PRESQUE ISLE — The best summer weather Aroostook County had to offer was on full display last weekend to greet spectators, racers and festival-goers of all ages at the Nordic Heritage Sport Club’s Fat Tire Festival. Two days of biking events kept the more than 150 participants and volunteers at the Nordic Heritage Center entertained and on the move.
Contributed photo/Brent Jepson
Ryan Washington of Caribou competed in the Aug. 1 cross country race during the Nordic Heritage Center’s sixth annual Fat Tire Festival.
Saturday started with a mountain bike biathlon event featuring a division for all ages. In the under 14 air rifle division, Carter Hall of the Southern Maine Biathlon Club took first, while Adam Schwendt took second, and local rider Jason Bartley took third. In the .22 caliber, 14 & older division SMBC athlete Jack Elder was third, teammate Kellan Humphries was second, and Andy Marble of Farmington was first.
Saturday afternoon brought more than 30 riders in the downhill competition, from around Maine and western New Brunswick. Local Caribou resident, and Nordic Heritage Club members Gannon Therrien, Ridge Mortland, and Chad McPherson posted the fastest times in the youth, junior, and adult divisions respectively. Eileen Carey, also of the Nordic Heritage Sport Club posted the fastest female time of the day.
The racers weren’t the only ones busy with bikes at this year’s festival. The Bicycle Coalition of Maine was on hand offering informational sessions and trainings for community members interested in becoming Bike Safety Instructors. Music, games, food and prizes contributed to making Saturday an action-packed day for all, topped off with a pasta dinner and bonfire social that evening. As the sun set, kids continued to turn their pedals through the venue’s terrain park, while conversation around the fire kept spirits high.
Sunday the festival concluded with a cross-country mountain bike race that drew close to fifty competitors, with representation from as far south as Falmouth, and as far north as Quebec, proving that the challenge of the NHC trails is not one to be missed.
In the expert division it was two riders from Edmunston, NB that posted the fastest times of the day.
Patricia Hebert finished her 21-mile race in 2:22:47, while Mathieu Maltais won the men’s division for the second year in a row with a time of 1:43:49.
Contributed photo/Brent Jepson
ALL SMILES – BethAnn Chamberlain of Caribou enjoys her time on the course during the recent Fat Tire Festival.
