This just in from the US Forest Service, due to the recent high winds that caused countless trees to be toppled and uprooted, the Two Lakes Campground in Drummond is closed for the season.

Those coming for this weekend's Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival who planned on staying at the Two Lakes Campground should make other arrangements.

Consult www.cambatrails.org , www.cable4fun.com and www.haywardareachamber.com for a list of local campgrounds in the event area.

This Just In September 6, 2005 Course Conditions and Course Marking.

COURSE CONDITON REPORT 9-6-05

GENERAL CONDITIONS

The Chequamegon 40 course has been marked with ORANGE ARROWS from the Rosie's Field access to the American Birkebeiner Ski Trail to the Telemark Resort finish line.

The Short & Fat course has been marked with PINK ARROWS from Randysek Road in Cable to the Telemark Resort finish line.

Both the Chequamegon 40 and Short & Fat courses are in good riding condition. As of 9-7-05 the trail is very dry with little to no standing water or mud. Depending on the weather this condition could remain or change.

Trail Debris

Both courses traverse active logging areas. In these areas you may find loose debris and loose trail tread. Caution is urged.

Sand Pockets

There are loose sand pockets in a number of areas on both of the racecourses. Depending on the weather this condition could change.

Vehicular Traffic

Please note you may encounter active logging areas and backwoods traffic including 4 wheeled drive vehicles and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) along the racecourse prior to and during the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival weekend. The course is NOT CLOSED to traffic and caution should be exercised while riding on any of the trails or roads shared with motorized vehicles.

Chequamegon 40 Course Cautions

Martel's Pot Hole Descent near mileage marker 22 to go.

This technical descent should be approached with caution. There is a large loose sand pit at the bottom of the descent.

Short & Fat & Chequamegon 40 Course Caution

Camp 38 between Randysek & Spider Lake Fire Lane - shared by both courses.

This area was recently logged and recent road grading has created a loose trail tread with rock and organic debris.

COURSE MARKING

Chequamegon 40 Course is marked with blaze orange arrows

Short & Fat Course is marked with hot pink arrows

Caution Signs indicate areas where additional caution is advised

Traffic Ahead Signs indicate a road intersection with possible traffic

First Aid Ahead Signs indicate the location of Emergency Medical Services personnel during race day

Food Stop Ahead Signs indicate the location of an aid stations on race day

This Just In August 26, 2005 New Items to Note this Year.

Roads Closed to Spectator Traffic

Telemark Road, Spider Lake Fire Lane, Boedecker Road and Janet Road will be closed to spectator traffic from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Those who need access for racer support must obtain an ACCESS PASS from the race headquarters to be allowed passage.

Self-Seeded Start for Chequamegon 40

As an experimental trial in 2005, five individual start line gates will be designated on the south (primary school/armory) side of the Chequamegon 40 start area this year. PREFERRED START NUMBERS ONLY will be allowed in the first gate. Four other gates will be identified with suggested finishing times from 2 1/2 hours through 4 hours plus.

Please select the appropriate gate based on your projected finishing time. These placements are available on a first come first served basis. Once a section is filled you must load in the next available section.

This Just In August 25, 2005 The Chequamegon Clock is Ticking.

Where has the summer gone??? Its been quite a while since my last update, so here goes...As we rapidly approach the September 16-18 dates of this year's sold out event, here are a few registration procedures of which to take note....

If you are registered for this year's Chequamegon 40 and want to switch to the Short & Fat 16 you have until the September 1 deadline to request the change. Changes must be made in writing and must include a $10.00 administrative charge. After September 1 no further changes will be made.

Please review your confirmation cards that were sent earlier for accuracy in your events of choice, age, sex and competition class. You will absolutely need your photo identification with you to pick up your race materials and it helps if you bring your confirmation card. You may not pick anyone else's number up for any reason whatsoever. 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.

A note on course marking for those of you who plan to visit the area to train on the specific race courses: 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 train on the Chequamegon 40 course, weather permitting we traditionally mark it in some preliminary if not complete fashion by the Labor Day Weekend. You can always email us for an update on the preliminary course marking.

Please remember if you are riding the race courses prior to race day that the course is not closed, traffic may be present on any of the gravel roads or back woods trails, 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.

More to come shortly; stop back to catch the next posting.

This Just In June 15, Summer is Almost Here. Fire Danger is Low. The Riding is Fabulouso.

As we say in the tourist business, "Fire danger is low today" which is a euphemism skirting the issue of rain, rain and then more rain. Lets just say the forest has gotten extremely lush in Chequamegonland this spring. But summer is upon us and the pleasures of two wheeled travel through the woods awaits you.

If you want to enjoy that lush forest be sure to plan a trip to the northland of Bayfield and Sawyer Counties this summer to explore the CAMBA trail network. Check out www.cambatrails.org for information on the hundreds of miles of user-friendly mountain bike trails in the region. Updates on the new singletrack being developed in the Rock Lake region of the Namakagon Cluster and other great CAMBA trails can be found on the web page.

