The Polar Roll is a fat bike race held in February in Marquette, Michigan. It runs through the RAMBA trail system on snow — the same trails as the Marji Gesick 100. Multiple distance options. I’ve done this one three times. polarroll.com
At a glance
| Location | Marquette, MI |
| Discipline | Fat bike |
| When | February |
| Official site | polarroll.com |
Results and Race Recaps
2018
Results
| Steve (42 mile) | 22nd in 3hr 51min |
Bike setups
| Steve | Bike: Trek Farley · Wheels: Bontrager Wampa · Tires: Bontrager Barbagazi · Drivetrain: SRAM Eagle |
This was the best Polar Roll yet. This was my 3rd one and I think maybe there has been 4 total, so I can’t speak to the earliest of them. The trails were dialed and I really liked the course layout. I know the snowmobile trail is not very popular, but I think it provides a great balance to the race and if you ever get in to fatbike ultras… You better get used to snowmobile trails. I haven’t done one, but I know that type of riding is a large part of fatbike ultras. So, I really think they did a great job with the course. There was some great singletrack, steep and long climbs (for the midwest), a couple sections of really tight singletrack and then the snowmobile trail. It was balanced out well and had a great mix of everything. Enjoy the report!
2018 Polar Roll Course
Course Layout
The course started in downtown Marquette… It rolled out of town on the lakeshore bikepath/snowmobile trail down to the south trail system before hitting singletrack. We had to do some climbing to get up into the south trails, but the south trails were dialed and provided for some pretty amazing fatbike riding.
From the south trails, we took the snowmobile trail (some of the bike path in the summer) to Ishpeming before connecting with the Hill Street trails.
The Hill Street trails are great as well with a few steep hills that will force most into a hike-a-bike situation and some fast downhill sections.
The last section of trail is the singletrack between Ishpeming and Negaunee. It’s great riding with some really tight and narrow singletrack sections for the long race.
The finish was in downtown Ishpeming at the High School where you had a nice place to warm up after the race.
Course Elevation
It’s all uphill… There are of course some great downhills, but yeh, you work your way uphill to the finish line. There are 2 opening climbs are grinders… The jeep trail up to HWY 553 and then Benson Grade. The snowmobile trail can catch you off guard as it’s uphill. The grade isn’t bad, it’s more of a false flat. Outside of the second half of the snowmobile trail, there really isn’t much sustained flat sections of course. You’re either going uphill or downhill.
Gear and Nutrition Setup
Bike
Trek Farley Carbon w/ Bontrager Carbon Wampa 27.5″ wheels and 4.5″ Barbagazzi Tires – I’m digging the 27.5″ wheel setup.
GX 12sp Eagle with XO Cranks (was a closeout on the cranks when I built the bike) – I’m sold on the 1 x Eagle drivetrain and it’s pretty affordable now in the GX level.
Shimano XT with non heat sink rotors – hard to beat these brakes.
Spare Parts & Tools
Topeak Hexus Multi-tool
25g air cartridge with Genuine Innovations Air Chuck
Sram Power Link
Nutrition
2 thermo bottles and 1 regular bottle (Thermo bottle is too tall to fit in seatpost cage under top tube)
Started race with 1 full thermo bottle on downtube and 1 full thermo bottle in jersey pocket
The regular bottle just had CarboRocket powder in it, so I could just stop at an aid station later and fill it up when the other bottles ran empty.
Clothing
Sturmfist 4 Gloves – Hands froze at the start and took about an hour to warm up. Started getting cold again toward the end. I seem to always have cold hand issues.
Bontrager OMW Boots – Toes got cold toward the end, but overall pretty happy with these. I did have a toe warmer in each one.
Bontrager B2 Baselayer, summer jersey as mid layer and ski suit top as outer layer – The Bontrager B2 baselayers are awesome and seem to regulate well.
Bontrager B1 Velocis Thermo Bibs w/ summer baggie liner chamois shorts underneath – This worked out really well also. The B1 Velocis Thermo Bibs say for above freezing temps, but they were perfect for racing at 15 to 20 degrees and could probably be used for colder temps.
