The Solstice Chase is a fat bike race I’ve done twice — once in 2015 at Big Rock Creek, which was actually my first ever fat bike race, and once in 2017 on the Woolly Bike Club trails. The race and venue has moved around over the years. Check the race website for current details. mnmtb.org
At a glance
| Location | Wisconsin |
| Discipline | Fat bike |
| Official site | mnmtb.org |
Results and Race Recaps
2017
Results
| This was on the Woolly Bike Club Trails | |
| Steve (106 mile) | 37th in 1hr 37min |
Bike setups
| Steve | |
| Finished building this bike up the night before the race | Bike: Trek Farley · Wheels: Bontrager Wampa · Tires: Bontrager Barbagazi · Drivetrain: SRAM Eagle |
Solstice Chase Fatbike Race Venue
The venue was really awesome for a fat bike race or really any race in general. One of the biggest issues with most fat bike races is having a warm place to hang out before and after the race. Huge thanks to the St. Croix Falls Fire Department for opening up the fire hall to the racers and letting us hold the event there. Additionally, Trap Rock Brewing Company opened their doors for the swag give away and free samples of their brews, even though they are not scheduled to open until next year. The Monarch IPA was amazing!
Solstice Chase Fatbike Race Course
Course Layout
The course is actually a really great course for fatbike singletrack racing, because it does offer many passing opportunities. You are usually only on singletrack for not much more than a mile at a time and then are dumped back out on rail trail, bike paths or some old ski trail for plenty of passing zones. The other great thing about this course is the amount of access points to it. I think there were spectators scattered throughout the entire course, which makes it even more fun as a racer.
Course Elevation
Both my Training Peaks and Strava account show a little over 1,100 feet of elevation gain over the entire 13.5 miles, which makes for a far from flat course. Although this isn’t ridiculous from a mountain biking standpoint… that elevation gain makes it a fairly challenging fatbike course, especially when the hills get a little rutted up later in the race.
Course Conditions
Woolly trails are usually groomed and they actually were groomed the night before the race. However, we did get a couple inches of fresh snow the night before the race that did not help things out at all. Low tire pressure was definitely your friend here. I honestly don’t even know what mine were at, but I would have went even lower to do it over again. My front was low enough to have some significant sidewall squat when pressuring down on it with a little less squat in the rear. I should have checked them after the race to see what they were at.
The rail trail, bike paths and wider sections ended up getting pretty rutted up and were really difficult to even grab a water bottle. The first lap conditions were pretty good, but they were fairly deteriated by the time I hit my second lap with about a 6 inch wide rut to ride in. If you hit the edge of the rut, you were in trouble. It was like riding a twisty skinny for 6 miles. All that said… That’s fatbike racing, so embrace it and enjoy it!
My Bike Set-Up
I actually raced a bike that I had just finished building the night before and never really properly fit myself up on yet. That being said… I’m really happy with the new build! It’s a custom Trek Farley Carbon build with the Bontrager Carbon Wampa 27.5 wheels and very similar to a stock 9.8 Farley. I had to put a crankset in it, but ended up robbing the rest of the parts off of my other bikes to get it built for the race. Anyways, I’m looking forward to getting some more time in on it.
The Solstice Chase Fatbike Race
Prologue
I didn’t get lined up quite in time and was about 5 or 6 rows back, putting me at least 40 places back as we left the start chute. I jumped on the gas as we hit the road and then hammered up the snowmobile path trying to make up spots in traffic. Many folks were dabbing or completely washing out, while I was able to stay on the pedals for most of it and picked off a lot of places as I weaved through the traffic.
There was a really soft climb up to the Gandy Dancer trail and I could see the leaders not far in front of me, with quite a few folks off their bikes and hiking the climb. I managed to stay on the pedals and make the entire climb and get ripping down the Gandy Dancer. I think I ended up hitting the first section of singletrack – Big Oak, in 7th or 8th position.
Big Oak has some tight switchbacks at the beginning with a few more scattered throughout the section. It’s fairly flat and actually loses elevation by the time you spit out the end of it. It was fun racing, because we passed by some of the start area in one of the switchbacks and then by the trailhead in another bermed turn. It is a great spector trail and fun for the racers with all the spectator access.
