Chequamegon 100 (K)

Who's the fat guy in the green jersey ?

 Saturday was the third running of the Chequamegon 100. This year they offered the option to race 100 kilometers. Having done the first Cheq 100 (miles) I knew what to expect, and having the registration months ago with the Arrowhead 135  fresh in my mind, there was no way I was signing up for a hundred miles, so I jumped at the chance to do the 100k version. Now it feels a little like a wuss move, but 62 miles is nothing to sneer at and plenty long for a race on single-track. I finished 3rd overall and felt pretty good at the finish. I'm not saying I didn't give it my all, but at 5 hours and 46 minutes, I was well within the range of what I've been training for, or suffering through as of late.

State of the art timing, I love it !

 I won't bore you with every detail, but it went somthing like this. The first three miles were a gravel roll out, which Drew dominated. This left my legs screaming and me trying to catch up to Maury (2nd OA), Joe Meiser and Drew Wilson  (1st OA). It took about ten miles before I felt good and started making up some lost ground on the three ahead of me. I caught them in heavy traffic around mile 20 and could not make their break-away off the front of the large pack of 100 mile riders I was stuck behind. Around mile 30++ Mieser was off the side of the trail with a flat. I was in third now, after witnessing  Mieser and his raw power on a bike in other endurance events, I knew if he got his shit together quickly I was toast. This gnawed at the back of my mind for the entire race but he never appeared.  This left me alone until mile 44-46 when I was caught by another rider. I was not having this. He caught me on a stretch of gravel and by the time we got to the next section of single track I punched it. Within a minute or so I couldn't hear him behind me anymore. I was still running scared and did not let up one bit, I had not gone this far to be taken in single track.  Of all the talent I have lost, ripping single track is not one of them. The last hour and a half seemed to pass quite quickly as I set my mind free and got into a nice rhythm all the way to the finish line  

Farrow, DBD hero......Where the heck is Big Buff, Pramann, and Kershaw ?

Sauber, super tough, riddler extraordinaire 

3rd, 1st, 2nd

I would like to say thanks to: The whole Salsa Cycles crew and family, Milltown Cycles, Lakewoods, and CAMBA for putting on this event. Brett, Don, Larry and Troy for sharing a room. Troy for the motorcycle ride back to my van, Curtis of Milltown for doing a great job at the finish, Joe Meiser for not coming back from his flat and bumping me from third place, The Rivers Eatery for the awesome pizza and hospitality. Jon Friedell for graciously letting me pass him in tight single-track, and my wife and kids for letting me "do what I do".

Pattison....... one tuff dude.

Gear-bags, now I can get home 

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