The 906 Polar Roll Fatbike Race
Downtown to 553
Folks were starting to line up in the gate, so I headed in from the back and found my way to about the 4th row. I stood there for a few minutes and could see a bunch of empty space in the second row, so I went ahead and moved up. I’m getting more confident with my ability to roll out hard from the gate and thought there was a good chance I could finish in the top 20. The first couple rows added up to about 20 people.
We took off with a controlled rollout, made our right hand turn and hit the snowmobile trail much quicker than I anticipated where 2 lines quickly formed. I think I ended up getting pushed back a little bit, but then worked my way back up into the top 20 as the 2 lines shifted back and forth. We crossed under the bridge and were quickly dumped into the first singletrack and moving at a good clip.
I hadn’t been on the trails up here yet, so I didn’t really know where my traction was at quite yet in the corners. I could feel my fingers freezing up already as well. After a few twists and turns in the singletrack we started heading up hill and the work began. It was a steep grade and probably about the steepest you’re going to find when it comes to fat biking. We were climbing hard and I don’t believe I ever shifted into that granny 50 tooth gear.
You could look up ahead and see the gaps starting to form as a rider here and there couldn’t keep the pace. I made up a few spots on the climb with a couple other folks on my tail chasing, but not fast enough to avoid a gap forming in front of me. This section is what I believe is considered to be the jeep trail. We dumped out at the top and headed across some open parking lot area to cross under 553 along the creek. My wife was there taking some pictures and said I was sitting in 15th when I came by.
553 To Snowmobile Trail
We took an icy path, that had been sanded, under the road along the creek to avoid crossing the road. On the other side was more singletrack and climbing. We hit a little bit of twisty singletrack that went up before hitting Benson Grade and starting another long and steep climb. I can’t remember exactly how things went up Benson. I might have gotten passed, but can’t remember.
At the top of Benson Grade, we dumped down what I believe is called Pipe Dreams. It was a fast downhill ride and I had a little space in front of me and a few riders back with plenty of breathing room. I was also realizing that I probably had a little more traction than I thought I would have. Even though the trail appeared to be a little slick, it was actually fairly tacky.
At the bottom of Pipe Dreams… I was rolling pretty hot and completely blew a right hand turn. The turn was marked, but I was moving out and blew right past it with the skids on. I yelled back “turn right!” to anyone that was behind me as I got myself turned around. I ended up dropping 3 spots there and got back on the chase as more folks were coming in.
The first guy was hauling out pretty good, but I was back on the wheel of the 2nd and 3rd one fairly quick with another rider coming up on my wheel now. I was patient and then we eventually came to an opening where I made my pass with a couple other folks coming with. I had one rider that was catching me on the hills and then I would pull away on the twisty stuff. He eventually ended up passing me and dissappeared out in front of me.
Somebody yelled from behind that these trails still weren’t quite as good as Woolly, or something to that effect… Woolly Bike Club Trails are my local trail and my jersey has a Woolly badge on it. Woolly trails have been about the best you are going to find lately, but it’s darn hard to beat the trails in Marquette. They were in great shape and there is miles and miles of them.
Back to the racing… I think I dropped a spot or 2 somewhere in this section, but I may have picked up another spot along the way also. I do remember my fingertips really starting to freeze up on me. I hate that feeling.
Anyways… The trails in this section were absolutely dialed. There were a couple icy downhills that had been sanded, but you almost couldn’t ask for better snowbiking conditions. This section of trail is also some of the most fun intermediate level trail riding you are going to find. You can ride it as fast or slow as you want. It’s just really flowy and gets more challenging with the more speed you carry as you start coming into corners a little hot.
This section of the race was my highest average heart rate of 160 bpm and where I hit my max heart rate on the day of 172. This actually is a bit conservative for me in a sub 4 hour race. That being said, it’s early in the year. At the end of the day, I was pretty comfortable for most of the race… Aside from those leg cramps that fired up about 3 and half hours in.
