Fat Racing

spinner

New member
This past weekend was the Mount Snow Kenda Cup race. I pretty much do this xc race every year. This year I've been racing on a 29er. As I was getting my 29er ready for the race I discovered a crack in the downtube near the gusset. Not wanting to race an a damaged frame(I like having teeth) I decided to pull out old faithful, my Ti Fat. I scambled to get it ready for the big race and even took it out for a 2hr ride to make sure it was ready to go. Its hard to go back to riding smaller wheels but my Fat came through for me. I was able to finish 4th in the Cat 1 race on a 14 year old frame go figure!! :)
 

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Upchuck

New member
That's friggin' awesome! Congratulations on the finish and for taking the ol' girl out of the barn and letting her show you she still has what it takes.
 

Oirad

New member
Great job!

OK, so was there a huge difference between the 29er and your Fat? You still got great results, right. Tell us more, please.

-- Oirad
 

Dr S

New member
Nice work sir!

Anyone else racing old FATs?

Myself and Kaiser have entered a 50km Marathon race in October in which we will ride vintage FATs :D
 

Butcher

New member
Nice work sir!

Anyone else racing old FATs?

Myself and Kaiser have entered a 50km Marathon race in October in which we will ride vintage FATs :D

Congratulations on getting a great result on the Ti Fat...perhaps you should race the old Fat more often!

This thread cought my eye, I've been hitting it up this year on my restored 90' Grello Yo. I've been meaning to show you all some of the pictures and stories, I just need to sort through the pictures and get them on here soon.

Major events I did on the Yo this year included the Fire Cracker 50 in Breckenridge, The Laramie Enduro 111K and I was a memeber of a four man relay last weekend at the 24 hours in the Sage in Gunnison.

I've had a blast racing the Old Yo Eddy and I don't think it gives up anything to the new stuff.
 

Upchuck

New member
I raced my '89 Wicked last year at the Keyesville Classic in Southern California. It's a stage race with DH, dirt crit, and XC all on the same bike. Just like the good 'ol days. Took 3rd overall, even with a flat on my second DH run. Whoot!
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I'm racing my '93 Ti Fat next year in the same race.
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I know it's not a Fat, but I raced my '87 Bianchi Super Grizzly this year and came in second overall.
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rick

New member
fat racing

Anyone else racing old FATs?

this past weekend I raced one of my Fats; a 90 Team Comp, in the Cackalacky Cup. There was a vintage class and I was hoping to see lots of entries but alas only myself and a guy on an early 90s Yeti. Good fun.

p.s. Upchuck; the build on that Ti Fat is sweet!
 

Upchuck

New member
Hey Rick, I'm shocked there were only two of you in the vintage class out there. What a shame. I hope to one day make a trip out there for that event and to go see First Flight Bikes.

We have a great vintage showing at the Keyesville Classic here in Southern California with a great following. Here's a thread about this year's event.

Thanks for the compliment. So let's see pics of that Team Comp!
 

Butcher

New member
I like to see Fat Chances out at the races. I tried to down load pics from the Enduro and the Firecracker 50 but my girl friend took them and file sizes are HUGE! So I tried to load a few pictures from the Laramie Series races but ran into the same problem. Dang these people with their mega max cameras!

I've been racing expert or single speed class when it's an option on my Monster Fat & Yo Eddy, both of which are run single speed with the ENO setup. It's fun to be sitting on the line on my rigid SS Fat Chance when everyone else is on a high end late model XC race bike with at least front suspension, most are full suspension, lots of carbon fiber, disc brakes and 27 speeds. Tonight is the 6th and final race in the Laramie series races so I'll bring my own camera to capture some of the sights.

Upchuck, what's up with the flannel jacket, I did not think it got that cold in Southern California...or is it extra protection for the down hill?
 

Butcher

New member
Yo Eddy with Number Plate

Ah...Yo Eddy looks good with a number plate.

This race turned epic, then ugly, then plain scary.

As you can see from this picture the weather was nice...it did not stay that way. The Laramie series races are run on a network of trails that double as cross country ski trails in the winter. Very cool trails with lots of twisting single track, tough climbs and fast technical decending. Each race the course is different so they don't get stale.

Lap one was sweet with perfect temps, but lap 2 of three its starting to sprinkle a bit with some grumbling of thunder coming from a very dark mass of clouds. The rain just kept building in intensity and I'm actually thinking it's kind of cool. That was until the first crack of lightning scares the crap out of me. I actually ducked as if I could make it miss... I had three such close encounters with the lightning on that lap and by the time I was on the final climb to the start finish the trail is running like a stream, about 5-6 inches deep. You could not see roots and stuff under the water so it was testing ones bike handling skills for sure. There was some small hail tossed in just for good measure.

The race was off at this point with the organizer pulling everyone off the course at the start/finish, which also has a warming hut for the skiiers. So at this point people are huddling about and telling there stories of close calls from the lightning or showing off their damaged bodies from the wrecks they took on the crazy trails. They had two small kegs of brew and a grill with burgers so once the rain tappered off a bit we were able to drink, eat and we did the awards and raffle with a lantern in the hut.

Pretty memorable experience, even though the race was ruined.
 

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Kaiser

New member
Ah...Yo Eddy looks good with a number plate.

This race turned epic, then ugly, then plain scary.

As you can see from this picture the weather was nice...it did not stay that way. The Laramie series races are run on a network of trails that double as cross country ski trails in the winter. Very cool trails with lots of twisting single track, tough climbs and fast technical decending. Each race the course is different so they don't get stale.

Lap one was sweet with perfect temps, but lap 2 of three its starting to sprinkle a bit with some grumbling of thunder coming from a very dark mass of clouds. The rain just kept building in intensity and I'm actually thinking it's kind of cool. That was until the first crack of lightning scares the crap out of me. I actually ducked as if I could make it miss... I had three such close encounters with the lightning on that lap and by the time I was on the final climb to the start finish the trail is running like a stream, about 5-6 inches deep. You could not see roots and stuff under the water so it was testing ones bike handling skills for sure. There was some small hail tossed in just for good measure.

The race was off at this point with the organizer pulling everyone off the course at the start/finish, which also has a warming hut for the skiiers. So at this point people are huddling about and telling there stories of close calls from the lightning or showing off their damaged bodies from the wrecks they took on the crazy trails. They had two small kegs of brew and a grill with burgers so once the rain tappered off a bit we were able to drink, eat and we did the awards and raffle with a lantern in the hut.

Pretty memorable experience, even though the race was ruined.


Butcher thats a lovely looking bike, is there a thread or any more pics/spec anywhere?
 

Upchuck

New member
Upchuck, what's up with the flannel jacket, I did not think it got that cold in Southern California...or is it extra protection for the down hill?

Love your race report. Sometimes the worst of conditions bring back the best of memories. I had a similar experience doing a 10 hour race (Dawn to Dusk) in Fountain Hills, AZ in 2006. Started with steady rain and got downright nasty. Flash floods, lightning, hail...ah yes, the memories come "pouring" back.

AFA the flannel, the race is held at ~5000 feet in March. We had the craziest weather on that weekend: Sunshine, light rain, and snow flurries on day one during the DH and short track events. Then overcast, sunshine on day two for the XC race.
 

Butcher

New member
Butcher thats a lovely looking bike, is there a thread or any more pics/spec anywhere?

Check Builder's Corner, last posted to on June 2nd of this year for the run down on the build. Full pictures of the built bike are at the end of the post. I did end up running Avid Ultimate brakes with the Pauls levers as I could not get the Pauls to stop squealing on the front and I ditched the egg beaters in favor of XTR pedals.
 
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