CALUMET - Thousands of people lined Fifth Street in Calumet on March 4, 2011, for the start of the second annual CopperDog 150 sled dog race. Many returned on March 6 for the race's exciting conclusion, but for all intents and purposes, with a snow road in place, downtown Calumet turned into a ghost town on the Saturday in between - something organizers plan to change this year.
This year, the race runs March 2 to 4, just 41 days away, and as mushers work their way from Eagle Harbor to Copper Harbor on March 3, another event will take over downtown Calumet to take advantage of the snow road: the Red Jacket Cyclotron Fat Bike Criterium, a snow bike race.
"In our first year, we made the mistake of putting in a snow road and then leaving it empty all day Saturday. Big oops! A local business owner nicknamed our event the 'Ghost Town 150,'" second-year CopperDog race director Todd Brassard said. "Thing is, he was absolutely right. We realized that if we're going to block regular traffic with a snow road, we need to do something with it."
Enter: the Red Jacket Cyclotron.
"Todd was looking for something to do with the snow road on Saturday and because snow bike racing is catching on in the U.P., I suggested a bike race," said Pat Szubielak, a CopperDog 150 volunteer, Swedetown trail groomer and biking enthusiast.
Brassard took Szubielak's suggestion and in November he got in touch with Chris Schmidt, another local avid biker racer with experience in organizing bike races.
"After discussing it, pitching the idea to other cyclists, and getting the OK from the CopperDog 150 board and Calumet city council, we decided to give it a go," Schmidt said.
The Cyclotron will actually involve three racing events between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., with an awards ceremony following.
Race day registration will run from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Cross Country Sports in downtown Calumet with a 10:45 pre-race meeting, followed by three snow bike criterium races at 11 a.m. for 'B' men's class, 11:25 for women and 11:50 for 'A' men's class.
The Criterium is a lap race, and the bikes used in the event feature 4-inch snow tires with low air pressure under 10 psi.
"Riding or racing on snow is a completely different experience than riding on pavement or dirt trails," Schmidt said. "The soft tires float on the snow, but the speed is reduced greatly by the increased resistance rolling resistance and heavier bikes. Everyone is in the same boat though, so speed is relative."
"Four Cross" sprint races will take place at 12:15, 12:40 and 1:05 p.m., with the same three classes in the same order. At 1:30, the "Atomsmasher Mountain Bike Criterium" will give racers with regular mountain bike tires a chance to tackle the snow road.
The racing will conclude with "Miss & Out" races - where the last person across the line on each lap is eliminated until one biker remains - at 1:55 and 2:30 p.m. for women and men, respectively.
"Snow bikes have really taken off this year. There's a good sized community of winter bikers in the Keweenaw and an even larger scene in Marquette," Schmidt said. "We're hoping to attract racers from the U.P., northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. Our goal is a fun, safe event that's a draw for competitors and
spectators alike."
Eventually, Schmidt hopes to turn the event into an all-day winter bike festival, but for this year he hopes it will fit in nicely with the CopperDog 150 and its mission of community vitality, while serving as a nice addition to the snow biking race season. There are three other snow bike races this year: the 15k Low Pressure Loppet on Feb. 4 on the Michigan Tech trails in conjunction with the Keweenaw Nordic Festival, the Tri Winter Cup on Feb. 25 sponsored by the Copper Harbor Trails Club, and the Great Bear Chase Snow Bike Race and Midwest Snow Bike Championships put on by the Red Jacket Cycling Team on March 11.
"I hope we get 20 or more riders for the race for the first year - the sport is new and growing," Szubielak added. "We are planning to do a pre-ride of the Bear Chase Snow Bike Race course at Swedetown the night of the Cyclotron."
For more information on the Cyclotron, visit rjcyclotron.com and bikethekeweenaw.com. For more information on or to volunteer for the CopperDog 150, visit copperdog150.com.