Snowmobile Trail to Hill St
The first set of singletrack was done and now I was on the snowmobile path to Negaunee. This would be a long and fairly steady uphill grade. More of a false flat than uphill though. I was expecting the trail to be soft, but quite honestly it was amazing. Maybe it wasn’t amazing, but my expectations were low and I thought it was fairly hardpacked.
Anyways, there was an aid station when we first dumped out on the snowmobile trail, but I rode straight through as I had my own stuff and didn’t feel like stopping or spilling water on my gloves. After crossing the road on the other side of the aid station, I relaxed a bit and grabbed my own water bottle. I saw a couple people up ahead, but I didn’t realize anybody was behind me and I must have drifted over a bit as a guy came up my right side. We clipped bars and I went down as he rode away and latched on to the group ahead.
I saw him later at the finish actually and he brought it up and appologized, but there really wasn’t anything to appologize for. That’s just part of riding and to be expected. I think I drifted over as he was coming by and he probably figured he had plenty of space since we were on the snowmobile trail and didn’t worry about yelling ahead.
Anyways, I got back on the bike and moving forward again to catch a solo rider that was split between me and that small group ahead. I was feeling good and wanted to catch the group ahead and ended up taking the pull till we caught the small group ahead. When we caught the group ahead they were kind of sitting up or nobody was really taking the lead. I was too low on my effort and wanted to pick up the pace and took off the front. I figured I was either going solo or was going to inspire some help, but I wasn’t going to sit up and slog down the snowmobile trail waiting for somebody else to take the lead.
I think I put a little gap on them, but it didn’t take long for them to get organized and latch onto my wheel. I pulled for quite some time and that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But, I wasn’t willing to dial the pace back either, even if that meant pulling the whole way. Just before Eagle Mills, one of the guys came up around front and took a pull and kept the pace up as well!
I had emptied both of my insulated bottles of CarboRocket at this point and pulled off at the Eagle Mills aid station to refill. The aid station volunteers filled one of my insulated bottles with water and then filled up the extra bottle that had the CarboRocket powder already in it ready to go. The rest of the group rode through, so I was on my own from here to Neguanee unless I could reel them back in again.
For reference… Eagle Mills aid station was less than halfway to the Hill St. Trails, but probably a little past the halfway point of being on the snowmobile trail. For a short period, I thought I was going to reel them back in, but it never happened and they maintained their gap until hills or turns got in the way of visibility and then I never saw them again and solo’d my way all the way to hill st.
On the way up Hill St. I decided to dip into my can of Red Bull that I had been carrying in my jersey pocket. I had already drank the other bottle of CarboRocket and figured I was going to need something to get me through the last hour on the trail. I took it easy up Hill St. as I downed the Red Bull before trying to get the empty can stuffed back in my jersey pocket. I heard something hit the road as I got back on the hammer and sure enough it was my Red Bull can…
I stopped and just left my bike in the street and ran back to pick it up while a rider came flying by me and then I saw another group making the turn up Hill St. and they were on the gas. I got my Red Bull can stuffed back in my jersey pocket and raced my way up to the entrance of the singletrack before getting caught by that next group.
Hill Street Trails
I was familiar with this trail entrance as this was the start of the 2017 Polar Roll. I put in a little extra effort to give myself some space from the chasers and was successful aside from 1 other rider starting to sneak up on me. I had to bale and hike up the first part of one of the really steep hills about halfway through the loop. I had to hike up a bit of this same hill the previous year.
We didn’t ride all the Hill St. trails from the previous year, which would have probably added another 5 miles to the race. I don’t know, maybe Todd’s getting soft on us… There were some good climbs in those other trails.
I came by what I believe was a bunch of folks from Blackrocks Brewery that looked like they were having one heck of a good time and then sent it down the long and flowy trail with the lake off to the right. This was fast, but I was feeling confident and it helps when there is a bit of hoot’n and holler’n going on as you head into it.
I believe that chase group was starting to reel me in just before this. But, only 1 of the guys stayed with me and we put a gap on the rest of them by the time we made it around the lake. The climbs back out of this area around the other side of the lake are really tough and at the edge of traction loss, but I made it all the way up. I dumped out on the wider path that leads to the Division St. crossing with the other rider right on my wheel.
