Midwest Fattire Fest

Spent the weekend at Lake Wilson, KS. The Midwest Fattire Festival put on by Golden Belt Bicycles was a great event. Headed that direction Saturday morning under cloudy skies, but shortly outside Topeka everything cleared up and it turned into a beautiful weekend. I arrived at the trailhead just after lunch to find Matt and Stephanie Brown and the Chambers family getting ready for the weekend. We quickly headed out to preride the course. Those are some of the best trails in KS. A great 17 mile loop that is fun from start to finish.

After some preriding it was time to line up for the uphill TT. It was a little over 2 minute climb to the top of one of the higher hills around the lake. I was the 4th starter and put in a time of 2:10, which turned out to be the fastest of the day. My lungs were burning by the end, but it was time for some more trailriding fun. Cam led a group of us around another part of the loop and it was obvious that keeping up with him on the technical rocky sections was going to be a challenge.

Sunday was the main race. It was sure to be a long XC race, well over 2 hrs. Pretty much the entire HighGear team was on the starting line which was cool to see. At the start I slotted in behind Cameron Chambers and the two of us quickly got a gap on the rest of the field. Then I found myself falling further and further behind as my feet seemed to be on the ground as much as on the pedals through the rocky slickrock sections and the loose turns. After regrouping I started to get the handle of things and began working my way back up. About 2/3 of the way around the first of two laps I caught Cam and followed him for awhile. I was thinking that I needed to get a gap on him before the slickrock sections on the next lap when he let me by. I picked up the pace and rode the rest of the way by myself. Cameron would suffer cramping and his Ethos team would have to be picked up by Travis Donn who finished second. The race was around 2:15 but it didnt seem like we were out there nearly that long. Great day of riding.