This Just In 9-30-01

Well, Chequamegon 2001 is nearly history. Two weeks after the event it is just about all over with the exception of paying the bills that continue to arrive in the mail box, putting together the post race Fat Tracks and sending out the thank you certificates to the sponsors, community volunteer groups and government bodies that helped with this year's event. Then again about the time that the event planning circle is complete, I will pause for a breath and begin the preparations for the 2002 Chequamegon event.

The best part of the days and weeks after the event is that I finally get a chance to get back on my bike and re-enforce why it is we all gather in Chequamegonland in the first place. All summer long I have been sending people out to discover the new CAMBA single track trails at Telemark Resort our event headquarters. Well, I finally got to ride it myself and I must say this is one of the most significant local trail developments since the inception of the CAMBA trail system itself.

This multiple mile undulating technical trail snakes through a section of Bayfield County woods that I have ridden in and hiked through for over twenty years. While this new trail leads up and over many familiar forested glacial features it traverses them in a new direction, presents them from a different angle and offers a refreshingly new perspective. Nothing finer than a new section of single track and in this case CAMBA and its volunteer trail crew are to be congratulated for their advocacy efforts.

My recent single track excursion provided an opportunity to lose myself in the peaceful solitude of our vast wooded playground. At a time like this, with the affects of the terrorist tragedy still foremost in my mind, this opportunity to commune with nature unencumbered by day-to-day confusions was a welcome bit of relief.

Thank you one and all, participants, sponsors and volunteers for coming together at this important time in our planet's history. Our gathering in friendship and peace demonstrated to the world our ability to gather in a time of tragedy to reflect, remember and carry on. The complexity of the world situation and the 19th Annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival will forever be in our memories.

This Just In 9-12-01

Rider reports from the Chequamegon 40 & Short & Fat 16 mile cross country routes indicate that the race course is currently in excellant condition. The rain from earlier in the week has drained down significantly. With the recent moisture and traffic, sand roads have been compacted and are in good shape. While some water holes exist on several forest road portions of the trail generally there is a rideable path around them. Please note that caution signs and caution tape mark eroded sections of the trail where extra caution should be exercised. Most of the course is not closed and vehicular traffic can be expected on most sections of the routes.

Mileage markers have been put out on both courses. Offical mileage for the Chequamegon 40 is 41.0 miles and for the Short & Fat 15.6 miles.

Please note that on Friday September 14 course marking vehicles will be on both race courses finalizing the markings and signs for Sarturday's event. Official event vehicle traffic may be present on all portions of the race courses. Please exercise caution when riding on any section of the trails.

This Just In 9-12-01

Chequamegon will continue
The entire world sits in shock today trying to comprehend the senseless act of yesterday’s terrorist attacks. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the innocent victims of this crime against humanity.

As a beacon of friendship, camaraderie and community, the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival will continue this weekend. We hope that our coming together will provide an endorsement of peace and serenity in a very complex world.

This Just In 9-10-01

Just when we thought it might be a hot dry and dusty Chequamegon event this year, the weather man flips another switch and a new situation develops. Hours after I posted the dry and fast course conditions in the last entry on this update page, it started raining and rained off and on, mostly on, for about two days. Some people measured up to two inches in a 48 hour period.

While in the short term the race course got soaked, it does not present a problem from the event weekend side of things. With our sandy, rocky glacial till soil the recent deluge will quickly drain down in the next couple of days. While dust won't be a problem this year, neither will you need to bring your water wings along.

Currently there is some standing water on some parts of the course but nothing to cause a concern. We will be monitoring the race week weather and its affect on the race course. At this time no changes are planned in the routing of either the Chequamegon 40 or Short & Fat.

Good luck in your preparations for the event.

This Just In September 6, 2001

The hot, dry summer has left the races courses of next weekend's Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival hard packed and fast. The next week's weather conditions will determine the race day trail tread situation as 2,500 riders anticipate the 19th Annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek.

Registered riders are reminded that photo identification will be required to pick up their race numbers and registration packets. Consult the agenda on this web page for the complete timetable and location of bib pick up on Friday September 14 and Saturday September 15. Please remember that riders can not pick up race numbers for other riders. In addition since it is after the September 1 deadline date, no further event changes will be made.

Registration has been closed for the Chequamegon 40 and Short & Fat 16 mile event for quite some time. No further registrations for those two cross country races will be taken.

Good luck in this years Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival

This Just In ….August 26, 2001

As we rapidly approach the September 14-16 dates of this year's event, here are a few registration procedures of which to take note…

If are registered for this year's Chequamegon 40 and want to switch to the Short & Fat 15 you have until the September 1 deadline to request the change. Changes must be made in writing which would include e-mail, fax or letter received in our office no late than September 1. A $10.00 fee must accompany the requested change. Sorry due to the large demand on the 1700 spaces in the Chequamegon 40 you can not change from the Short & Fat to the longer race.

