will take time, so Cliff and I decided there was no rush to follow. I headed back to our rooms at Telemark to shower. Then we hopped in the car for the ride to Telemark. This is where you laugh, because we brought Cliff along specifically to avoid going back to Hayward- the best laid plans...Anyway, Mike was not yet done with his tests, so we stepped out for a late lunch, and returned a little later to pick up Mike.

They called me to Mike's room. Man, what a sight! Mike's wild hair was more unruly than ever, and the hospital bed was covered with dirt chucks and grass. Mike is sitting there with a goofy smile on his face, and reports that there is absolutely nothing wrong with him. He informs us that we have to rush him back to Telemark, so he can finish the race! We get him back, and proceed to walk him and his bike up to the crash site. Since it is after the 6- hour mark, they have stopped timing and registering results. No matter, Mike is going to finish anyways. Cliff and I spend about 5 minutes describing the crash scene to Mike, including me assuming his crash position on the hill. We never were able to figure out why Mike crashed. After we all had a laugh, off he went.

Thus it can be said, that by taking a "wrong turn ( of events)" and going all the way back to Hayward before returning to Telemark, that Mike Clark finished the longest Fat 40 ever!

(This article is printed with permission, and originally appears on the official Fat Kats website, http://www.fatkats.org)   Photos by Cliff Henning.