Awe Snap….
Race Course 8~ Conditions 9~ Party 10
Friday night pre-party was top notch, we (MKE) Southsiders and frequent Fatties decided to show up early and kick our shoes off and get to know the place. After a little pre-ride sweatfest, we had a mini happy hour by the light of our mooselamp and later headed up to Bear Paw Lodge. What more do you need than BEER, PIZZA and a SNOWSTORM before a snow bike race ? Well just a few die hard partiers & riders really. And then they arrived… car load by car load, bike by bike.
The temps may have kept a few folks at home but, man, it was beautiful day and you missed out big time. The snow had set up real nice come Saturday AM and created some wicked fast lap times. The course lead out from the lodge on groomed double track that then sent you into some climbing twisty singletrack. The downhills on the course made every rider sharpen their technical skills by maneuvering around large boulders and switchbacks…overshooting turns was obvious and pretty funny to hear as racers traversed the woods, we listened for their yelps and squeals of laughter. The course was about 4 kilometers long and groomed in areas and packed in others. Bearpaw has the facilities and topography for kick ass fat biking. Nuf said.
Teams were made up of three riders, pretty typical format these days. The winning team of Chris Schotz, Randy Wegener & Maciej Nowak reported 11 laps in 3 hours. On the other hand the team who had the most fun reported 3 laps. Their names … I did not catch… but I got a snap shot of them at the bar …and I did see them still partying while packing the bikes up Sunday morning.
Complete hooligans and soon to be ambassadors of the sport…tell us your names ! We must know who you are…I was totally impressed by your spirit and commitment to the event. Scott also thanks you for the time spent bellied up to his bar and for stoking the fire into the wee hours of the night. It would have been nice, had you three made breakfast for the rest of us…since you were up…but, hey, maybe next time?
Long story short, Scott and Jamee put on a AWESOME event. So much fun! Great location! Great prizes! Perfect amenities and hospitality as always when visiting Bear Paw! Anyone who is looking to attend a fatbike event, come check this one out next winter, so you know how its done!
Ps: Jamee I think your fly was open….
Whoa! NIce video of a great event. Thanks. I’m stuck here in a hotel room in the TC’s and wishing for a bike ride. That vid just fired me up. But no bike shops open at 4AM. Argh!