Great Lakes Fat Bike Series: Farmer's Fat Bike Race & Noquemanon World Championship

There wasn’t much time to relax after getting home from Fat Chance! Race #3 of the Great Lakes Fat Bike Series was less than a week away and there was a lot to do before race day! The Farm Team and the Ada Bike Shop put on one of my favorite local races each year, and this was the second year that the Farmer’s Fat Bike Race was part of the series. Last year, I had been cheering everyone on while recovering from a torn ACL. 

Jenny Scott partied in my honor at the 2013 Farmer's Fat Bike Race

On Friday, I met up with some of the Farm Team and my coworker, Ted, at Cannonsburg Ski Area with our fat bikes and some snow shoes to help get the course ready for the race. They had arrived before me, so I shuffled along their path to help pack down the snow and once I found them, I put my snowshoes on and shuffled all the way back. We got it packed down pretty good and hopped on our bikes to pre-ride the entire course. My favorite part was the portion that we had just built. I couldn't stop laughing and smiling the whole way through! The rest of the trail consisted of cross country ski trail and was packed pretty well. Cannonsburg has a lot of climbing, and I knew spending 3 hours on this particular trail would totally be a beating. I’m ashamed to say, but although Cannonsburg is right in my backyard, and although they had trails for fat bikes available for the taking… I hadn’t spent any time trying to lock down a home-field advantage. This was definitely a big mistake and I’m hoping to do next year's Farmer's race differently.

Ted Bentley, fat bike extraordinaire

 It was really weird not spending the day before the race driving and getting ready with Danielle. I ate some oatmeal and half of a burrito for breakfast, packed a change of clothes, and was off! It had warmed up overnight and before the start of the race the Farm Team had elected to cut out the area of single track that we had helped to create the day before. There was another section of single track that was draining better, and I could tell that it would be a really nice spot for spectators to catch some good spills. Although I was nervous for this race, I couldn't help but smile as we lined up at the start. The Ada Bike Shop had closed for the day so all of us could come race or hang out, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of my coworkers, customers, and friends on their fat bikes! "I hope I don’t make a fool of myself!" I kept thinking over and over. The race started on a climb, and shortly after we all took off people were falling over and running uphill. I dismounted when I saw the trail blocked ahead of me and took off running! Someone shouted “nice cross skills!” and I couldn't tell if they were being serious or making fun of me for going out so hard the first 5 minutes of the race. I clamored up to the top of the climb and hopped back on my bike to go! The trail was full of ruts soon thereafter and the nice, wide course became a technical sufferfest. Deep ruts, soft snow, and mud puddles meant I was falling over. A lot! 

Making good use of the scooter-method. Photo: Rob Meendering. 

Cringing at the start of the single track segment. Photo: Rob Meendering.

The leg cramps were back but the rest of my body felt good so I just kept pushing it. One of my biggest weaknesses riding technical trail is that I ride my brakes too much; I get too hesitant and want to play it safe. I know this is a flaw of mine and really wanted to make the podium in my hometown, so I started getting gutsier and gutsier and perfected the scooter-method—AKA keep one foot unclipped and use it to prop yourself up when going through sketchy ruts. You can go a lot faster this way. It also isn't 100% guaranteed and you still fall. A lot. Just as I had lapped my friend Goremez (Who was doing her first ever mountain bike race! So proud of her!) I fell over and my heart sunk when I got back on my bike—my rear wheel had frozen up. I had fallen so many times my brake pads were stuck shut and despite trying to thaw them I couldn't get them to release. I wasted enough time dinking around with trying to fix it myself and took off running! I was so happy to see the Grand Rapids Bicycle Company tent at the bottom of the hill! Relief! (FYI, running downhill in mushy snow with a 30-some-pound bike who’s rear wheel refuses to spin is not easy.) Jason Schippert grabbed my bike and tossed it in the repair stand. Steve Kunnath handed me a Founders All Day IPA. I have the best pit crew! I had feared that I was headed towards DNF-ing, but Jason had saved my bike (and Steve had saved my morale) and I was able to head back out for more laps! I knew I had lost a chunk of time and pushed as hard as I could to catch up. I was able to haul past Arianne Whittacker and Stacy Smith despite lost time, but wasn’t able to catch Chelsea Strate, Chrissy Buerkle, or Danielle Musto. I was happy with taking 4^th overall female, especially after having a mechanical! Falling so much during the Farmer’s Fat Bike Race left my legs and arms black and blue and my entire body sore. I have since this race started referring to fat-bike-related bruises as “Farmer’s bruises” and have had to replace my bike’s shifter. RIP shifter. Thanks for fixing it, Jason!

