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

Sept. 17, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CABLE, Wis. – Doug Swanson and Sara Kylander Johnson captured the Cable Criterium Championships at the 24th annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, giving the Trek/VW team a sweep in the event for the day. Kylander-Johnson, the Chequamegon 40 winner, also nailed down her second win in as many days. A cool, misty day greeted racers who faced a nasty short-track course with two climbs per lap.

Swanson won an extremely competitive race, which once again used a miss-and-out format. Ezra Taylor, riding a singlespeed and pushing a massive 44-16 gear, grabbed the lead on the first lap, but he was quickly swallowed up by a Swanson arrack on the second lap. From there on out, it was a three-man race between Swanson, Travis Brown (Trek-fsr) and Tristan Schouten (Trek/VW).

All three traded attacks until the bell lap, which Brown led across the line, the trio holding a comfortable gap back to what was left of the field. Brown led the first climb of bell lap and part of the second climb, until Swanson powered by on the left. Brown didn’t die easily and pushed Swanson all the way to the line. Schouten grabbed third 12 seconds back.

“(Today’s race) was the shortest route to not having a hangover – I’m all blown out now,” said Brown after his effort. Swanson, who flatted in the closing miles of the Chequamegon 40, was pleased with his race, his fourth Cable Criterium title in six tries.

The women’s race was a duel between former champion Kyia Malenkovich (Headmethod) and Kylander-Johnson, who used the same tactics as her teammate Swanson to take the win. She held back until the last climb of the last lap, then powered by Malenkovich. “Kyia was going good today,” said Kylander-Johnson. “On that last lap, I said to myself oh crap I gotta get going.” She did, taking her second win of the weekend. Anne Grabowski (Nature Valley) trailed in by 27 seconds for third place.

Dirk Rettig (Gary Fisher) won the Rough Stuff Rendezvous on his first attempt. “We took off, and I didn’t even know what I was looking for,” said Rettig. He learned quickly, putting over six minutes on second place Jason Manders of Manitowoc, Wis. Paula Waite of Windsor, Wis. won the women’s Rough Stuff title.

Sept. 16, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CABLE, Wis. – Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher) and his wife Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher) nearly became the first husband and wife to win the men’s and women’s races at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival when the Boulder, Colo. couple finished first and second in their respective races.

Horgan-Kobelski won the 24th annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival after pulling away from breakaway companion and two-time champion Doug Swanson (Trek/VW) with five miles to go. Jeff Hall (Salsa) fought his way back into third, after struggling in the early going.

Irmiger finished second to Sara Kylander-Johnson (Trek/VW) of Duluth, Minn. Kylander-Johnson took control of the race in the first few miles and was never seriously challenged. Catherine Walberg (Kenda) rolled in at third place.
In the men’s race, Horgan-Kobelski, Swanson and Travis Brown (Trek-frs) broke away from the pack five miles in as the race entered the first few climbs of the American Birkebeiner Ski Trail, with Swanson driving hard at the front. “Doug was pushing the pace the entire way,” said Horgan-Kobelski. “I wanted to stop and eat donut holes (at the food stops), but we were going too fast.”

When the race passed the first time check 17 miles in, the leading trio had 45 seconds on a chase group of nine, which included former champions Hall and Brian Matter (PCW), who eventually finished fourth.

“Once it was the three of us, we worked together smoothly. But Doug was clearly the strongest,” said Brown, a former national champion who was recently inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. Up the Seeley Firetower climb with ten miles to go, Brown dropped off the back and eventually finished fifth, while Swanson continued to charge on.

Then on Snowmobile Trail 8 with a little over four miles to go, a rock stopped Swanson’s bid for a third title. “I flatted on that last rocky downhill before Telemark (Road),” said Swanson. Instead of pulling off the tire, Swanson, who uses tubeless tires and tire sealant, inflated the tire and quickly set off in pursuit of Horgan-Kobelski, who finished in a time of 2:07:25.7, a mere 14 seconds off Swanson’s record time set in 2003. Swanson never caught him, crossing the line a minute and half down.

“It’s still my course record,” said Swanson, bantering with JHK after the race. “I couldn’t have gone any faster,” said Horgan-Kobelski.

Meanwhile in the women’s race, Irmiger was struggling to keep pace with Kylander-Johnson, who crossed the line in 2:25:59.6. Irmiger lost over five minutes to the Trek/VW rider and finished in 2:31:08.5 “I’m so excited,” said Kylander-Johnson. “I knew I had to have a really good day (to beat Irmiger). There’s always a shot in the dark. You have to have a good day, and the others have to have a bad day.” Kylander-Johnson has twice finished runner up and was beaming with her first win.

Irmiger admitted that she struggled on the flats and prefers a much hillier course. “This race was the anti-Heather race,” she said with a laugh. She vowed to return next year after a spring of power intervals in the flats.

Local rider Jesrin Gaier won the Short & Fat in a time of 52:14 in the 16-mile race, putting over a minute on Eric Thompson of Shoreview, Minn. Tim Elk trailed Thompson by another minute to take third. Rebecca Cleveland won her first Short & Fat in 1:02:11. Jessica Martin of Spooner, Wis was runner up, and former champ Stehpanie Moats-Liebke came in third.

CHEQUAMEGON 40 MEN

1) Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Boulder, Colo. 2:07:25
2) Doug Swanson, Plymouth, Minn. 2:08:53
3) Jeff Hall, Farmington, Minn. 2:09:21
4) Brian Matter, Sheboygan, Wis. 2:09:51
5) Travis Brown, Durango, Colo. 2:09:55

CHEQUAMEGON 40 WOMEN

1) Sara Kylander-Johnson, Duluth, Minn. 2:25:59
2) Heather Imiger, Boulder, Colo. 2:31:08
3) Catherine Walberg, Topeka, Kan. 2:32:50
4) Kyia Malenkovich, St. Cloud, Minn. 2:34:57
5) Katie Lindquist, Steamboat Springs, Colo. 2:40:41

SHORT & FAT MEN

1) Jesrin Gaier, Seeley, Wis. 52:12
2) Eric Thompson, Shoreview, Minn. 53:30
3) Tim Elk, Duluth, Minn. 54:43
4) John Thompson, Shoreview, Minn. 54:43
5) Mitch Gantz, Green Bay, Wis. 55:50

SHORT & FAT WOMEN

1) Rebecca Cleveland, Green Bay, Wis. 1:02:11
2) Jessica Martin, Spooner, Wis. 1:04:51
3) Stephanie Moats-Liebke, Lino Lakes, Minn. 1:06:08
4) Dana Smith, Burnsville, Minn. 1:09:45
5) Ann Lembezeder, St. Paul, Minn. 1:10:17

Full results at itiming.com or cheqfattire.com