Third Place Threepeat - 2021 Fat Bike Frozen Ididaride

I suppose that there is something to be said about consistency, I'm not sure what you should say about it but it feels like something should be said concerning the matter. Saturday was the 3rd annual Fat Bike Frozen Ididaride out at Pionneers Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.



For three years now I've gotten up way too early to get out to the park to help with setup and to also try to get a chance to pre-ride all or some of the course before the race started. There normally isn't a trail of any sort out there so you just never know where the race is going to go. For three years now it looked like this year might the year where the snow misses us and it's a dry year for the race, only to have it dump on us in the weeks leading up to the event. For three years now team Just Sad Pandas has entered the race... and for three years in a row now, we have taken home the third place hardware. (spoiler alert!)


I'm not complaining mind you, a team could do a lot worse than third. It's also been a well attended, fun event for the last three years and we've always had really good luck with the weather being just cold enough to support the snow without being so cold that it's uncomfortable to be out there for too long. The warm enough temperature was a real blessing this year since we did away with the warming tents and the after race food and beverage due to the Covids. Had Mother Nature not cooperated at least a little bit it could have been miserable being out there racing or waiting for you teammate to finish their lap so you could race yours. January in Nebraska has been good to the Fat Bike Frozen Ididaride. 






Since Lincoln got 15" of snow dump on them the week before the race, the course was cut in half to make it easier to groom since neither Lincoln or Nebraska has an actual snow groomer for making fat bike trails. The shorter laps meant that there weren't a ton of race photos because instead of 30+ minute laps they would be closer to 15 minutes or less and that meant that once Doug took off I only had a few minutes before I needed to get ready and to the switch off area. As usual the hole shot was an important part of the start, the first 100 yards of snow is the deepest and least firm of the whole course year in and year out. Those that get caught in the pack have to not only navigate the softer snow but the carnage that ensues when one or more riders goes down.


I did the second lap and felt like I did pretty good, of course I forgot to start the Wahoo so I will never know for sure the actual lap time. I did however do a second lap after passing off the timing chip so that I could record something for the race and that one ended up being 12:21 so I figure the official lap was around that time, maybe not in the official books since timing is always thrown off a little due to the time it takes to swap the timing chip and what not. Oh well, it was still fun and that is all that really matters and the bonus miles probably didn't really hurt my fitness either.







Good times were had by all, even if it was snowy and cold-ish but isn't that the whole idea of a fat bike race. And Just Sad Pandas successfully defended our third place title for another year.