Specialized : Riders Club

Kit Cischke's Journal

2008 Copper Harbor Fat Tire Fest

posted by KitC at 05:01 PM on September 04, 2008

Region:: Michigan
Location:: Copper Harbor, MI
Country:: United States of America
Ride Type:: Mountain
Nearest Zipcode:: 49918

Ride Description

"Like a lamp on a hill,
Lord I pray in Your will
To reveal all of You that I can."
- Jennifer Knapp, "Martyrs and Thieves"

There is a saying in Michigan (as in other similarly situated places), "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes; it will change." Buffeted by the Great Lakes, the weather is generally moderate. As you go north to the U.P., you run into areas where Lake Superior exerts its full influence, dumping copious amounts of snow during the winter, and bringing cool breezes during the summer. Rarely does the mercury rise higher than 80 degrees here and when it does, it doesn't last. That being said, the well-known forecast for the 2008 Copper Harbor Fat Tire Fest was three words: Hot and sunny.

It's funny, because all of my other races experienced cooler than average weather, and I was getting mileage out of my arm warmers and long-sleeve jerseys. But near the end of US Highway 41, over 300 riders were planning to suffer in the sun, heat, hills and rocks of Copper Harbor.

It's not hard to describe the Fat Tire Fest. You roll out through the downtown area of Copper Harbor (or what passes for it, in a town with less than 100 year-round residents). Turning up the Burma Road, you begin climbing. This is an activity you will continue doing almost nonstop for 30-45 minutes along dirt roads, singletrack and doubletrack before you eventually emerge from the woods at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, gasping for breath, desperate for water and wishing your heart rate would finally drop below 170 BPM. From there, you descend about halfway back down to town before returning to the Lodge. This was the primary place where the course had changed from prior years. New trail construction had provided a slightly less horrible climb back to the Lodge this year. From there, the two most famous Copper Harbor Trails lead you back to town and the finish line: Red Trail and Paul's Plunge. Both are way technical, way fun, and way hard. A final lap around a field routes you through the finishing chute. I completed this year's edition in 1:34:16, a full 22 minutes below last year's finish and 2 minutes under my goal. I had based that goal on last year's winning time and my consistent results this year of finishing about 20 minutes behind the leaders. It was a somewhat random goal, but it was good to have something. An overall 72nd place, which puts me now in the top 1/3 of the riders at that event. I'm pleased, especially since I didn't peak for the event, and hardly rode my bike in the weeks between the Deer Chase and this race.

So what can I take away from this race? I still can't start well, and the Fat Tire is a race you absolutely must start well. If you don't, you will be trapped on singletrack behind people who cannot climb. It will suck. I learned food makes the difference. I forced down a Gu packet when I first got to the Mountain Lodge, and it sustained me to the end of the race. Very important, and I think a big reason I blew up last year. The Specialized Captains are fan-freaking-tastic tires. They handled absolutely everything with aplomb. I was digging the HiFi and the selectable suspension modes for climbing the first paved climb (locked out), climbing to the Lodge (ProPedal) and descending Red Trail (open), but I'm not sure I like having to manually select those modes. Getting an Epic (or Stumpjumper) with a Brain would be better, I think. Overall, I'm in better shape than I have ever been. Now if I can just lose some more weight, get down to 175-ish pounds, I'll climb like crazy and finish even better. I had my confidence buoyed considerably by handling everything the trail threw at me. I'd been developing a bit of a mental block about riding Copper Harbor, feeling like I would crash and hurt myself if I did. I'm finally getting over that, and thinking more along the lines of, "Bring it on!"

One of the most important things that happened is reflected in the song lyrics that opened this post. As I was smack in the middle of the second climb to the Mountain Lodge, starting to feel desperation creep in, those lyrics popped into my head and I was renewed. It may seem silly to think that God should care about my little mountain bike race, but I felt like He knew exactly when I needed some encouragement and to remember the prayer I had prayed before the race even started: To let Him have the glory for my performance. "Like a lamp on a hill" overlooking Copper Harbor, I was God's representative in that race. And I would ride hard, I would stay cheerful, and I would reveal all of Him that I could. More than any Gu, more than any "rabbit" rider to chase, more than any illicit substance, the desire to glorify the Creator is performance-enhancing.

"So turn on the light and reveal all the glory,
I am not afraid.
To bear all my weakness,
Knowing in meekness,
I have a kingdom to gain..."