Organizers of this year’s 20th annual Fat Tire Festival are thrilled with the success of the four-day event, which included a prize and multiple races atop Morning Mountain in Blewett, calling it the “smoothest to date”.
“I’ve been organizing this festival for five years, and I’ve never had so much fun,” said Jessica DeMars.
Especially popular this year were the jump jam and pump track races on Thursday night, which DeMars said “everyone was stoked about”. There was a well-attended parade on Friday and races for mountain bikers of all age groups over the course of the weekend.
“The highlight for me personally was Sunday, which went off without a hitch. I had a smile on my face all the way through it,” said DeMars.
“We couldn’t have pulled this off without our volunteers, and we had lots of people stepping up last minute to be like ‘I can help’. They would notice we were scrambling and just step in.”
She’s hugely appreciative.
DeMars said they hosted groups from all over the continent, including some from Maine. There were 96 kids involved in the children’s events and over 70 participants in both their downhill and their cross-country races.
“Last year ended up being crazy because we were so busy, but this year it seemed like we had the perfect number,” said DeMars.
For more information and results visit nelsonfattire.com.
Four-year-old Tristan Cutts ripped down the trails on Morning Mountain.
Tom Atkins mixed business and pleasure attire.
Ben Eaton and his daughter Sasha rode the trails together.
Jakob Steele and his stepdad Mike Seniuk celebrated their gold medal finish.
Kristian, Ryan and Nicholas Bowen enjoyed facepaint during the festivities.