I had a good ride through this section and my bike handling was on par for being on a new bike that had not seen singletrack yet and only about a mile of riding in total before lining up at the start line… As I mentioned above, I had just finished the build the night before. I could tell the singletrack was going to be tough with a couple inches of fresh snow over the previous day’s trail grooming. As I also mention above… that’s fatbike racing and we embrace it and enjoy it!
There was also a great crowd at the end of Big Oak cheering on all the racers.
Lap 1
I hit the snowmobile trail after Big Oak and went to grab my bottle from my frame, but the trail was way too soft with some ruts already from the few riders in front of me and probably some folks doing some warm up riding before the race, so I never ended up taking my bottle.
I rode strong through Regal Park, but definitley had a line of riders chasing. I had one rider in front of me, that I kept approaching. He was riding just fast enough that it didn’t make sense to try and get around him, but he was slipping up a lot and the line behind kept getting closer. The course bypassed the rock gardens, but Regal Park has a mix of flats, a few roots and minor uphills and then ends with a hill on an old ski trail.
We came out of the woods to hang a right going up hill on the old ski trail and the guy in front of me slipped out, causing a minor spill and knocking me off my bike. I ended up losing a few spots here as I tried to remount and get rolling again.
I think he ended up back out in front of me again while I was trying to get back up and rolling and I was fighting some of this same situation through Wissahickon, but was eventually able to get around him. I rode strong through Wissahickon with a group chasing hot on my tail. Wissahickon has a lot of short ups and downs with some tight switchbacks.
Once we dumped out on the Gandy, I tried drinking my bottle again and it was half frozen, I slowed down as the trail was rutted to try and drink and ended up dropping spots to a line of riders that were chasing through Wissahickon. I should have stayed on the gas here. The race ended up being short enough that I could have just drank my bottle, which was full of Coca-Cola, at the start line and probably just finished the race without feeding at all.
I had a strong ride through Erratic Rock, making the entire climb up to the back of Erratic Rock and enjoyed the flowy descent back to the bottom. I attempted to take a drink from my bottle on the Gandy before entering Big Oak, but ended up washing out and crashing. I almost washed out again just before entering Big Oak.. These couple moments, costed me a few more places in traffic.
Lap 2
I was still feeling strong going into lap 2, but my lack of taking the time to properly fit myself on my bike was starting to take effect as some fatigue was starting to hit the upper body. Anyways, I was slipping up in some spots and then just started to get twitchy. From there, things started falling apart…
I washed out myself on the old ski trail hill coming out of Regal Park, dropping a couple more places. Then, I really dumped a bunch of spots with a washout early on in Wissahickon… I floated the front end out of the rut and went down. I got off the trail as a line of riders went by. By the time I could get my bike back up and ready to remount, another line of riders were coming up and I had to let them go as well… This happens a lot more often in fatbike racing than traditional mountain biking.
On my aproach to Erratic Rock, I saw Jeff Hall coming back the other way toward Big Oak, so I was within 10 minutes or so of the leaders still. The climb up Erratic Rock was a much tougher ride this time around, with the first climb being torn up a lot with not much traction and only a narrow rut to ride. I made it out of Erratic Rock safely and then made a pass on the Gandy prior to Big Oak. I mention this, because I slid out in the second switchback and ended up losing that place plus a couple more in the process. I think I said something like “serves me right” when I slid out and had to let the guy go by me that I had just passed.
I had a strong finish through Big Oak, but I was pretty depleted of energy by the time I crossed the finish line.
By the time I made it back to the finish line, I had dropped back to 39th place out of 151 finishers with a finish time of 1 hr, 31 min and 57 seconds.
Final Thoughts On Solstice Chase
I ended up finishing about 12 minutes back from the leaders and in general, it was some fairly tight racing through a majority of the field. My 2nd lap was 3 minutes slower than my first, but that 3 minutes in the 2nd lap made up a difference of just over 20 places and most of the other 10 places were lost on the Gandy Dancer trail while reaching for my water bottle in the first lap.
I’m a bit out of good race shape fitness and most of my bike stuff has been fairly low intensty. The occasional running has helped me hold some of that higher intensity cardio fitness though. It was so nice to be back out racing on a bike again. Overall, I was fairly happy with how I raced aside from my bike handling issues in the second half.
I don’t have any race plans for January, as my Saturdays are booked up with the Get Fit <–> Eat Right – Workshop Series that I partnered up with Luminaries Retreat for. However, I will be doing some Fatbike and Skate Ski racing in February. So, stay tuned for some more race reports in another couple months.
