SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009
1:22AM Chequamegon Morning
Just got done preping Jeffs bike and finished packing everything back in the truck. It is like a ritual of the Chequamegon to prep Jeff Halls bike the night before the big 40 mile race on Saturday. I finish working on the bike, have a beer and hit the bed for 3.5 hours of sleep cause the alarm is set for 5:15 AM. The race starts at 10:00 AM this morning. Jeff finished 2nd last year, there are 1800 riders in this race and this is the 27th year of the race. It's a true classic.
The year of 1995 when Jeff won this race, I had to rebuild his rear derailer and it took until 4:00AM the morning of the race. I never told him cause I didn't want to distract him. Well it worked, with him winning by 4 seconds over Eric Ringsrud.
Got to finish the 16 oz. Silver Bullet and get some sleep, GOOD TIMES!!
The year of 1995 when Jeff won this race, I had to rebuild his rear derailer and it took until 4:00AM the morning of the race. I never told him cause I didn't want to distract him. Well it worked, with him winning by 4 seconds over Eric Ringsrud.
Got to finish the 16 oz. Silver Bullet and get some sleep, GOOD TIMES!!
Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 Race
The 3 Amigos of the early 90s'. Jeff Hall was winning the Short and Fat, Scott Hebel was placing 2nd behind Greg LeMond in the 40 and I was chasing these 2 jokers with top 50 finishes in the 40 miler. We all raced for the Diamond Back Team, Scott was one of their national riders and Jeff and I were DB regional riders. We had good times all over the Midwest and raced with Scott out in Colorado.
The Man of the hour, Gary Crandall, the man in the middle with the beard. The head Chequamegon honcho. He and his crew have put together the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival every September for the past 27 years. I heard about it back in 1984 and raced it for the first time in 1985.
Starting, staging area.
The front pack of 1900 riders after 3 miles of pavement, reaching speeds of 35 MPH.
After this corner they ride into an open field (Rosie's Field) and it is all off-road and dirt trails for a total of 41 miles(1 mile longer this year I heard).
This at about mile 11 into the race, still a very large group of riders. Jeff is just popping over the little rise and I will hand up a water bottle to him. I will see the leaders 7 times in the race.
Yours truly at OO trail crossing, about 17 or 18 miles into the race.
The lead group has whittled down to a select fast group. Jeff is in this group.
Jeff at the finish, 9th place on the day. time of 2:04. Last year he finished 2nd at 2:08, the riders and the course were very fast this year. The old course record was 2:07.
Gotta like the dust on this day, 41 miles in 2:04, 19.7 MPH average.
Finishing area.
My old race teammates Dru, Tim and Tim's son Joe. Tim and Joe still flying the Finish Line Finder jersey. Back in the 80's and 90's this was the jersey that sent shivers down the spines of lesser mountain bike teams...ha,ha. Jeff was even a Finder back in his early days. GOOD TIMES!!
