If you hear gears shifting and bicycle tires bouncing over branches, you’re probably in Cable, Wisconsin this weekend.
Thousands of riders will line up on Saturday for the Chequamegon Mountain Bike Festival, a 40-mile test of endurance through the Northwoods. Among them is Jon Derksen of Appleton, who has been participating for decades and has brought his children and grandchildren into the tradition.
“My most memorable race was probably my first one,” he said. “I had never been in a mountain bike race before and I went there with my son. I had trouble releasing my feet from my pedals and fell down many times. I also had a flat tire and saw a bear.”
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Derksen and event staffer Amanda Kussin spoke with WPR’s Robin Washington on “Morning Edition” ahead of the Sept. 13 race day, which includes a weekend of festivities.
The following was edited for brevity and clarity.
Robin Washington: In the region, we’ve got the American Birkebeiner, Grandma’s Marathon, the Inline Skating Marathon, the Beargrease and Apostle Island sled dog races, and yours. What is it with all these races around here?
Jon Derksen: Actually, I started out with the Birkie. After five or six years of doing that, I was looking for something to stay in shape over the summer and fall, so I got into mountain biking. I’ve been doing both now for about 30 years.
RW: Any reason you haven’t done Grandma’s or the Beargrease to hit for the cycle?
JD: I have thought about doing the Inline Skating race, but it’s at a busy time of the year for mountain biking.
RW: Why does the area attract so many activities like this?
Amanda Kussin: With our race, which has been around 42 years, it’s just the friendliness of the culture. It’s truly a community where you walk into the local coffee shop and they remember you the next time you come in. Also, there are so many trails that are great for all four seasons. We actually use the Birkie trails.
RW: The Birkie is North America’s largest cross country ski race. Where do you rank in the mountain bike world?
AK: We are one of the oldest and longest-running mountain bike races and we’re also one of the biggest mass-start races, which means we have nearly 3,000 participants start our race all at the same time.
And there are people of all ages. Our youngest participant is 2 years old.
RW: Somebody makes mountain bikes for 2 year olds?
AK: They’re in our Little Loggers race. It’s on Friday, before all the rest of the races on Saturday. You see a lot of striders out there. They are shredding those trails on striders.
JD: And they love it! My grandchildren started out that way, and now they range from 8 to 18 and they’re still doing it.
RW: How did you get your family involved? Was it because they saw their dad and then granddad doing it and figured, “OK, we can’t stop him. We might as well join him”?
JD: Actually, my older son did it with me the first year in 1994. And he has done it most every year since. We’ve all missed a year here and there because of injuries and surgeries, but he’s got almost as many as I have.
RW: There’s a local Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association. Do you have participation from the immediate area?
AK: Most of the participants are from Wisconsin and Minnesota. We have participants this year from 41 states and nine countries, so they’re coming from all over the world. And we do have a lot of people from the Hayward-Cable area. It’s right in their backyard.
RW: You’ve done so many races. Are you in the amateur or elite category?
JD: I’m definitely an amateur. We did get to race against Greg LeMond a couple of times, 30 years ago or so. He won the Tour de France three times and wanted to do the Chequamegon fat tire. But I’m just an age group competitor, that’s all.
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