Strava
2015
Results
| This was at Big Rock Creek and Steve’s first fat bike race | |
| Steve (25 mile) | 51st in 2hr 17min |
Bike setups
| Steve | Bike: Specialized Fatboy · Wheels: Stock Specialized · Tires: Stock Specialized · Drivetrain: 2 x 10 |
I had only been out to Big Rock Creek one other time, almost 2 years ago to do some cross country skiing. It’s a beautiful place and if we get enough snow this year, you will find me out there skiing on occasion. I only rode through loop 1, which is the first half of the lap. I had a nice ride, but realized that there would be a lot of climbing and that it was going to be a rough ride with frozen ground and no snow to smooth things out.
Solstice Chase Race Day
I jumped in my truck to make my way over to St. Croix Falls and arrived at Big Rock Creek a little before 9:00 am with about an hour to get ready. I should mentioned that my truck read 5º F when I left my driveway around 8:00 am. I was already cold about 10 minutes after getting out of my truck to get my bike ready. I was initially set up with my Bar Mitts and was getting hand warmers ready as well. I finally got around to getting in a short warm-up ride where I decided the Bar Mitts were not going to work with my Lobster Gloves. There just wasn’t enough room. I tore the Bar Mitts off at the last minute and headed for the start line with about 5 minutes till race start to find that many people had lined up already. No big deal, this was a really open course and I found a spot in the back of the line with more people shuffling in behind me as well.
The Solstice Chase Race
Solstice Chase: Lap 1 – Loop 1
The gun went off and the race was on! It was a bit of a slow roll to get across the start line, but as we made the first left hand turn up a two track, the pace picked up. We made the next left hander and started hitting the short hills, I made a few moves through traffic, trying to stay on the wheel of my riding buddy, Mike. We picked off quite a few spots through this first section and I eventually made my way up to some less congested trail where I could ride my pace. I lost my heart rate monitor within a mile or so of the race start as it slid down to my waist. I tried to adjust it, but with a couple layers on, it wasn’t going to happen and I said the heck with it. I had not ridden without my heart rate monitor in quite some time, which maybe was good for a change. As the race went on and traffic thinned out, the hills seemed to be my friend. I felt like I was able to pick off a few spots at each hill.
The first loop has a crazy fast 30+ mph descent, which was a little shaky on the fat bike with frozen ground and no snow. Eventually you dump out on a fire road to take you back to the front of the property. I used this section to grab a gel and refuel. I need to work out a better system for this as it was a bit cumbersome. In the summer, my gels are taped to the bike, so the tear off tab just stays on the bike and then I stuff my empty gel packet in my back jersey pocket or just down the front of my jersey where it sits till the end of the race. This was a lot harder to do with gloves on and I also had to stuff the tear off tab in my jersey as well. Regardless, I was able to get some fuel and wash it down with a little bit of water as my bottles were not froze up quite yet.
Solstice Chase: Lap 1 – Loop 2
I made the right turn to head up the fire road at the start of loop 2, still on my first lap. There was a short line of 3 or 4 of us that spun up most of the fire road together. I kept pressure on the pedals for most of this as I was feeling pretty good. In hindsight, this section is a bit deceiving. You are going on a slight downhill for the first section of this fire road and you start getting confident, but it turns into a false flat about halfway out and the grade slowly increases and before you know it you are trying to hammer out a bigger gear than you should be. It doesn’t stop either, once off the fire road, the elevation keeps increasing as you wind the wide path up through the trees.
You are eventually rewarded with a well needed descent before hitting a very steep grade that takes you back up 180 feet again. I managed to make it up the climb in granny gear, but there were a few people walking it on the first lap around. The elevation profile, might suggest that it is all downhill to the finish of the lap from here, but if you look closely you’ll see that you get taken back up and down a few more times over some steep grades before making a fun descent to the finish of the lap.
My bottles were froze up at this time and I was glad to toss down the small cup of water being held out by the aid station volunteer as I went by. By the way, tossing down cold water really fast at 15º doesn’t feel nearly as good as it does in the summer. You’ll want to take a little bit more time with it to avoid icicles hanging off your face mask only a few minutes later. I finished my first lap around 1 hour and 4 minutes.