Stacy Smith, Chelsea Strate, Danielle Musto, Chrissy Buerkle, myself

There was an open weekend between the Farmer’s Fat Bike Race and Race #4 of the series, the Noquemanon World Championship Fat Bike Race up in Marquette. The Noque was the last in the trifecta of fat bike races in Michigan and I was super pumped to head up to Marquette: both to ride what I had heard was an incredible trail and to see a lot of friends that live up there! (On the weekend “off” I decided to race in Holland, Mi at another Winter Rush fat bike race. I was happy to get 2^nd out of the women, being lapped only once by Danielle and able to lap the rest of the women once myself!) Danielle, my boyfriend B and I headed on up to the UP and arrived Thursday night at the cutest little house in downtown Marquette that I have ever seen. Scott had found the house and would be joining us, along with a few of the other Farm Team guys, later that night/early Friday morning. When Danielle and I showed up to pre-ride the Noque on Friday, I was smiling from ear to ear! What a great course! Wide, smooth, fast, AWESOME! Everything a fat bike trail should be! There's a spot at the beginning of the Noque that winds downhill…before the course crosses it's first lake! I had never ridden my bicycle across a lake before and my mind pretty much exploded right there on the spot. The race organizers had lined the trail across the lake with tiny pine trees and branches and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever ridden. Sure, winter is cold, but you get to do awesome things—like riding your bike across a frozen lake!! Gah! Just remembering the awe of riding over Deer Lake that day gives me chills. If you haven’t ridden your fat bike at the Noquemanon… do it next year. Don’t miss it! Directly after dying a million awesome deaths riding across my first frozen lake ever, we came to the first big hill on the course. I was humbled quite quickly when I realized the hill looked like it went straight upwards like a wall. We decided our pre-ride was over and turned back around.

Noque start. Photo: Scott Chambers

The next morning we loaded our bikes and gear in to two vehicles and headed towards race start. The Noque is a point-to-point race, and I was nervous I might have another mechanical, so I over-planned and brought everything from a multi-tool, to a spare tube, to tons of spare snacks, an extra face cover and spare gloves. I crammed it all in my hydrapak and decided it was too cold to warm up. About a half hour before race start I saw Jenny Scott and Matt Acker show up. The weather had been so bad that the Mackinaw Bridge had been shut down and they had been stranded in Mackinaw City for the night! They had driven for over four hours and were getting ready for an early morning race start. Yikes! Big high fives to them for battling all of that before the race, and an even bigger high five to Jenny for bringing a bear costume to wear during the race! Race start was below zero degrees and a lot of us were afraid of even colder wind chills. The race was 50km and I knew there would be a lot of challenging climbs (just like the wall after Deer Lake!) I felt pretty good going in to this race and was looking forward to finishing at the wooden dome at NMU. From the start, I took off as fast as I could and cruised along the familiar path that I had ridden through the day before. Coming to the first lake crossing, I was again totally ecstatic and prepared to take the right lines through the soft snow. 

Crossing Deer Lake

I was able to keep my wheels spinning and to stay afloat… until reaching that first big hill. I hopped off my bike and started running up it. I felt like I ran walked up that hill for forever. Finally I had reached to top and I was able to ride again. The trail was gorgeous and all of the trees were coated in sparkly white snow. My face felt cold and I kept stretching my jaw and wrinkling my forehead to make sure that my face was alright in the subzero temps. My water bottle was turning to slush and I was thankful to come across aid stations offering hydration. I didn't realize my pace was slowing until Arianne Whittacker whizzed past me. Nooooo! For a while I pushed super hard trying to pass her again, . I started losing other riders to race up to, which made me lose my momentum and I started chugging along. Nearing the last 10km and riding over another frozen lake, I saw a bright pink jacket up the way-- Arianne! My jaw dropped and hope was restored. I could still catch her! Pulling from some super-secret energy source that I didn’t know I had, I was able to close the distance and to get up to her rear wheel. I saw the sign for 7km and made a rookie mistake: I attacked and tried to put as much distance between us as possible. Arianne let me pass her, and then stuck with me until the “finish 500 meters” sign… and that’s when she attacked! Forced in to an all-out sprint, I was already spent from pulling her the last few kilometers, and I lost her. Another Great Lakes Fat Bike Series overall women’s 4^th place for me. Third place for the totally bad ass Arianne Whittacker. 

Speaking of a bad ass...

The Farmer's Fat Bike Race and the Noquemanon were both incredibly challenging races because of the extreme weather. Anyone who finished either race is a rock star in my book. The Noque was so cold that race volunteers were actually pulling racers due to frostbite. Seriously so amazed at how awesome fat bikers are and the tenacity that they exude. These two fat bike races were doozies!