Fat Tire Weekend

Dry, dusty and very warm.  This was the weekend of the Fat Tire mountain bike race.  Pretty much an annual event for my family.  Gone are the days of racing the Fat Tire.....I raced once back in 2000 and Bike man raced about five consecutive years.  40 miles of off road racing on the well-known Birkie trail near Hayward/Cable Wisconsin, along with some single and double track, which consists of rocky and muddy trails.  This year the mud holes were limited due to our drought conditions, but lots of sand, dust and plenty of rocks.  

Our ritual is to hang-out on top of Seeley fire tower hill......the highest elevation and climb on the entire Fat Tire route.  As usual, Bike man brought along his bike tools just in case one of the racers had bike problems.  As for Chris, Becca and me, our job was to support the riders with cow bells, cheers and much needed snacks.  I stood next to Pete, a well-known local guy, and between the both of us, we refill bottles with water or Gatorade, and passed out random snacks.  My family's contribution this year was gummy bears and Pete brought along Snicker fun size bars, chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cream Little Debbie cookies.    A big thank you to Becca for helping me deal with the slightly melted Snicker bars, and a thank you to Chris for cooking us breakfast on the hill and grilling brats for a mid afternoon snack.    

Back at our campground later on Saturday, Chris made an awesome grilled pork chop meal on the open wood fire.  Our son has turned out to be an awesome camp chef!  Chris's camp meals are so delicious and so simple.   I think all those years of camping with our kids in national forest campgrounds has really paid off.

Yup, I'm the campground paparazzi!  Caught the moment when Becca emerged from her tent early this morning.  Don't worry, she just needed some coffee and then she mellowed out!!!

A super fun weekend with the family.  For almost twenty years, we've been enjoying the Wisconsin northwoods.  I can't even describe the feeling of sleeping under the birch and evergreen trees and hearing the Barred and Great Horned owls hooting during the night.....so refreshing and calming.