To The Finish Line
I can’t remember exactly, but I think I asked the rider behind me if he needed to get around, but he mentioned he was starting to cramp… I was too. I could feel the warning signs coming on. I was doing ok still and then we hit the really tight singletrack and my legs locked up as I headed up one of the climbs and fell right over sideways into the snowbank, still clipped in. He asked me if I was ok. I said I was good and was just going to sit here for a second and try to get these cramps out.
I eventually got up and then just walked my bike in an effort to try and stretch out the cramps and get them to calm down before I got back on again. I had forgotten to replenish my pickle juice shots, so I didn’t really have anything to help get rid of the cramps other than have to dial my effort way back and try to walk them off. I was a bit frustrated, because overall I had raced somewhat conservative as far as effort goes. I hadn’t been lazy, but I didn’t feel like I was overpushing it at all.
I got back on the bike and soft pedaled for a little bit and eased my way back into it. I think I ended up getting passed by a couple more racers soon after this. I hadn’t looked at the course map much and wasn’t quite sure where I was at on it. I eventually came out to the Bacon and Hugs aid station, but kept pedaling. Now I knew where I was at and was on the long stretch that led back to Negaunee. I came up on a rider that I ended up passing and he asked how much farther. I told him my GPS was reading around 35 miles at this point, but we were headed away from the finish line and toward Negaunee.
I dropped down the flight of stairs going into Negaunee and then up the short flight from the Marji Gesick. They were easy in the snow, since they were completely packed in. You wouldn’t even know there were stairs there. Again, I hadn’t looked at the map too closely and was thinking we were a near direct shot back to the finish line, but I was wrong… We did get dumped into some more really tight singletrack.
It wasn’t a lot, but I was out of fuel at this point and fighting off the leg cramps. I didn’t really have anybody around me when I entered it, but I got caught fast. Between the trail being a little icey and me getting a little twitchy on the bike with my fatigue and cramps… I felt like a pin ball bouncing back and forth off the raised snow edges of the trail and eventually went down – a couple times. I ended up giving up more places in traffic again before dumping out of this section.
Finally, I was out of the trail and recognized the snowmobile trail back toward the finish line. I made that last left turn onto the pavement and gave it everything I had left and sprinted across the finish line solo. I like doing that as it’s my last little win of the race, whether I’m sprinting to the finish with somebody else or not. I ended up finishing 22nd place with a time of 3 hours and 51 minutes.
The Jan Roubal Classic
So this was a fun little event at the after party that only 5 of us did while a couple hundred folks from the after party cheered from the bottom of the ski hill. The deal was you had to ride your bike at least to some marked points on the hill. From there, you could push your bike the rest of the way to where 3 people were standing. 1 was holding nothing, 1 was holding a $1 bill and the other holding a $100 bill. The first 3 people to claim a spot/person got what they were holding.
I took off slow because I figured it was going to be a grind up the hill. I also figured I would zig zag the hill vs going strait up. That was actually a mistake as it was hard to get turned up the hill without fear of slipping out. I was headed up left and was finally able to get turned back to the right, but not uphill enough. It took me going across the entire hill to finally make it. I got about as far as I could before coming close to hitting the fence and went to turn up and slid out. I looked back to see that I had just cleared the marking post and started pushing. I actually think I was the 4th person up, but a couple of the others had headed back down the hill early. There was also a free set of 45NRTH tires at the bottom for the first person back down. Anyways, I ended up with the $100!
Fatbike Enduro…
Final Polar Roll Thoughts
This was the best Polar Roll yet! I really liked the course layout and the trails were amazing this year. I do like longer races and I thought this was balanced out well. The shorter race last year was fun, but this year had a bit more epicness to it, which to me… makes it more worthwhile to plan a weekend around.
