Racing
Fallen Trees & the Great Bear Chase
March 11, 2002 - By Greg Worsnop

Had an interesting weekend trying to do the Bear Chase...

Got up early Saturday to check on my flight, and lo and behold it was cancelled from Kazoo to the Twin Cities. Looked on-line and decided, hell I can drive and still get there in a reasonable time. Hopped in the trusty jeep and off I went. Drive was uneventful with windy conditions through Chicago and up to Green Bay. After Green Bay and the loss of divided highway it was foggier than a mother, but still decent roads. Temps in the 30's until I got about 60 miles from Houghton where it dropped into the teens and started to snow and blow. Arrived in Houghton by 1:00 pm (my original arrival time by plane) and conditions were blizzard like. Checked in the to Hotel and drove to Calumet to pick up my bib and check out the start area. The Bear Scat was in progress at the Swedetown trails with the young kids skiing in windy snowy conditions. They make those kids tough in the UP. Conditions continued to deteriorate through the rest of the day and night with 40 mph winds, cold temps, and snow. The spaghetti feed in Calumet was highlighted by the entertainment. Accordion music and spoons by an old yooper.

Saturday morning dawned with 30 MPH winds 45 mph gusts, 10 degree temps and blowing snow (wind chill is a figment of weather peoples' imagination). Its a good thing this is a winter sport or it would have been a son of a gun to ski. Got to the start about 7:45 only to be informed by some Grand Rapids guys that the race was cancelled do to trees down on the course. After a brief bout of profanity it was time to strap on the skis and see for ourselves. The course was wind blown snow alternating between crusty, snow, pine needles, and 3 trees across the course with 4 or 5 more that they had already moved off the course in an attempt to clear the course for the race. We were off at the leisurely pace picking our way around the trees on the course, but actually other than going into the howling gale, not a bad ski or trail conditions until some yoopers came upon us at a discussion break (you know the type "they coulda done it", "what were they thinking") and complained about us clogging the trail. We let them by and continued on. About 1k later they were blocking the trail in a similar manner and Smigiel Jr. complained to them. They took off and proceeded to hammer for about 4k at just below my race pace (it never pays to piss off a Yooper). Bundled up as I was, I began to sweat profusely and was glad the end of the loop appeared. After that it was in the car and off to home for another 9 hr drive home.

To sum up the weekend: 2 days, 1200 miles, 20 hours behind the wheel, one spaghetti feed with fine entertainment and 25k on snow. Gotta love this sport. Next weekend it is off to the Gold Rush for one more race.