Please remember that if you are going to be a no show refunds or transfers of entries to other parties is not permitted for any reason whatsoever.

Also, when you come to bib pick up on Friday September 14, 2001 at the Telemark Resort or on Saturday morning September 15 at either the Hayward National Guard Armory for the Chequamegon 40 or the Cable Community Centre for the Short & Fat you must have your confirmation card and a photo identification to pick up your race packet and numbers. You may not pick anyone else's number up for any reason whatsoever.

A note on course marking…..this time of year we do receive a number of calls inquiring about when the courses for the Chequamegon 40 & Short & Fat will be marked. The Short & Fat course is permanently marked as a part of the CAMBA trail system from the Cable Trailhead behind the Old School Mall in Cable to Telemark Resort. Once you reach Nordmor Road behind Telemark Resort, the final mile or so of the finish line approach for the Short & Fat is only marked shortly before the event dates.

For those of you who want to ride on the Chequamegon 40 course, traditionally we have it marked in some preliminary if not complete fashion by the Labor Day Weekend. Our plan this year is to go out on August 30 and 31 to accomplish this course marking. The course is a fairly convoluted combination of the American Birkebeiner Ski Trail, forest roads, snowmobile trails and Telemark Resort ski trails. Some sections are part of the CAMBA system and some are not.

Please remember if you are riding the race courses prior to race day that the course is not closed to traffic. In addition there are no support services and course marking may be incorrect due to tampering by other trail users. On race day, there will be double checks of the course marking and course monitors will be present at trafficked intersections.

Once the courses are marked for race day use, we would appreciate any feedback you could provide regarding the accuracy of the markings or course conditions along either the Chequamegon 40 or Short & Fat courses.

See you in September!

This Just In…… July 15, 2001

Thanks to all of you who participated in our "50 Ways to Ride the Chequamegon" essay contest and to those of you who sent in application essays for the "Chequamegon Clif Bar Clean Up Crew".

The authors of the 50 winning essays in the essay contest have been chosen and will received a reserved registration for this year's sold out event. A fabulous group of essays was submitted this year that included short stories, poems, parodied songs, photos and even a $500 bribe (don't worry it was Monopoly money). It was a tough choice to narrow them down to the 50 best essays that completed the statement "I want to ride in the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival because….". Congratulations to the winning authors who have been rewarded for their sincere efforts with a reserved spot in this year's event.

Selections have also been made for the Chequamegon Clif Bar Clean Up Crew. The task of these trail advocates will be to clean up the trails following the race day peloton's passing. Guided by two crew leaders, the twelve-person crew provides a valuable service to the trails used for the Chequamegon race courses and to the riders who use them. Thanks to crew sponsor Clif Bar and Clif Shot for providing the Clif Bar apparel and product packages as a reward to the clean up volunteers. These hard working trail advocates will also receive reserved registrations for the 2002 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival as a reward for a job well done.

This Just In….June 18, 2001

Don't forget the July 1 deadlines for the "50 Ways to Ride the Chequamegon" essay contest and the submissions for the Chequamegon/Clif Bar Clean Up Crew positions.

For details of these contests that give you a chance to participate in this year's event consult the INFO page of this web page.

Remember 50 reserved registrations for this year's event will be awarded to the authors of the 50 best essays that best explain why they would like a last chance shot at being included in the 2,500 person sold out race field. Essays should be 500 word or less and must be postmarked to the Chequamegon office by July 1.

For the Clif Bar Clean Up Crew, volunteers will be selected from those who submit short essays that complete the following: "I want to be on the Chequamegon/Clif Bar Crew because….." Crew members will act as trail sweeps to clean the trail of race related refuse. As a reward for being good trail stewards clean up crew members will receive a Clif Bar apparel and product package and a guaranteed reserved entry into the 2002 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.

Don't miss out on the excitement of this year's event. Get those essays in by July 1.

This Just In May 10, 2001

The pre-race 2001 edition of Fat Tracks, the Journal of the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival is hot off the press. A 20 page newsprint publication, Fat Tracks is the complete information resource for participants and spectators who plan to attend this year's event over the September 14-16 weekend. The pre-race issue includes a detailed weekend agenda, event highlights, course map, event information, sponsor page and other articles and photos of interest to Chequamegon fans

. Single copies have just been bulk mailed to this year's Festival entrants and to a comprehensive list of bicycle and sports shops, media contacts and local businesses. If you did not get your copy by now or are interested in receiving a copy email the Chequamegon office at cheqfat@cheqnet.net to request that one be mailed to you.

