BOISE, Idaho - September 21, 2021 - TWENTY24 newcomer Melisa Rollins adds her name to the Chequamegon 40 legends list that includes six-time winner Jenna Rinehart, three-time winner Catherine Wahlberg, two-time winner Lea Davison and notables Susan Haywood, Mary Grigson and Chloe Woodruff. 

 

Beginning in 1983 with only 27 cyclists, Chequamegon has now grown to become one of the more revered off-road MTB festivals in the country with thousands of participants from the nations best UCI mountain bikers to the ‘little loggers’ kids participants. The main event consists of a point-to-point 40 mile off-road race from Main Street Hayward, WI to Lakewoods Resort in Cable. In the mid 80’s mountain bikes were coming into popularity, the American Birkebeiner Ski Trail offered a challenging race course, accommodations and volunteers were plentiful, and it doesn’t get any more beautiful than Northern Wisconsin in mid-September. Life Time recently added the Chequamegon 40 to its roster of stellar events. 

 

“Racing in the North Woods was awesome. It was an honor to trade pulls and attacks in such a dynamic race with Jenna Rinehart, a six-time race winning legend. The race was a two woman show as soon as the neutral zone ended. Jenna put in the first dig at Rosie’s field and I followed. When I looked back, we were all alone. Throughout the majority of the race, we each put in attacks on the grassy rollers, but neither of us managed to make anything stick.” Commented Rollins.  

 

The course description from the rider guide was spot on; A roller coaster conglomeration of glacial features, typified by a rolling succession of 25- and 50-foot climbs. While not a technically demanding course in terms of tricky switchbacks and narrow single-track trails, the Chequamegon Mountain Bike Festival race-courses simply wear you down with the never-ending changes of terrain and surface conditions.

 

“At mile 30 Jenna put in an attack on the iconic fire tower climb, but I closed it down and stayed with her, and the opportunities for breaking away started to diminish.” Said Rollins. “In the final mile as we ramped up to the finish, Jenna made a small mistake, and I was able to capitalize. I pressed forward and managed to hold on to my lead for the win, as a charging Jenna closed down the gap to just 1 second. 

 

Thank you to Chequamegon and Lifetime for such a fun venue and event. 

Until next year, North Woods.”