Feeling lucky? Want to ride in the sold out Chequamegon events? The Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Associations has three individual highly coveted 2005 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival reserved registrations to raffle off in a fund raising effort. Tickets are $2.00 each or three for $5.00. If you are interested in getting in on the drawing, contact CAMBA at PO Box 141, Cable, WI 54821. Be sure to include the correct amount for the number of tickets you wish to purchase and your complete contact information. CAMBA will fill out the tickets and send you back the stubs. You need not be present to win at the drawing that will be held August 1, 2005.

Here is a Chequamegon administrative note for those who applied for a Preferred Start with their Chequamegon entry this year: If you applied your confirmation card said "To Be Determined" in the Preferred Start field. We just completed the selection process from the hundreds who applied, updated the database file and sent new confirmation cards to all applicants. A cover letter sent with the new cards explains the selection process. Congratulations if you got in. If you didn't get in the preferred area and want to appeal our decision please do so in writing as soon as possible by submitting other updated race results for us to consider. Remember no changes will be made after September 1.

Still trying to find some way to participate in this year's sold out Chequamegon Festival event? Remember that submissions for the "50 Ways to Ride the Chequamegon" essay contest and the "Chequamegon/Clif Bar Clean Up Crew" volunteer opportunity are due by July 1.

The 50 Ways contest will award 50 reserved Chequamegon entries to the authors who best present their case for getting in this year's sold out event. Trail advocacy in action is the name of the game for the Clif Bar Clean Up Crew. This volunteer opportunity will send fourteen volunteers out to help with the clean up after the race has passed. Crew sponsor Clif Bar will lay on the schwag and guaranteed reserved registrations for the 2006 Chequamegon event will be the reward for those who join this leave no trace effort. Info on both of these programs can be found on the INFO page of the www.cheqfattire.com web page.

Head on up and hit the dirt in Chequamegonland this summer. Why would you want to be anywhere else??

This Just In 5-5-05....Update from the World of Fat

While we have been waiting for springtime to happen in Chequamegonland many projects have been rolling along in the race office. Since the lottery drawing in March we have been busy punching in all the entry data into the computer. All entrants selected in the drawing were sent a confirmation card by May 1. Please take a minute to review the card and email us with any errors or omissions.

Speaking of confirmation cards, those of you who requested a preferred start with your entry will find a "To Be Determined" in that field on the card. Now that all the registrations are input in the database, we will be pulling up all the requests for men, women, tandems and singlespeeds and reviewing them for past results and submitted resumes. We hope to have the project completed in early June at which time we will update the data and send new confirmation cards to those who requested a preferred start with either a "Yes" or "No" in the confirmation card field.

As I type this the 2005 pre-race issue of Fat Tracks is being printed. Over the next week we will send along a copy of this twenty page newspaper to all those who entered, to those whose entries were returned and to a wide mailing list of shops, industry members, cycling clubs, media and local businesses. Give it a couple of weeks to be delivered via bulk mail and if you don't receive your copy email us for a follow up copy. The pre-race Fat Tracks includes a complete agenda, event information, event stories, sponsor listing and the important group of advertisers. Please remember to support our sponsors and advertisers for they are one of the big reasons we can continue to produce this large event.

I want to extend a personal invitation to one and all to come visit the area's trails that are maintained by the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association. Visit CAMBA at www.cambatrails.org to discover hundreds of miles of user friendly off road routes.

Happy Trails.

This Just In 4-1-05....Lottery Drawing Aftermath Report

The lottery drawing for the 2500 race spots for the 2005 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival is history. A record number of entry forms were received for the 1700 Chequamegon 40 and 800 Short & Fat events. In addition a record number of returns will be sent back to those not selected in the lottery.

Thanks for your patience as we process those that were selected and those that were not. First on our agenda, we will process the record breaking over 800 of returns that were not drawn in the random procedure. Those entry forms and checks will be returned as soon as we can punch them into our database, print the labels and get them in the mail. We anticipate that the returns will be in the mail the first week of April.

Next on the agenda for registration processing will be punching in those that were picked in the Short & Fat 16 mile event. Following those, the participants picked in the Chequamegon 40 will be input in our database. Confirmation postcards will be sent first to the 800 Short & Fat entrants and then to the 1700 Chequamegon 40 entrants. If things go smoothly we should have the confirmation cards ready to go out between the end of April and the beginning of May.

We appreciate your patience as we accomplish these administrative tasks. Thanks for not calling or emailing us to check on your entry status until we have them all in the computer. For those who can't wait to get their confirmation cards or returns we suggest that you check with your bank to see if your cashed check has been processed. Generally if your check has been cashed you are in and if it hasn't you are not in and will be getting the entry and check in the returns mailing.

For those who did not get chosen in the lottery please check under this web page under INFO and then click on the NEWS link for details of the "50 Ways to Ride the Chequamegon" essay contest that will award reserved entries to winning authors. Also on that News link are the details of the Chequamegon Clif Bar Clean Up Crew volunteer opportunity.

