Triple F Results – and the winner is…

Photo of Frozen 40 open champion Jeff Colbert by RideFatbikes.com

In our last post, we hit a few of the highlights of the exciting and successful 1st year of the Fatbike Frozen Forty (Triple F).  The post ended with unanswered questions (leaving you, our dear reader, in suspense for today’s post).  The questions were:

• who won the Frozen 40 open class?; and
• who won the King of the Tiple F?

We’ll answer those two questions below.

The Fatbike Frozen Forty Open class was filled with strong and fast riders, fighting until the very end to complete 4 laps of ten miles in the fastest time.  While lead changes occurred throughout the laps, in the final lap it became a horse race between Dave Hoglund and Jeff Colbert.  In the end, Jeff Colbert came out on top, completing the 40-mile Triple F course with a 1st place victory in 3 hours, 52 minutes, 5 seconds.

The second place finisher was Dave Hoglund, rushing through the final stretch of 40 miles just over 2 minutes later.  His final time came in at 3 hours, 54 minutes 23 seconds.

Photo of Frozen 40 2nd place finish Dave Hoglund by RideFatbikes.com

Just over two minutes later, CJ Smith finished the Frozen 40 in 3rd place (at 3 hours, 56 minutes, 54 seconds) .  Fourth place was cinched by Jeff Young, who finished in 4 hours and 38 seconds.

Photo of Frozen40 open class 3rd place finisher CJ Smith by RideFatbikes.com

In all, a total of 19 riders completed a full forty miles of the Fatbike Frozen Forty in the individual open class.  That is an accomplishment in and of itself, regardless of finish time.  Some riders finished less than forty miles due to mechanical failure, personal choice, or desire to get right to the beer and grill-out part of the event!   Two riders were left potentially stranded by equipment malfiunctions.  One rider had an internally-geared hub fail, leaving him with a singlespeed (by accident, rather than desire).  He was fortunate to get back into the race with a Moonlander demo, courtesy of our sponsor Trailhead Cycling and Fitness.  Another rider found himself with a brake problem, only to find Maple Grove Cycling’s mechanic team tuning him up and getting him back into the event in a hurry.  Our sponsors helped keep riders on course.

It’s worth noting that we had something of a fatbike endurance athlete celebrity in our midst at the Triple F.  Erv Berglund, has a contagious smile and enthusiasm, determination and a fun-seeking attitude that few can match.   He completed the rigorous/daunting Arrowhead 135 ultra endurance fatbike race this year (2012), becoming the eldest member of the fatbike community to complete such an endurance challenge.   When he finished his third and final lap at the Frozen 40, he took time to look around and smell the roses.  He chatted with other racers and spectators, and wasn’t bashful about the fact that the secret to his good health is that he keeps pedaling.  We should all be so lucky.

How about the King of the Triple F?

King of the Triple F CJ with Triple F organizer Brad

For those who don’t already know, King of the Triple F was awarded to the racer who logged the most laps on the frozen singletrack trail at Elm Creek Park, in the 6-hour race time. The winner received a pair of Husker Du tires donated by Triple F spnosor, 45Nrth.  Since we’re writing this race report on the night of the Academy Awards, the appropriate way to introduce the King of the Triple F is in the form of the Oscars.  And the winner is…

CJ Smith!  CJ finished 3rd in the Frozen 40 Open Division, with a time of 3 hours, 56 minutes.  He then went on to complete a fifth lap, pushing past exhaustion, to complete a full 50 miles on frozen singletrack trail.  By doing so, CJ logged more miles than any racer on the course, and earned himself the title “King of the Triple F“!  Congratulations to CJ for showing that sometimes it pays to push past the hurt.

We also had three teams enter the Fatbike Frozen Forty.  For those who are not interested in riding 40 miles on a fatbike on frozen singletrack (or if you don’t have your own fatbike), remember in future years that you can form a If others are looking for their own personal results, they can email us directly.

Giving credit where credit is due.

We’ve said it several times and we’ll say it many more.  While the Fatbike Frozen Forty was conceived and designed by

Headline sponsor of the Triple F - Twenty2 Cycles

Brad Boyd and implemented by his company, Ride Enterprises, LLC, it would not have come together so successfully without the early and tremendous support of Twenty2 Cycles (a company that designs and handcrafts USA-built fatbikes in titanium and steel from their headquarters in Vail, CO).  Twenty2 Cycles and Ben Welnak were the first sponsor to collaborate with Brad in getting the Fatbike Frozen 40 off the ground, and played an instrumental role in the event, with Todd and Ben travelling from CO for the pre-race meeting and event itself.  Thanks guys, you’re the best!

Fatbike Frozen 40 sponsor Trailhead Cycling (photo credit: RideFatbikes.com)

It’s all important to credit our other sponsors (all of whom can be found on the event website, Frozen40.com).  Trailhead Cycling and Fitness went through tremendous effort to have staff and support ready and able to help with prerace set-up, grill-out for racers, supporters, and volunteers, creating an enclosed and heated registration and warm-up tent, donating a generous array of prizes and give-aways, and more.  We appreciate everything they did to help this go smoothly.

Similarly, Maple Grove Cyclingsupported our event through pre-event planning discussions, mechanical support on the day of the event, a grill-out, pre-race marketing and promotion, prizes and music that kept the event atmosphere upbeat during the race.

