3 newbies and 2 veterans...

raced for North Iowa SPIN at the 26th annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival 40-miler in Hayward, WI, on Saturday, September 13, 2008. Barry Trump is a veteran of many Cheq 40s, as is Dwight Beavers. The new riders were Stuart Schurtz of St. Loius Park, MN; Mike Hummel of St. Paul, MN; and Martin Izakovic of Iowa City, formerly of Mason City. About 2200 riders started out in downtown Hayward at 10AM. The first several miles of the rollout were on hard surface roads. Then the racers hit Rosie's Field near the Fish Hatchery and began to spread out. Unfortunately, Stuart broke his chain at Rosie's and was the last one out after getting help with the repair. He was able to catch 300+ riders and passed Barry about 30 yards from the finish. Martin was the first in at 3:11:51. Dwight was second at 3:49:11; then Stuart, 3:52:59; Barry 3:53:16; and Mike 4:06:59. Dwight won the M70+ age group on a bike he'd never riden previously. It had rained a bit in northern Wisconsin prior to the race. It was not raining at the start of the race, but by the time Stu, Barry, and Mike came in, it was raining pretty hard. Hot showers were mandatory and appreciated by all.

All the riders, except Mike, are planning to race next year. That is, if they get accepted through the lottery in March. Two NI SPIN veteran Cheq 40 racers did not get in this year - Eric Rust and Dave Delperdang. Steve Younker and Tim Putnam did not enter the lottery this year. Steve was focused on training for Ironman Wisconsin, where he did quite well on September 7 in Madison, WI. Tim was focused on his role as Director Sportif. The four of them provided an excellent support crew for the Cheq 40 riders, as well as for Steve Schurtz, who rode the Short & Fat 16-miler with 700 riders that started simultaneously in Cable. Steve finished in 1:38:37. Both races had the same finish at Telemark Resort, where beer and the Iowa/Iowa State game on XM were enjoyed by all in the parking lot.

2008 Chequamegon 40 Photo Set