Strava
2017
Results
| Steve (25 mile) | 30th in 2hr 12min |
Bike setups
| Steve | Bike: Specialized Fatboy · Wheels: Stock Specialized · Tires: Stock Specialized · Drivetrain: 2 X 10 |
All signs were pointing to a hike a bike event with the warm temps coming in, but the trails held up amazingly well and the 2017 906 Polar Roll was a great event. I know there was a ton of effort put into prepping the trails and creating a solid base that would hold up to the 40 degree temps the day before the race and on race day itself. Huge thanks to all the event staff and the trail crew for making this a really awesome event.
Some Highlights of My Polar Roll Race
Heart Rate
Avg: 167 bpm Max: 186 bpm
Speed
Avg: 9.52 mph Max: 21.6 mph
Temperatures
Min: 34 F Avg: 37 F Finish: 43 F
Polar Roll Course Layout
The race started and finished from downtown Ishpeming to make a single full loop course of around 21 miles for the long race. The big climb up Hill street at the start of the race was a great way to start thinning out the traffic a little before hitting the singletrack.
Distance – 21 miles according to Training Peaks and Strava.
Elevation Gain – 1,710 ft according to Training Peaks and 2,278 ft according to Strava.
The Polar Roll Rollout
Hill Street Trails of The Polar Roll
I rolled out on the conservative side as I had been sick for a couple weeks and hadn’t raised my heart rate for awhile, until just a couple days before the race with a few short intervals on my trainer. I write about this often, but I tend to go out a little harder than what I should, just to see where I stand. Since I had been sick the previous few weeks and not even finished with my antibiotics, I figured it was best to ease into things.
Hill Street actually went by fast and when we did hit the trails, I was wishing that I had pushed it harder up the hill as I was stacked up at the end of a line as we started to ascend the singletrack. There were folks behind me as well. I try to give myself some space in the singletrack and hate riding somebody’s wheel. I find it to be a bit of a balance, because it seems like if you are not right on the wheel of the person in front of you, then the folks behind you assume you are falling off and want to get around you, even though you are just giving yourself some space. When we’re all stacked up like that, you have no escape when the person in front of you has to bail on a climb and then there is a domino effect. At least if I have a bike length in front of me, I have an extra second or so before coming up on them and have a better chance of staying on my bike in the process.
We were less than 2 miles in and the trails were packed well, but we did hit a few glazed over slick spots and the rider in front of me slid out and went down. I made it around, but then lost my front end around the next corner and went over the handlebars myself. I must have gotten passed by at least 10 riders here as I had to wait for a clear spot to jump back in line.
I crashed again less than a half mile later, but was able to get back on before the next line of riders came through. Now I was becoming more than cautious on the dowhills. The trails were in amazing condition for the weather that had hit, but there were those few glossy spots. Not icey, just a light glaze in a few spots.
I finally caught back up to the line of riders that had passed me on the first crash as we were coming to a steep climb and everybody started bailing. It was steep and I think I might have been able to make it, but the bailing tuned into a domino effect as we started to stack up. About half way up the hill, everybody was cleared off the main trail and walking the edge. There was a very short section that slightly leveled out just enough for me to jump back on my bike and I pedaled the rest of the way up the hill. That quick decision was huge as I was able to get back around most of the folks that had passed me when I crashed earlier. I now had some clean riding in front of me with a few folks on my tail.
I was feeling really good, but playing it safe on the downhills or faster sections of trail. I had another time that I thought for sure I was going down and can’t believe I saved it. The front end slid out on me… I went back and forth a couple times and was able to pull it together and stay up.
In general, I was feeling good and was climbing really well. It seemed like each really tough hill climb, I would pick off another rider that had to bail while I was able to stay up. There were a few folks right behind me and making the climbs also, but it seemed like I would get a gap on the climbs and then they would catch me again on the downhills.
I knew we were getting close to the end of the hill street trails and we eventually dumped out on some snowmobile type trail before hitting the road crossing. There were some cars coming and road rules applied, so I had stop and wait for a car to pass before crossing and then I was on way into the SBT loop with a few riders on my tail.
SBT Trails of The Polar Roll
I don’t know exactly what to think of how I was rolling through the SBT loop, but again I was still feeling good with my climbing and the flats, but being conservative on anything tight. We entered some tight singletrack where I made up another spot on a hill and started to create a gap behind me. This was in a section of trail split off from the short course and was really tight.
