2006 Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival

Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival
P.O. Box 267 – Telemark Resort - Cable, Wis. 54821
715-798-3594 – phone/fax
cheqfat@cheqnet.net

Cable, Wis. – For release the week of Sept. 10-16
Contact: Gary Crandall, cheqfat@cheqnet.net

The 24th annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek takes place Sept. 15-17. Saturday’s main events, the Chequamegon 40 and the Short and Fat, start in Hayward and Cable at 10 a.m. with both finishing at Event Host Telemark Resort in Cable.

This year’s event once again used a lottery format in March to select the riders for the September races. Over a thousand riders were turned away as the Chequamegon Festival continues to hold its total registration to 2500 riders. The race continues to be one of the most popular mountain bike events in the country.

Festival events start Friday, Sept. 15 at Telemark Resort. At 1 p.m., CAMBA (Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association) will be organizing a tour around Telemark Resort, showcasing their new trails in the area, including portions of the 12 miles of singletrack on the Ojibwe Trail. The popular Pasta Feast runs from 4 to 9 p.m. for those who still want to fuel up for Saturday’s marathon races. Saturday's races are preceded by Children's Bicycle Parades in both Cable and Hayward at 9 p.m.

The Chequamegon 40 starts on the west end of Main Street in Hayward, rolls through town, then heads north up Railroad Street, and finally east on Highway 77 to Rosie's Field near Fish Hatchery Road. From here, it’s all dirt to Telemark Resort, east of Cable.

The course will remain basically the same as it has for the past decade, with the exception of a recent detour around the traditional descent to Smith Lake route. The 2006 route takes a snowmobile/ATV trail to the south of the lake and joins the old course near Lake Helaine, missing many sandy sections of the old route. The summer started out dry, but recent rains have filled up some of the perennial mud holes.

The 16-mile Short & Fat starts in Cable and will use the traditional course that leads the riders south on Randysek Road. Expect the first Short & Fat finisher just before 11 a.m., while the winner of the Chequamegon 40 should hit the Telemark Resort finish line sometime shortly after noon.

Doug Swanson, a Trek/VW-sponsored rider, will return to defend his title in the Chequamegon 40. He will be challenged by many former winners, including three-time champion Shimano/Moots rider Steve Tilford of Topeka, Kan., who at 46 can still hang with the young guys. Salsa-rider Jeff Hall and PCW’s Brian Matter, winners in 1995 and 2004 will seek a second title. Former national champion and Trek/VW-rider Travis Brown of Durango, Colo. should also be a factor. Subaru/Gary Fisher riders Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Boulder, Colo. and former world cyclocross champion Matt Kelly, Johnson Creek, Wis. will also be contenders for victory in the 40 miler.

These men will be challenged by Iowa City, Iowa couple Brian and Kim Eppen riding their tandem bicycle. For the past two years, they have finished in the top ten, just seconds away from a victory. If they win, Kim Eppen would be the first female to win the claim the overall title in this race.

In the women’s 40, the 1999 winner from St. Cloud, Minn. rider Kyia Malenkovich, riding for Headmethod, will be back. Trek/VW-rider Sara Kylander-Johnson, Duluth, Minn. was second last year, recently won the Ore-to-Shore in Marquette, Mich., for the second year in a row, beating Malenkovich. Never count out Kendra Tire rider Catherine Walberg of Topeka, Kan. She won in 1997, 2000 and 2001 and finished runner-up in 2002. Subaru/Gary Fisher pro team riders Heather Irmiger from Boulder, Colo. and Willow Koerber from Whistler, British Columbia, will definitely contend for the win on the long course.

Jesrin Gaier of Seeley, Wis. looks like the favorite in the Short & Fat. Trek/Riverbrook rider Gaier handily won the Seeley Pre-Fat on Aug 26. Two Short & Fat former champions, Alan Factory Team rider Bjorn Selander of Hudson, Wis. and Slingshot Bikes rider Cole House from Oneida, Wis. will be riding in their first Chequamegon 40 event.

In the women’s Short & Fat Stephanie Moats-Liebke, Lino Lakes, Minn., 2004 champion will contend for the championship. She will be challenged by Gopher Wheelmen rider Ann Lembezeder from St. Paul, Minn., Rebecca Cleveland riding for the Bike Hub, Green Bay, Keweenaw Trekers rider Gail Neufield, Calumet, Mich. and Dana Smith of Burnsville, Minn.

Sunday features a full slate of fun events, for both competitors and spectators. Contestants can register for these events the day of. The Rough Stuff Rendezvous kicks off at 9 a.m. Over 200 cyclists will pedal around the woods of Telemark Resort in this orienteering race. The rider to find all seven checkpoints and return to the start/finish line in the lowest time wins.

The Cable Criterium, the crowd's favorite event of the day, begins at 11 a.m. Mountain bikers will compete in this short, multi-lap event the bowl at the base of Telemark ski hill. The championship round begins between 12:30 and 1 p.m.

Other fun events Sunday include the Hammer Slammer Hill Climb, the Klunker Bike Toss, the Lumberjack and Jill Log Pull, the Infinity Spiral and a Children's Bicycle Rodeo, events that take place between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. These low-key events are free, fun and open to the public.