Fatbike Frozen 40 sponsor Maple Grove Cycling (Photo credit: RideFatbikes.com)

We also had many other sponsors in a somewhat less visible role, that deserve to be recognized.  Without Surly Brewing and Peace Coffee, our pre-race and post-race beverage consumption would surely have been less exciting.  Without 45Nrth, we would not have had the amazing Husker Du tire give-away for “King of the Triple F” and we would be missing some of the amazing professional photos taken by David.

Without BarMitts XXCMag.com, and Cognition Caps our swag and prizes would have been far less exciting and complete.  Without PreRace.com our preregistration system would have been far less efficient.  And without Adam Turman, our event flyer/poster would have been much less dramatic and amazing.  Thank you to all of our generous sponsors.

Photo credit: 45Nrth (45Nrth was a 2012 Triple F sponsor)

Finally, without the racers, an event is purely an interesting concept, lots of hard work, promotion, investment and a venue ready for an event.  Until racers register, show up, and race, an event is simply a possibility.   Every event organizer likes to see an event come together successfully, and for that we need participation, enthusiasm, and help spreading the word if people enjoyed the event we put on.  Thanks for showing up, thanks for your support, and please spread the word!

We plan to soon have a large series of awesome photos on this site, showcasing some of the memorable highlights of the Triple F.  If you have photos you’d like to display, contact us and maybe we can include them here or on FatbikeGallery.com.  A special thank you to David from 45Nrth for spectacular event photos he took while attending the Triple F as a sponsor.  We hope to share his photos with you here.

It’s on!

Photo credit: RideFatbikes.com

Fatbike Frozen Forty update 2-23-12.  We’re on.  Barring some unforseen change in circumstances, it appears the Frozen 40 will occur as planned at Elm Creek Park.  All the details, maps, and most of the info you can envision needing can be found at Frozen40.com.  I’ll be thanking our generous and wonderful sponsors many times over, but I can’t say enough positive things about: Twenty2 Cycles, Trailhead Cycling and Fitness, Maple Grove Cycling, Surly Brewing, Peace Coffee, Bar Mitts, XXCMag, PreRace, Cognition Caps, Braaap Energy, 45Nrth, and Adam Turman.  Thank you all!   Also, a special thank you goes out to our gracious venue/trail host, Elm Creek Park.

Over 20 riders are registered currently, with more anticipated to sign up.  Remember, this is fatbike only.  Ride your fatbike, ride your friend’s fatbike, form a fatbike team, or rent a fatbike.  That’s all that’s allowed at this event.  4 laps of 10 miles will make for a 40-mile event.  Do them all if you can, or ride 1, 2, or 3 laps – it’s up to you.

Bring water and any trail energy snacks you need, but we’ll have other food/snacks, a TON of prizes & give-away items, a grill, a heated tent, mechanical support, awesome demo bikes (including handbuilt Twenty2 Cycles “Bully”) to see and try, and loads of fatbike fun.  Plus, Trailhead Cycling and Fitness will be having a huge open house soirée at their shop in Champlin (very close to the event venue).  Stop by and tell them hi and thank them for their involvement.  http://trailheadcyclingandfitness.com/

At $20 for pre-registered riders ($15 per team member) the price is great when you see what this event has to offer.  Wait until last minute and you’ll be paying $30 (still a good value).  Pre-register here: http://www.prerace.com/races/event/31789/Fat-Bike-Frozen-Forty—Triple-F—Edina-MN-Cycling

See you Saturday.  Stay tuned to this page or the event site (Frozen40.com) and Twitter (@RideFatbikes) for the latest announcements, news and posts from the race.

Fatbike Frozen 40 Announcement

For everyone riding or sponsoring the Fatbike Frozen 40, we plan to contact you in the next couple days regarding a possible trail/venue change for next Saturday’s Frozen 40 event.  Either way, we are still on, and we will still begin registration at 8am and first wave of ride at 9am.  However, we might not be at Elm Creek Park in Maple Grove.

While the Elm Creek Park singletrack is a wonderful place for our event, the trail is currently closed, due to unseasonably warm weather.  While they suggested that there might be a possible alternate trail/option, nothing will be known or confirmed until just days before the event.  This is neither desirable nor predictable, but welcome to a crazy winter in MN.  Many great MN events have been rearranged or cancelled due to weather.

We’re working on an alternate/contingency plan venue.  Originally, our contingency plan was at Elm Creek, but all of their trails have some limitations that may make our event unwelcome at Elm Creek.  our contingency venue might be every bit as exciting and fun as Elm Creek, and will be sure to have its own points of interest.  If you’ve already registered or were thinking of registering, you’re still in for a great event; just be flexible and please be prepared to join us at a different site on Saturday morning (alternate venue will also be in Twin Cities metro area and no more than 30 miles away from Elm Creek).

So, stay tuned here on RideFatbikes.com for more updates/info.  We’ll also update you with new info at Twitter (follow @RideFatbikes) and will try to keep Frozen40.com updated as well.   Sorry for the last minute changes, but Mother Nature dealt us a wildcard this year.  With great sponsors and prizes, and a fun day of riding, this is still a can’t-miss fatbike event.

~ Ride Enterprises, LLC