This Just In April 22, 2001

Confirmation cards for those participants who were accepted in the Chequamegon 40 or the Short & Fat 16 mile cross-country events have just been sent out via the U.S. Postal Service. They should arrive at all destinations by May 1. If your card does not arrive in the mail by May 10 give us a call or drop us a line and we will send you a replacement card. All those who did not get selected in the lottery had their entry forms and checks returned several weeks ago.

When you get your confirmation card, please review it for accuracy and get back to us at cheqfat@cheqnet.net if there are any corrections. Please note that Preferred Starting positions have not yet been determined at this time. Those who asked to be considered for a Preferred Start have "To Be Determined" in that field on the confirmation card. We hope to work on making the preferred start selections sometime in the early part of June.

Regarding possible event changes, because of the huge demand on spaces in the Chequamegon 40 event this year we will not be allowing changes from the Short & Fat to the Chequamegon 40. If you wish to change from the Chequamegon 40 to the Short & Fat you may. Event changes must be made in writing prior to September 1, 2001 and be accompanied by a $10.00 processing fee. After September 1 no event changes will be made.

Please remember that entries may not be transferred from one person to another for any reason what so ever. Also refunds are not allowed for any reason. Please remember to bring your confirmation card and photo identification to bib pick up when you come to the event in September.

This Just In March 22, 2001

Registration Lottery Update Those who submitted 2001 entry forms and payment checks by the March 15 postmark date are undoubtedly anxiously awaiting the results of our annual lottery drawing. While we would like to tell you immediately the results of the lottery it simply isn't possible until we process all the forms that were chosen and the ones that were not.

Here are a few more details on how the lottery works and what happens now that the postmark deadline for submissions has past.

The actual drawing of the entries took place on Thursday March 22 at our event headquarters Telemark Resort. Nearly forty area volunteers assembled to draw, open, process, count and alphabetize the forms that were chosen. From an administrative standpoint, after the drawing is completed, the first item of business is to deposit the payment checks from those who were selected. If you watch your bank statement, your cashed check should appear on your bank records before we will be able to send you a confirmation card. That is one way many people use to confirm if they have been selected or not in the drawing

Then we process those entries that were not chosen in the drawing. In past years we have returned as few as 150 and as many as 600 extra registrations and checks after the limits were filled. The returns are punched into our database and labels are produced to use to send the returns back with their submitted checks. We hope to have this accomplished by the second week in April. If you did not get chosen, you will get your entry and check back and a cover letter indicating other ways you can participate in the event.

Thirdly, we will input all the data from the 1,700 Chequamegon 40 entrants and 800 Short & Fat entrants who were chosen in the lottery. We do not mail out the confirmation cards until all the entries are processed. We hope to have this completed sometime near May 1.

Thanks for not calling, emailing or faxing us for confirmation of your specific entry until we have had a chance to process them all. Good luck in the lottery to all those who sent in applications. Watch this web page for other ways to participate in the 19th Annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek.

This Just In February 6, 2001

The Envelope Please………..
Just a reminder, the clock is ticking down to the 2001 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival entry lottery. If you have not done so already, please send in your self-addressed stamped (34 cents) business size envelope to receive a 2001 Chequamegon entry blank. Requests for entries should be in our hands by March 1. To be included in the lottery, completed entry blanks and payment must be received back to our office in Cable, Wisconsin with a March 15 postmark. We anticipate sending out this year's entry blanks near the third week of February so you will have plenty of time to get them back to us for the lottery. For those of you who want additional entry blanks please remember that photo copies of the original are acceptable. Check out our Registration information under the INFO page on this web page for complete lottery details.

This Just In January 4, 2001

Well, it is high time I come out of the north wood's isolation I have been enjoying since we last communicated in mid-September of 2000. Currently, Chequamegonland is knee deep in the New Year's winter, literally knee deep that is, with the great snowfalls we have experienced so far this season. Nordic skiers and snow shoe aficionados are enjoying the quiet side of winter sports on our maze of multi-purpose trails while those with a need for speed buzz by on the snowmobile trails in their own version of a cross country adventure.

Since the event wrap up, the Chequamegon office has been on cruise mode for a while with few phone calls, e-mails or snail mail communications to keep us busy. At the moment the big projects include confirming sponsorship participation, gathering the government and municipal body permits needed from the agencies that oversee the lands our race courses traverse and dialing in the next year's race budget.

On the promotional side, the 2001 entry blanks are at the print shop for some design updates and will be ready to go into the mail as we approach the end of February. If you haven't already left or sent us a SASE envelop for a 2001 entry blank, read the press release that follows to get the details of how you can obtain one of those entry blanks in a timely fashion to be a part of our 2001 registration lottery that will take place in the middle of March.

