Great Lakes Fat Bike Race Series / Solstice Chase

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Winter season has arrived with Team LAMERE Cycles fresh and excited to be rolling again. The morning dawned with 8 degrees and frozen trails with nary a trace of snow. Didn't matter, tires were selected with a set of 45NRTH 4" Dillinger tires mounted up. A studded on the front for cornering on the frozen ground and non-studded on the rear. We also had the Hitching Post Motorsports trailer on hand for our heated garage.

 I believe that the Solstice Chase Race had 290 entrants, a much larger field then last year.

The race took off at 10:00am with temps around 11 degrees, it was winter weather for sure, sans snow on the ground.

 The lead group whittled down to 3 riders within a few miles, this was a 42K distance, about 31 mile race.

 At the end of 1 lap, about 55 minutes the lead group was down to 2 riders, with Jeff Hall setting the pace. It stayed that way until Jeff dropped Adam Bergman on a climb on the 2nd of 2 laps.

From then on Jeff kept the pace high and finished in 1:45, about 5 minutes quicker then 2014 when he won. The gap to 2nd place was about 6 minutes. 

 Yours Truly, the LAMERE Team Manager got some miles in today, good woodsy course was I was able to see Jeff Hall at several locations. The race course crew was out roaring around the trail making sure the ribbons were up and the corners were marked, good stuff.

 Jeff crossing one of the several bridges and ridding his own race.

 Taking it home down the last hill and whooping it up!!

#1 Top Log for the first race of the Great Lakes Fat Bike Series.

Good to see all the Winter racers that we met last year and the Great crew from Cyclova XC "Thanks out to Frank Lundeen"

Race Fat Bike On!!

Great Lakes Fat Tire Series / Winter Fat Tire Mountain Bike Racing / The Solstice Chase

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This was the first race in the "Great Lakes Fat Bike Series". A bit behind on the posting. I'm going to recap.

This race was "The Solstice Chase" @ St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. It was a 42K distance on snowy x-country ski trails. The conditions were fast and temps were mild, about 28 degrees.

Jeff Hall and I arrived early, 8am for a 10am start. One of the things about winter riding is that it is a good idea to keep the pick-up truck running to have a warming shelter to get set up in. JP LaMere arrived and we decided on a tire set-up for the race.

It was a strong field with the series champ from last year in attendance. He is a racer from Michigan. Also at the line was Brandon Moore a former Minnesota State MTB Champ.   

 It was a fast start with Hollywood and Brandon leading out.

 At the half way point the front group had been formed. Jeff Hall, Brandon Moore and Josh Bauer formed a 3 Man Fat Tire train rolling along at a fast pace with a rider following back a bit in 4th. There was a chase group that was a few minutes down.

 Jeff Hall roaring along on his LaMere Cycles mount, looking very fast.

 This is the team manager / bottle hand up / photo taker / driver / bike and pack carrier tools. I got some good miles and pictures during the race. It is a good time roaming around to find the key spots around the course.

 Lead group stayed together all the way through with Brandon and Jeff testing each other. They had put a 10 minute gap on 4th place by the end of the race.

 A couple miles from the finish on the final lap, Jeff and Brandon charged up the big climb in the race and dropped Josh. It was a 2 Man sprint to the finish with Brandon and Jeff trading places at the front.

Jeff powers up a climb about 1 mile from the finish. It continues with Brandon pulling ahead of Jeff. In the final decent out of the woods with Brandon leading, Jeff let it all hang out and made a move to the inside of Brandon, passing him 70 yards from the line and powering across for the win.

 The Top 3 Men / 1st Jeff Hall @ 1 hour 50 minutes/ 2nd Brandon Moore / 3rd Josh Bauer

 Jeff and a Furry Friend...

 Jeff and JP Buzzy LaMere with the winning Fat Tire LAMERE Cycle. All smiles!

Damn cool that the owner and namesake of LAMERE Cycles, Buzzy LaMere is out there racing and putting his bike through the paces and asking for input and feedback on his bikes from Jeff.

 The LaMere Crew. Yours truly, Mike Hall, Jeff Hall, Jon Sabes, JP Buzzy LaMere and  Scott Olson

 The podium. Jeff, Brandon, Josh

Cooling the LAMERE down after the race...

The Ole Dog = Ride On!!