I have GoPro Video of my entire first lap in the links at the bottom of the page.
Solstice Chase: Lap 2 – Loop 1
I was feeling ok about it and at this point felt like I could probably maintain my pace, especially since I wouldn’t have to fight any traffic this time around. I could feel the dehydration sneaking up on me, but figured I could make it another hour and really wasn’t too concerned at this point with it. I grabbed another gel at some point, I think as I made my way around the field a little over a mile into the loop. I could feel myself getting a little weaker on the climbs about halfway into this loop, but not enough to get me overly worried yet.
I still made good time coming up the fire road and grabbed another gel during this time, which I did by taking my glove off and could never get warmed back up again. After taking the gel, I could tell I needed some water and was looking forward to making the turn at the aid station. Without water, the gel just kind of sat there in my belly.
Solstice Chase: Lap 2 – Loop 2
I was getting real thirsty now as my bottles had been frozen for an hour. I threw down the cup of water being held out as I made the turn to head up the fire road. In hindsight, I should have stopped and drank some more water as I could really feel the dehydration setting in, but I kept going. I figured it was only another 6 miles to go and I would be done within a half hour. I had been quite warm for the last hour, but I think the dehydration was starting to impact my circulation or something and everything started to freeze up… toes, fingers and I was thirsty. My pace was starting to slow…
I ended up having to walk two of the hills in the back half of the course that I was able to ride up the first lap. I was struggling even on the down hills with bike control with my frozen hands. At this point, I kind of went into, “just get this thing finished up” mode and wasn’t really pushing myself to the max any more. I definitely lost a few places on this section of the course, but was learning some valuable lessons about hydration in the cold. My nose was feeling a bit frozen from the moisture that had froze on my face mask. My face mask had become an ice cube. I finally made it around to the finish in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 26 seconds with this second lap being about 13 minutes slower than my first lap. I finished 48th among the men and 51st overall and just over 31 minutes behind the winner Jeff Hall.
Check the links at the bottom of my post for a link to the full Solstice Chase race results.
Solstice Chase Summary And Thoughts
I was definitely off of my goals for the day, but was a good day regardless. One of the things I like about long distance endurance racing is the adventure and survival part of it and fat bike racing touches on both of those things with completely different elements to deal with. I didn’t meet my goals for the race, but I did get some things sorted out as far as gear and race prep. I will definitely be better prepared for the next one. There is a great group of people out there at these events and I enjoy being around the people and atmosphere.
To put the elevation changes of the Solstice Chase race course in perspective, there was over 2,500 foot of climbing in the 25 mile course. That would be over 10,000 foot of climbing if multiplied out to a 100 mile race, which is more climbing than the Lusten 99er and on par with many very difficult 100 milers. It was a great course to race on. There is no single track on the course, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get bounced around a bit.
Dehydration will sneak up on you real fast in the cold. I am going back to a hydration pack that I’ll wear between layers. The bottles, just were not a good idea and I expect colder racing temperatures at Cuyuna Whiteout and Frozen Forty. Without proper hydration, my gels weren’t really helping much. I definitely needed more fluids.
I need to get a good insulated set of Pogies. The Bar Mitts are good for mild cold temperatures, but are just too constrictive for heavier gloves, which is why I took them off after my warm up ride. I’d rather have a set of pogies that are too heavy and I’ll wear lighter gloves.Not to mention, I could keep my gels in a gel flask inside the pogies for easier access. I’m currently looking at either the 45 NRTH Cobrafists or the new Wolftooth Singletrack Pogie. I am leaning toward 45 NRTH as they are insulated and I know I will be spending some long training days out on the trail. I’ll keep the Bar Mitts for slightly warmer temperatures where I still need some extra protection, but can still get away with lighter gloves.
I have 4 more fat bike races in the Great Lakes Fat Bike Series that I have registered for and I am sure there will be another local race or 2 that pops up over the next couple of months. I’m starting a 12 week training program for 100 mile races this week and the planned fat bike races fit into my training schedule fairly well. I am very glad to have the fat bike as I would not want to spend my entire winter indoors on a trainer and there doesn’t seem to be a great line of site on snow for cross country skiing yet either.
Here’s to hoping we get some snow to do some true snow biking and maybe I’ll see you at the next race.
Fuel / hydration
Steve
I know whatever I had going this year didn’t work. Gels and water froze.