Please take note that our e-mail address has changed to: cheqfat@cheqnet.net all other contact information remains the same.

For now enjoy the wonderful white winter season in what ever fashion you chose. And keep checking our web page for any updates from the world headquarters of the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek.

The Chequamegon Fat Tire Race is On
It may be six months out from the September 14-16, 2001 dates of the 19th Annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek, but the race is on to be included in limited to 2,500 rider race field. Potential participants have until the March 15 entry postmark date to acquire an entry blank, complete it and return in time for this year's registration lottery. The highly sought after 1,700 Chequamegon 40 and 800 Short & Fat 15 mile race spots are chosen in a random drawing from the thousands of applications received.

To obtain an entry blank, hopeful participants should send a self-addressed, stamped (34 cents) business size envelop to the event headquarters before March 1. On or just before March 1 entry blanks will be mailed to all those who requested them. Only one entry per request envelop will be sent, however, those who receive entry blanks may photocopy them for their friends.

To be included in the lottery drawing, completed entry blanks and payment must be postmarked back to the Festival office by March 15. The actual drawing will take place shortly after the postmark deadline. After the drawing, it will take approximately five weeks to process all the entries received. Those who are chosen will receive a confirmation card and those who miss out will have their checks and entry blanks returned.

The event's limited registration was set in 1992 in an effort to focus on quality and not quantity over the Chequamegon weekend. "We limit the race field out of consideration of the environmental impact of the trails we ride, to provide for the highest quality experience for the participants including their medical safety and well being and to preserve organizational sanity," explained Festival Director Crandall. "The lottery system gives everyone a fair and equal chance at one of the limited race spots."

Join the fat tire racing and fat tire fun of the 2001 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek. For further information or to request an entry blank write CFTF, PO Box 267, Cable, WI, 54821 or call 715-798-3594.

This Just In 9-21-00

The Fatman Finally Goes for a Ride
Thursday night is the traditional night for the Chequama Mamas Bicycle Club weekly rides. This age and ability mixed gathering of local riders is firmly ingrained into our social schedules and gives us all a chance to pause and enjoy our natural surroundings with friends, family and food. Now that the big Chequamegon weekend excitement was passed and because I hadn't ridden my bike for about a month, I was anxiously looking forward to this week's Mamas ride. Directing the event had taken up most of my available free time for quite some time and it was with anticipation that I ventured out with the Mamas to reacquaint myself with my bike.

As is typical of the Mamas rides, some took to the road, some went for the "advanced" ride with local guide Ron "Lets Take this Shortcut" Bergin and others walked quietly through the woods. I decided to go with a small posse who had a "get-in-before-dark" plan of riding a 10 mile loop on some unfamiliar trails. What a relief after the hectic weeks leading up to and including the event weekend to finally re-discover why we all enjoy living here. In the 10 mile loop we were never on the marked and mapped CAMBA routes and most of us had not a clue where each turn was taking us. Riding with Kasse & Kathy who had graciously escorted my thirteen year old daughter Melissa through her first Short & Fat race, Jan who had co-chiefed the Power Bar Clean Up Crew and John a big city transplant and dedicated lakes advocate, we took a leisurely path through the area's thick mixed hardwood forests as we cruised over rolling hills past the knee deep dying ferns. The pace was gentle, the scenery peaceful and the enjoyment fulfilling as we wound our serpentine path through uncharted trails in the national forest.

I needed that ride. It put me back on track with my surroundings and reminded me why people enjoy coming up here so frequently to recreate in our wooded playground. Thanks to the Mamas, I was back on track to the normal side of life in Chequamegonland.

A special thanks to all of you who in any way participated in the 18th Annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek. It would seem difficult to improve on an already well-run event, but the 2000 version of the Chequamegon Experience was one that will be remembered for many years to come. A tremendous amount of good karma surrounded the event grounds this past weekend as we all shared in the annual gathering of the fat tire tribe. The number of glitches was minor and the amount of enjoyment was at an all time high.

Thanks to the enthusiasm of the participants, the generosity of the sponsor's, the hospitality of our host, the professionalism of the race staff, the dedication of the volunteers, the welcome by our surrounding communities and cooperation of Mother Nature, it is clear why this event has earned and retained the title of the "Nation's Most Popular Off Road Bicycle Adventure".

Happy trails to you and I hope to see you for another three days of fat tire racing and fat tire fun in northwestern Wisconsin during the September14-16, 2001 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.

Gary Crandall - Festival Director - aka "The Fatman"