Chequamegon 2010

This past weekend was the Chequamegon Fat Tire festival. Last Feb I kept hearing how fun Cheqy was so I decided at the last minute to sign up and hope for the best. Well I got a lottery pick so I was going to Cheqy. I had no idea what i was getting myself into. Cheqy is a 40 mile MTB race. I asked around trying to find out the best way to train. The one thing i kept hearing was ride Ahquabi by Indianola, well with all of the rain it was unridable. So I rode gravel ,tried to find as many hills that I could and hoped for the best.

I was so wrong, I did not train correctly at all. I was so out of my league that they should have thrown me off of the starting line. ok I need to back up. Friday I meet up with Dave, Dee, Maria, Heather, Karolyn and Kim in Ankeny and we car caravan ed to Cable to pick up our packets and do a test ride.

We got there to early for packet pick up so decided to ride first. We were going to ride the last 3-5 miles of the course to test our legs and test the bikes. The Saturday before I had broken a chain on one of my training ride, Bill got it put back on and I took it out for a ride Tuesday. It held fine so all was good, right?, wrong. The last few miles of Cheqy are very hilly off road. I was going up the hill and had my second  "oh Shit" moment in a week, the chain broke AGAIN. I could not believe it another broken chain, I got the chain off of the bike and started to walk to the car which meant pushing the bike up and down hills. Heather stayed with me bless her heart until the mosquitoes go to bad. Many gentlemen stopped and offered to help however I needed to walk and think things out. I did not have another chain, I did not really know what to do. I was crying at this point because I was so frustrated. By the time I got back to the car I told them I was packing up and heading home. I actually told Kim that If I left then and went home I would never get on a  bike again. All she said was " I know". I called Bill ,he had no idea why it would be breaking, he talked me into going to the TREK tent and seeing if they could fix my chain. 

I took the bike to the TREK tent asked if they could fix the chain, thinking they would fix my broken chain, however  the mechanic took the bike and put a new chain , a step up from the one that I had on, then proceeded to make sure it was adjusted correctly. He only charged me 20 dollars for the chain nothing for his labor but I gave him a tip. I am sorry to say that I didn't get his name. He said that this was his 18th year of either riding or working Cheqy. I went to pack pick up got my stuff and ran into the rest of the group, they were happy to see that I had at least picked up my packet that I had not given up yet.

I found out that the way you save your spot in line basically was first come first serve, So Dave, Dee, Kim and Karolyn got up at 4 am and set their bikes at the starting line. Maria and I decided we did not expect to win so we waited until 8 am to set our bikes, it was an incredible site to see all of those bike flipped upside down.

Dee and Daves' Tandem doing it's own thing...

very fun to see all of the bikes upside down.


The race started at 10 so at about 9:40 they had the "Bandit Patrol" remove any bikes that did not have numbers on them, then at about 9:50 they had them remove any bikes that were not occupied. They have this down to a science. After the National Anthem was sung they did the count down.5 4 3 2 1  *BOOM*  and we were off, kind of, it took a little bit to get back to us but not more than a minute. You just had to hold your line otherwise you were getting ran over. The start of the race is about 3 miles of pavement until you get to Rosie's Field which is grass, next is Berkie Trail......I put Cheqy into three sections, Gravel, dirt/rock trails, and the Birkebeiner cross country ski trail. The Berkie as it is call is a cross country ski trail that hosts many activities thru the year, running races, Fat Tire Festival and various cross country ski races. Do not let anyone tell you "oh it is a cross country ski hill it cannot be that tough". It was hell. I have never had anything sap my energy so fast. It didn't help that Wisconsin has been getting rain so it was like riding on an energy sapping sponge.

It usually takes my legs a few miles to warm up and the thighs to quit hurting. They never quit hurting, I rode up some of the hills and walked others. I was walking more than I normally would however i was riding on an untested chain and didn't want to push my luck. I soon found that for me to even make forward progress on the Berkie trail i needed to put the bike in the granny gear, so I just prayed that the chain would hold.
The chain and bike did great. The rider(me)sucked. I tried to ride my own race take it easy breath easy, however there was no breathing easy on this trail, I would catch up with people on the gravel and the mud, rock trails however I would just die on the grass.

I thought that I could just take my time poke my way along. However that was not to be either at about mile 14 I started to hyperventilate going up hills, I am sure my heart rate was well into the 200's which is not good for an old lady like me. I knew that we would cross hwy 00 which was at mile 16. Once I got there I sat down and was done. I could barely move, my legs were burning, my heart was racing and I was toast.  I had done 16 miles of a 40 mile race and was done.

I caught a ride with a very nice lady to Cable, found Heather our Sherpa/pack person, changed my clothes and cheered everyone else in. It took me 2 hours to get to mile 16 as I was sitting there waiting for a ride to Cable I heard their radios crack that the person in 1st was at mile 39, the winner did it in 2 hours and 9 minutes.

Chequamegon is a test of endurance, strength and mental fortitude. I had none of them Saturday, I was very unprepared. Was I discouraged, not really. When we hit the grassy fields I knew that I had not trained right and that I was in for a very long day. When I started to hyperventilate and had a hard time breathing I knew that I was done.

I can say that I did start the raced after I wanted to just go home after the chain broke on Friday,  I had every intention of finishing, however It didn't happen. I plan on being there next year to conquer Cheguamegon. I have even booked my room at the lodge I stayed at this year for next year.

So what do I need to do diff:

1. I need to lose weight, I am carrying to much weight
2. my hydration pack was way to heavy, I need to lighten the pack
3. I need to get back in the pool. I need that cross training.
4. find sand and just ride through it getting my legs use to the energy sucking terrain
5. I need to ride Aqhuabi over and over again.
6. keep riding gravel.

It seems that for some people competing comes easy, it does not for me, alot of times i have to force myself out the door. I get really nervous and anxious. So for the next few months I am just going to try to relax ,enjoy cyclocross and work on base fitness.

Fun Cheqy take aways :

1. Met John and Phil from Minneapolis great guys who looked me up after to see how I had done then informed me I was going to do it next year.
2. The people are very friendly and helpful.
3. I can do the polka with a stranger from Chicago.
4. Spotted Cow beer is wonderful, so I now have a case of it. :)
5. What a fun group of people Dave, Dee, Karolyn, Kim, Maria and Heather. Dave and his women! They had us me laughing.
6. Heather and Maria make good roomies for a weekend.

...there are more but sometimes you just have to keep it to yourself...:)

My pics from Chequamegon

 Cheqy didn't beat me it just set me back a little bit! Just wait until next year.. :)

Peace