The trail conditions were amazing, relative to knowing that the entire short course race had already came through. I made good time on the north side of the SBT loop, but noticed another rider making a good push behind me and was creaping up. I was feeling comfortable, but could start to sense a bit of fatigue building up in the legs. Not a ton, but it was there. There was a long flatter section of trail that led into Negaunee where I dropped down the flight of stairs and then started heading back toward Ishpeming on the south side of the SBT loop.
Time was going by fast, but I thought I had more distance to cover and I actually dialed back my pace a little bit thinking I needed to conserve a bit of energy. I slipped my rear tire on a short little uphill and had to step off and let a couple riders by that had been making ground on me. I got back on quickly and caught back onto their wheel and then eventually got back around 1 of them and then sat on the wheel of the next one. I was still thinking we had some more mileage, so I was riding a little conservative.
Then, we dumped out of the trails and were hitting the snowmobile trail and I knew we were headed for the finish. I think there were 4 of us that hit the trail together and I was 3rd in line. I stepped out and made a pass to the front, not knowing exactly how much further we had to go, but also knowing I would likely run out of gears once we hit the pavement.
2017 Polar Roll Race Summary
I had to head out of town right after the race and missed the after party, but I did stop into Irontown Pasties to grab one of their bacon cheeserburger pasty for the road. They were actually at the finish line of the Marji Gesick and I remembered how good that pasty tasted after a bike race and couldn’t resist.
As far as the race goes… Marquette County never disappoints and this year’s Polar Roll was awesome! I am still amazed at how well the trails held up to the warm weather and I really enjoyed the course layout. It was definitely a much shorter race than last year, but I enjoyed it and felt really good after the race. In fact, I probably felt better than I have felt in a few weeks and kind of felt like riding some more. I think it was the bright sun and the fact that I was able to get out on my bike and didn’t cough up a lung in the process.
This was only my 3rd ride on snow this whole season and likely the same situation for many of the other racers, given this year’s weather. The last time I rode my fat bike on snow was on New Years eve, when I was checking out the trails in Ishpeming. Based on the weather we continue to have, it’s likely that I won’t hit snow again until next winter.
Strava
2016
Results
| Steve (36 mile) | 32nd in 4hrs 22min |
Bike setups
| Steve | Bike: Specialized Fatboy · Wheels: Stock Specialized · Tires: Stock Specialized · Drivetrain: 2 X 10 |
Oh, where do I begin? The 2016 906 Polar Roll fat bike race was a knock down, all out brawl and slugfest of Fat Bikes, die hard bikers, mother nature and trail conditions. I was watching the weather reports come in a couple weeks before the race, that were reporting a warm up. When I say warm, I mean above freezing. Anything approaching above freezing temperatures in February is considered warm and bad weather by the Fat Bike community. The warning e-mails would come out from the 906 Adventure Team of the potential weather impact to trail conditions and the challenge was on.
I packed up my family and headed for Marquette, Michigan on Friday morning. I couldn’t wait to get there. I have family in Marquette and my kids were super excited to hang with their cousins. I arrived in plenty of time to check in Friday night and pick up my race number. I really enjoy destination races. Destination races for me are races that are not local and we make a weekend out of the event. I enjoy riding new trails and even though I have ridden Marquette trails a couple times, I had never ridden them in the snow and had never ridden the Neguanee Trails.
I woke up early Saturday morning for my pre-race breakfast and headed to the start line with my wife. She would watch the start of the race in Ispeming and then pick me up at the finish line in Marquette. I was ready to go, but struggling to find a tire pressure that made sense. My tires are plenty wide at 4.6 inches, but they are fairly knobby. They seem more like a summer all mountain / trail tire and they really start to walk all over the place when I drop the tire pressure. The 906 Adventure Team was warning about the soft trail and recommending 3 to 4 psi in your tires with the weather being in the 30s for the race. I actually never checked my tire pressure, but I let out enough air for the side knobs to roll on the pavement and my front tire to walk all over the place before calling it good.