The 24th annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, the nation's largest mass start mountain bike race, runs Sept. 15-17. For further information visit www.cheqfattire.com, call 715-798-3594 or e-mail cheqfat@cheqnet.net.

CHILDREN'S EVENTS

A great family participation event, the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival will offer several events for the younger crowd. Saturday, Sept. 16 kids can ride in the decorated bicycle parades in either Hayward or Cable. Children should gather on the 200 block of Main Street in Hayward or at the Fire Hall behind the Old School Mall in Cable. Bike decoration runs from 8 to 9 a.m. At 9 a.m., the parades begin in both towns.

The Chequamegon Festival will provide balloons and streamers for bike decorating, and children can also decorate their bikes at home before Saturday’s parade. Prizes, surprises and treats are in store for all involved.

Sunday, Sept. 17 kids can take part in the Bicycle Rodeo at the base of the Telemark ski hill at Telemark Resort from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bicycle limbo, a bike relay, a log pull and an obstacle course are a sampling of fun events in the rodeo.

These weekend events are free and open to all children under 12. All riders must wear helmets.

RIDERS TO WATCH

Chequamegon 40 Men
Travis Brown: Trek/VW, Durango, Colo. – former national champion; 2006 inductee to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Jeff Hall: Salsa Cycles, Apple Valley, Minn. – 1995 winner; won the 2003 Ore-to-Shore race in Marquette, Mich. beating Steve Tilford by nearly two minutes. It’s been a decade since he won the race as a teenager.

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski: Subaru/Gary Fisher, Boulder, Colo. – 2005 national champion; four-time Collegiate National Champion.

Matt Kelly: Subaru/Gary Fisher, Johnson Creek, Wis. – 1999 World Junior Cyclocross Champion.

Brian Matter: PWC Cycling, Sheboygan, Wis. – 2004 Chequamegon champion. Winner 2004 and 2005 Ore-to-Shore, 3rd in 2003 Chequamegon 40.

Doug Swanson: Trek/VW, Minnetonka, Minn. – Last year’s winner and 2003 champion in convincing fashion winning by nearly eight minutes. Third in 2001 and 2002.

Steve Tilford: Moots/Shimano, Topeka, Kan. – He keeps ticking, even at 46. Three-time Chequamegon 40 champion. Second in 2003 and 2004. The most experienced and maybe the smartest racer in the peloton.

Chequamegon 40 Women
Sara Kylander-Johnson: Trek/Ski Hut, Duluth, Minn. 2005 and 2006 Ore-to-Shore champion. Second in Chequamegon 40 in 2002, 2003 and 2005. 2003 NORBA expert champion and 2003 Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) champion.

Heather Irmiger: Subaru/Gary Fisher, Boulder, Colo., 3-time Collegiate National Champion.

Willow Koerber: Subaru/Gary Fisher, Whistler, British Columbia, Collegiate National Champion.

Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival
PO Box 267 – Telemark Resort - Cable, WI 54821
715-798-3594 – phone/fax
cheqfat@cheqnet.net

Cable, WI – For Immediate Release 7-15-06

If fat tire racing and fat tire fun is what you seek in your bicycling adventures, then be sure to mark September 15-17, 2006 on your special events calendar. That weekend off road bicycle riders from across the country will converge on Telemark Resort in Cable, WI for the 24th Annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival sponsored by Trek. A sold out field of 2,500 riders will test minds, muscles and pedal powered machines as participants in the nation’s largest mass start point to point off road bicycle event.

On Saturday, September 16, the Chequamegon 40 is the main event of the weekend. With a field limit of 1,700 participants, the mass start roll out on Hayward’s Main Street at 10:00 a.m. is not to be missed. While a few will compete for the chance to be called champion of the 40 miler, the rest of the field is made up of citizen's class athletes in it for the adventure and personal challenge inherent in the sport.

The concurrently run 16 mile companion event, the Short & Fat, offers a shorter but challenging back woods cycling opportunity to an additional 800 cyclists. This rolling mass of cyclists will launch from Randysek Road in Cable at 10:00 a.m. Both events head cross-county utilizing a twisted maze of wooded trails to arrive at the Telemark Resort finish line in Cable.
A lottery drawing held shortly after March 15 determined the lucky 2,500 who will participate in the limited enrollment cross-country events.

The Chequamegon weekend is filled with activities that mom, dad and the children can enjoy. A bicycle orienteering event, criterium lap race, bicycle toss, log pull and children's bicycle parades and rodeos are just a few of the activities that round out the event weekend on Sunday September 17 at Telemark Resort. .

In Wisconsin's North Woods, fall is FAT TIRE TIME. And in Cable and Hayward, the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival is fat tire cycling at its best. With a combination of fat tires, friends and family it is not just a race, it’s a really great time. For more information about the Festival contact: Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, Inc., PO Box 267, Cable, WI 54821, 715-798-3594, cheqfat@cheqnet.net or visit the event’s web page at www.cheqfattire.com.