The inaugural Freezer Burn fat bike winter race lived up to its moniker on Saturday, Jan. 16, when air temperature was around minus-7 degrees for the well-bundled cyclists who showed up at Springvale County Park. And, of course, the wind chill was significantly lower until you got back in the woods a bit.
With a name like “Freezer Burn,” you wouldn’t want 40 degrees and sunny weather on race morning, would you?
“It’s cold weather, but we have a great turnout. It’s all perfect. We have good helpers — all our volunteers are here,” said K.C. Bohn of Outdoor Edge and the Cambridge Cycling Club after he signalled the pack to start the trek.
A total of 34 racers took to the trails of Springvale for the fun time which will be an annual event for this area. The wide-tired cyclists chose to complete one, two or three five-mile loops around the park which contained a challenging stretch of single-track in the back woods and a three-quarter circle route on ice around the perimeter of Johnny Lake.
Gary Gaoden was the winner of the longest 15-mile race, Gregorio Ramirez had the low time in the 10-mile race, and Jeff Colbert had the best time in the 5-mile “sprint.”
When racers finished their levels, a hot fire and hot treats were waiting for them at the start-finish picnic shelter at Springvale Park.
“The only problem we had was frozen mustard and frozen ketchup, so that isn’t too bad. It was a great time, and we had racers show up from all over,” added Bohn while reporting results on Monday. “We raised around $1,000 which will go for more single-track bike trails in our parks.”
2016 Freezer Burn top-three
15-MILE) Gary Gaoden, Jack Schwinghammer, Mike Lind. 10-MILE) Gregorio Ramirez, Richard Wiitala, Dean Kamrath. 5-MILE) Jeff Colbert, Mike Larson, Todd Mathwig.