The 906 Polar Roll Fat Bike Race
906 Polar Roll Race Start
I lined up at the start line about 3 or 4 rows back and felt pretty comfortable with my starting position. The Red Bull truck led us out of the start line and the race was on as we headed down the water puddle filled street, before making our left turn onto the snowmobile trail. When we hit the trail, there was a bit of carnage as people jockeyed to find a packed line on the trail. I made it through without crashing, but soon realized we were in for an unpredictable treat of trail conditions over the next 35 miles of racing.
Negaunee Trails
There turned out to be a single line right down the middle of the trail that was ridable. At one moment, I really wanted to pass, but every time I pulled out of the packed tire line, I would start to sink while my pedal effort would sky rocket and I couldn’t make it around. I eventually just sat in until we got to the single track. When we hit the first single track, there were immediately signs of people already walking and tearing up the trail. The game plan became simple… stay in the middle of the trail, stay steady and if you wanted to pass, just wait for somebody to make a mistake in front of you.
The Neguanee Singletrack included plenty of “hike-a-bike” sections and as you stepped off your bike, you would sink up to your knees. There were sections of trail that were already trashed with the remnants of Fat Bikes and Fat Bikers flipping and crashing down the trail. I left plenty of those remnants myself. The group of 5 or 6 racers that I would race with through the Neguanee Trail would change lead positions as we took turns sticking front tires, catapulting ourselves over the handlebars.
I did not like crashing, but these crashes into 4 foot of snow were certainly much easier on the body than slamming down on the Minnesota frozen ground and ice the previous weekend at the Fat Bike Frozen Forty Race. I was reminded of being body slammed onto the ice at one point as we popped out of the trail to ride the edge of a road for a 100yards and my bike flipped out from underneath me on the icey edge of the road.
Snowmobile Trails
We finished the single track in Negaunee and were out on the snowmobile trail that would connect us to the South Marquette Trail System. The trail was soft and rutted, but you were able to stay on top of it versus punching through it like the first section of trail. I made good time up the trail riding mostly solo. I did have one other rider that was with me for a couple miles of the trail. I had not ridden snowmobile trails before and this was a main snowmobile trail route.
I have to admit, I was concerned about riding the trails and assumed that snowmobilers probably followed speed limit signs like fat bikers followed tire pressure recommendations… That being said, the snowmobilers were great at sharing the trail and some even pulled over to watch the race go by. Hats off to the snowmobile community for sharing the trail for the 906 Polar Roll and keeping things safe for the fat bike racers!
I thought I made good time on the snowmobile trail averaging 13 to 14 mph for most of it and even running 16 to 18 mph a few times. I had to stay focused on the ride though, as you could get your front tire in a rut quick, losing the front end. It was still difficult to feed as I had to keep both hands on the bar most of the time to keep the bike headed strait as I was fighting ruts.
I made it to the end of the snowmobile trail in less than 2 hours to make a right hand turn on an ice rink covered road. It was crazy and would get worse, the further I made it up the road. It went from having a little lane that you could get some rough ice to ride on to a completely glazed over road with a few curves, uphills and downhills. I really don’t understand how I was able to keep the bike upright, other than I tried to ride on the bottom edge of the snowbanks piled along the roadside.
Marquette Trails
I finally made it off the ice road to hit the Marquette single track. This was tough and it would include some hills and even flat sections that were down right unridable, covered in traces of previous racers also having to hike. I unknowingly missed a turn at one point and found myself on a section of trail that was very familiar. I started questioning myself, but didn’t recall seeing a turn off arrow sign and remembered following some flags and was still convinced I was going the right way. Everything kind of looked the same anyways in the snow. Finally, I came to a “hike-a-bike” section that really looked familiar. My GPS showed almost 25 miles and another rider that I had come up on said he was at 23. I knew for sure I was now repeating a section of trail.
It dawned on me that the flags I rode through along the trail were red and now I remembered that the trail had also forked off to the right just before those flags. I had also passed by a “Long Race Only” sign for the second time a little ways back, that I now realized was the same sign I had seen a couple miles earlier and not a second one. I could either back track or keep moving forward and repeat the loop, knowing I would return to the missed turn. I figured I was at the half way point of my mistake by now and I was safer to just continue repeating this loop and look for the turn that I had missed the first time. I was afraid of back tracking and accidentally cutting the course or really getting lost by trying to find the missed turn from the wrong direction.
