Full Circle

Words by longtime rider and brand mastermind of the Chequamegon MTB Festival, Derek Wallen

The first time I did Chequamegon was in the fall of 1989, I was ten years old. My dad talked me into doing the “Short & Fat” race with him and 16 miles didn’t seem too bad. He had raced the full Chequamegon 40 with a buddy in ‘87 and ‘88 and also competed in the American Birkebeiner ski race. Both my Mom and Dad did their first Birkie in 1977 and were forever enchanted by the silent-sports mecca of the Hayward and Cable area. I was excited to race and fully embraced the look — complete with that year’s race shirt, homemade spandex, coke-bottle specs and riding a fully rigid aqua Cannondale. I was ready.

In typical Cheq fashion, it had rained a lot the night before. I remember giant mud puddles at the base of every downhill. Charging through them was pure, muddy fun. One of my most vivid memories was stopping at food stations along the way and shoving donut holes and bananas in my mouth to power up before the next stop. Food never tasted so good. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was experiencing my first (and definitely not last) “bonk.” Nonetheless, I pulled it together, wiped the mud from my lenses and finished the 16 miles to a cheering crowd on the hills of the then Telemark resort.

As grueling as it was, it became the starting point of my love affair with endorphins and endurance sports. I went on to swim in college, race triathlons and eventually, ski the Birkie myself. I always had my eye on returning to Chequamegon, but for various reasons never made it.

I went to college for art and design and graduated with a BFA from UWEC. I first worked in Chicago and then at a design agency in Minneapolis. In 2015 I applied for a senior design position at Life Time. I was excited to work for a company that embraced the intersection of sports and art, along with discovering that Chequamegon was one of their premier athletic events.

In 2016, as a Life Time employee, I finally competed in my first full Cheq 40. Being part of the grand rollout down Mainstreet, then diving into the legendary Chequamegon National forest was epic. The relatively short 40 miles translates to breakneck speed over hills, through rutted double-track and around lakes. The gut punch when you realize there’s more to climb on Fire Tower is real. And hanging on the slip-stream of a train down a gravel road was exhilarating. I was hooked.

In 2018 Peter Spencer, Cheq race director, decided it was time to rebrand the iconic event. My stars aligned to be the lead creative at Life Time working on the project. Peter’s vision for a “festival in the north woods” combined with the rich history dating back to ‘83 and infamous climbs along the course set the direction. The real magic of Cheq is recanted in the racer’s experiences and stories. We developed new visuals for the brand that imbued those stories and highlighted the cultural lore surrounding Chequamegon. Paired with color cues from fall foliage the rebrand became a visual tapestry of bespoke graphic patterns, seen in everything from swag to post-race festivities.

It’s been truly special to see my work at Chequamegon and share it with my kids and family. My parents are now full-time residents of the Cable area, so it’s the perfect time to get together and enjoy September in north woods. My two older boys have done the Little Loggers race in the past and my youngest will do it this year. I’m still working on getting them to do the Short & Fat with me, but they’ll come around.