The registration of the Chequamegon cross-country events is limited to 2500 for reasons of sustainability of the trails, safety of the participants and sanity of the staff and volunteers. To help us attain those goals, we ask that you not ride in the Chequamegon events if you are not registered. If you were not chosen for the Saturday events we welcome you as a participant in the Sunday events (which are not limited), as a spectator or volunteer. Thanks for your understanding and consideration of this request.

Happy Trails to you as we head into the riding season ahead.

This Just In 3-3-05....Lottery Countdown Begins

If you haven't quite yet gotten your hands on a copy of the 2005 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival entry blank, filled it out and sent it in you might want to get on it soon. The March 15 postmark deadline for submitting entries for this year's event is approaching rapidly.

Those who submitted an envelop earlier were sent their entry blank a few weeks ago. A pdf file of the entry blank can also be found on this web page under INFO and then under the REGISTRATION links. Be sure to follow the link that contains the lottery drawing procedures too to get the details on how the drawing works.

It is a sure sign of Springtime in the northland when the local volunteer forces gear up for the annual fat tire lottery drawing party. Think of it as the Chequamegon's version of March Madness.

Over fifty community volunteers gather at Telemark Resort to pick, open, process, highlight, count and alphabetize the 2,500 entries that will be selected in this year's lottery drawing. Oh yes, they also gather to commiserate with those who were not picked and have to be returned to their senders. A scheduling note, while the postmark deadline is March 15 for shipping off your entries, the actual drawing will be Monday March 21. This gives us a few extra days for everything to clear the postal system.

Before the drawing begins, the thousands of entries received are mixed thoroughly in a big canvas laundry cart. The pressure is definitely on for the one eyes-closed-entry-envelop-picker who randomly selects the envelopes to be included for the 1700 Chequamegon 40 entries and 800 Short & Fat entries.

Thanks for your understanding that with a registration limited to 2,500, not everyone can get in. If you don't get picked you will have your entry and check returned shortly after the drawing. Just give us a couple of weeks to punch them in our database before returning them.

If you do get in, you'll get a confirmation card just as soon as we can get them punched in. Normally this takes place by May 1 or sooner depending on the progress we make processing the paperwork. Thanks for not emailing or calling us to confirm your acceptance until we can get them all punched in the database. A good sign of your envelope being drawn is that your check is cashed. Check with your local bank to see if your check has cleared. If it has it's a pretty sure sign that you are one of the chosen.

If you are not selected don't lose all hope. Be sure to read the press releases on this web page under INFO and NEWS about the "50 Ways to Ride the Chequamegon" essay contest. The contest will award fifty reserved entries to the best essays about why you want to ride in the sold out event. We will also be looking for Chequamegon Clif Bar Clean Up Crew volunteers for our trail clean up during the event weekend. There are many ways to participate in the Chequamegon weekend even if you don't get picked in the cross-country event lottery.

Good luck in the drawing to one and all. We hope to see you at the races in the fall or on the wonderful CAMBA trails all season long.

This Just In 1-15-05....Winter in Chequamegonland

Just today, the weatherman predicted that a twenty plus below Arctic front will soon be creeping in from the north and plant itself firmly on Chequamegonland. Now that should firm up the Chequamegon dirt we all love so well in the warmer months. While the snow and cold drives the local recreationally based economy during the winter it doesn't mean we can think of two wheeled travels in the seasons ahead.

And speaking of Chequamegon dirt, the clock is ticking down toward the March 15 postmark deadline for this year's registration lottery. The lottery, an annual rite of Spring will determine the 2,500 participants in the 2005 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek to be held this coming September 16-18, 2005 at Telemark Lodge in Cable, WI.

Those who have either sent in a self-addressed stamped entry form request envelope or who left one at last year's event will be sent a 2005 Chequamegon entry blank on or about February 15. Watch for it in your mailbox shortly after that. Those of you who haven't already requested an entry blank and want one sent to you should send a self-addressed stamped business size envelope to CFTF, PO Box 267, Cable, WI 54821 marked "Entry Blank Request" as soon as possible.

Another option for getting your hands on an entry blank is to download one from this web page on or about February 15. You will need a recent version of Acrobat Reader to download and print out the 2005 entry blank.

Please remember that entries for the cross-country events are limited to 1700 in the Chequamegon 40 and to 800 in the Short & Fat. The pre-registration lottery that will determine the lucky 2,500 riders who will be enjoying the 23rd Chequamegon events is held shortly after the March 15 entry blank postmark deadline.

TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS YEAR'S LOTTERY DRAWING, COMPLETED ENTRIES AND PAYMENT MUST BE POSTMARKED TO OUR OFFICE BY MARCH 15.

Check under INFORMATION and then under REGISTRATION on this web site for completed details of this year's Chequamegon registration lottery.

For now though, if you are heading up north for some Chequamegonland R & R better bring along your skinny skis or snowshoes. A couple extra layers to fend off the biting cold would also be well advised. We'll see you on the trails no matter what the season.