I eventually came to the red flags again and saw my turn to the right just before the flags. My head was down the first time through and I missed the right arrow up the fork in the trail. I had a bit of a duh moment as the flags I rode thru were obvious red flags to let me know I was going the wrong way. Live and learn I guess, but I was really frustrated with myself as I was having a really good race up to missing the turn and repeating a loop of the trail that included plenty of “hike-a-bike”. I was tired from the “hike-a-bike” and I was off my mental game now.
At any rate, back to racing. I could see that I had definitely lost some positions now as the trail seemed to be more tore up than it had been prior to me repeating the previous loop. The leaders from the short race had now come thru and I had lost spots to racers in my own race. The rest of the South Marquette Trails were very tore up and I did a lot of hiking. Even the downhills were becoming unridable. I was no longer having fun crashing as my ankles, shins and knees were becoming banged up from repeatedly being slammed by my frame and pedals every time I washed out and / or stuck a front tire, flipping me and my bike down the trail.
At one point, I did have a crash that I did have to stop and laugh about though. Partially, I had to stop and laugh because I had no choice as I was buried head first in a snow bank with legs sticking out, straight up in the air. I was coming to a bridge over a creek crossing and stuck a front tire on the edge of the trail. I went straight over the handle bars, head first into a huge snow drift. My right arm and head was straight into it and I actually went deep enough for my head to partially poke out the side of it to the creek. I could see just a little bit of daylight out of my left eye as my head started to poke out the side of the drift to the creek. My legs were dangling up in the air and I had to use my left arm to dig myself out. I could have imagined the entire thing looking like some kind of cartoon that you would see on TV as a kid.
I was getting close to the downhill section that would lead us out of the South Marquette Trail system down to the bike path to the finish line. I was so looking forward to this as I thought I would have a nice coast downhill. This was no easy downhill riding. It was one foot on the pedal and another foot hanging off, while riding brakes to avoid more crashes. My upper body took the brunt of this as my arms and shoulders seemed to take the weight of me on the handlebars of the bike. I never thought I would say this on a fully rigid bike, but I really wish that I would have had a dropper post for this so I could have sat on the saddle for more of it.
There were 2 downhill sections. The first, coming off of the top of the main trail system and the other after crossing under the road. I only bring this up because there was an aid station before a little section of single track, prior to crossing under the road to the second section of downhill trail. I have to mention this aid station, because somebody knows how to cook some bacon. I was hungry and the bacon hit the spot. The 906 Adventure Team knows how to cook some bacon and set up an aid station!
I finally arrived at the bike path to find a slushy and rutted up ride. I actually soft pedaled some of the first part and then slowly picked up the pace. I had fell off the racer in front of me, but was able to reel him back in when we hit the cleared asphalt headed to the finish line. I tried to make a move to pass before the finish, but couldn’t make it around him. It was a fun finish and I enjoyed being able to have a little bit of a sprint finish, even though I couldn’t make the pass. I ended up finishing in 32nd place in 4 hours and 22 minutes.
906 Polar Roll Fat Bike Race Final Thoughts
I felt really great about my finish, considering the trail conditions and repeating a loop of the trail after missing a turn. The 906 Polar Roll Fat Bike Race is a total legit race and was made extremely tough with the warm weather. I am looking forward to the Marji Gesick and returning to the Polar Roll for next year. I love point to point races and the mix of single track and snowmobile trail made for an interesting race.
I am definitely still learning my way around fat bike racing and mountain bike racing in general, but feel like I am making improvements. I enjoy the challenge and the community around the sport and can’t wait for the next race to arrive. The Fat Bike Birkie is coming up in a a week and I will probably just enjoy it as a fast paced group ride. I’ll be racing True Grit the following weekend and my fitness is not at a level yet that I can go race these back to back weekends and stay fresh.