The Fat Tire Fest is one of the great celebrations of mountain biking in the country. If you haven’t been to northern Wisconsin to participate in one of the various events or to simply be a part of the celebration, you owe it to yourself to experience it.
You can learn more about it here: http://cheqfattire.com/
Participants to the signature race, the Chequamegon 40, are selected via lottery way back in March. So if you missed out on this year, be sure to get on their list and enter the lottery next year.
For those fortunate enough to have a race number, race preparation is key. The 40 miles of nonstop rolling hills and steep climbs requires the ability to produce power quickly for the climbs then recover quickly on the descents. This continuous series of above threshold/quick recovery goes on for the entire race.
So your training these last few weeks should mimic these race requirements. My Tuesday/Thursday training rides are doing just this, and my riders are benefitting immensely. Come join us these last couple weeks prior to the race. And if you’re not racing Chequamegon, join us anyway for some high quality, spirited intervals.
Here’s an example of one of our workouts.
- The main set consisted of 10 minutes each of :40 “all-out” followed by :20 recovery.
- This series was followed by 10 minutes of :30 on/:30 off.
- After this, we rode 10 minutes of::20/:10, then:
- the final 10 minute set was :15/:15
You can view a graph of the ride here:
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/QF5KSFRHEA7FQYRW7BEDKUURY4
Put your curser on the numbers on the left-hand side of the graph. This will show the power output of each interval and clearly shows the power production and quick recovery.
These intervals are very similar to what the Fat Tire Fest course demands of the riders, so a few weeks worth of intervals like these will bring riders to the race well prepared and confident.
Contact me for details on our Tuesday/Thursday rides or with other questions, then GET OUT AND RIDE!
