Fat & Skinny Tire Festival Brings Out The Young & Old
May 17, 2024 at 1:00 a.m.
Friday was the first time Dean Wolf, 80, Warsaw, took part in the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival Community Critical Mass Ride from Winona Lake to downtown Warsaw.
“I like organized rides and I like to take advantage of each opportunity,” he said, before the hundreds of riders took off. “It’s a nice day and the Lord has blessed me with good health and the ability to do it at 80 years of age, and it’s a celebration to Him, too.”
Nathan Conley and his daughter Ella, almost 10, also were taking part in the mass ride for the first time Friday.
“We went to the fest last year and we were sitting at Mad Anthony’s eating and everybody rode their bikes in, so the kids thought that was cool and they wanted to do it this year,” he said.
Ella, who was riding a pink bike, said they ride their bikes often.
Scott and Michelle Wickens, Winona Lake, rode in the mass ride in an adult-sized two-seater mid-’70s people-powered vehicle (PPV). He said they ride it in events like parades.
“It’s ‘70s technology so it’s getting old and tired and parts aren’t available anymore at this point,” Scott stated. “It’s heavy, it’s definitely not light weight. It’s a little harder to pedal (than a bicycle). It’s obviously more comfortable.”
The mass ride began at Trailhouse Bicycles at The Village at Winona after some short comments from community leaders and event organizers.
Mike Cusick, festival co-director, welcomed everyone to the 19th annual Fat & Skinny Tire Fest and thanked the sponsors, including major sponsors K21 Health Foundation, Zimmer Biomet and Clearly Kosciusko. He recognized the 15-member planning committee who started planning for this year’s festival after the end of last year’s event.
Bicycle Indiana Executive Director Margaret Barawskas (L) speaks at Trailhouse Bicycles in The Village at Winona before the start of the Community Critical Mass Ride from Winona Lake to downtown Warsaw Friday as Fat & Skinny Tire Festival Co-director Mike Cusick (R) listens in. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union“We also want to thank our 330 volunteers plus that we have this year. It’s a new record,” he said.
The record for the Community Critical Mass Ride was 800 people a few years ago. Cusick said he hoped they would get close to that number or exceed it this year.
“One of the things about the Fat & Skinny is that it was started to create awareness of how great bicycles are and the positive impact that they can have on the community. And we have a lot of momentum going in our community now. Currently with our infrastructure that’s going on for bicycles and pedestrians, and also greenways. We have a Ride+Walk Committee who’s very active in driving these initiatives. The city of Warsaw, the town of Winona Lake, County Parks Board. I’m a board member on that and we actually have our first projects started already, and hopefully we’ll start seeing some construction later this year,” Cusick said.
He thanked Bicycle Indiana for the work that they do for the state overall.
Jennifer Stewart, K21 Health Foundation grant manager, said K21 was glad to be a part of the festival. K21 grants funds to nonprofit organizations who promote health and wellness in the community.
“So KCV (Kosciusko County Velo) just totally hits our bullseye in that space, just creating the culture of a healthy lifestyle. So thank you, KCV, for all that you do,” she said.
She then explained that besides the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival, KCV also are advocates “for our biking community for all of you. They do bike education. ... Along with all the trail maintenance that happens for this weekend, they’re in charge of maintaining the trails for the entire year. So your volunteer staff is unbelieveable.”
All the leaders of KCV and the staff for the festival are all volunteers, Stewart noted, and there are no paid staff.
“I just want to commend KCV for the leadership that you guys have done for that. We have been partnering for 15 years,” she said. “... Thanks, KCV, for all that you do for our community.”
Wonder Wheels Cycling provided a stunt show for Fat & Skinny Tire Festival spectators downtown Warsaw Friday evening. They’ll be performing in Winona Lake today. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionWarsaw Mayor Jeff Grose thanked everyone for being there. He said they were a reminder for him that the city needs to do everything it can to be pedestrian and bicycle friendly.
“Not only in the city of Warsaw, but the entire surrounding area, starting here with Winona Lake,” he said. “So thank you very much for the reminder.”
Grose told the riders he hoped they would enjoy the mass ride and the entire weekend. “It’s really exciting to see all of the activity in downtown Warsaw. More to come here tomorrow,” he said.
He was impressed with the festival having more than 300 volunteers.
“The willingness to give back, the willingness to look in the direction of others. So thankful for them and encouraging all of you this weekend and as we head into the summer to be that neighbor that’s serving, loving, caring for other neighbors regardless of station,” Grose stated.
Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach reported the town this past year just completed about a mile trail on CR 250E and Pierceton Road that’s starting to see a lot of use, and they’re continuing to expand the greenways.
He also mentioned other activities going on in Winona Lake over the next couple days, including the Farmers Market at the Miller Sunset Pavilion.
Bicycle Indiana Executive Director Margaret Barawskas, Terre Haute, returned to the festival for the second consecutive year.
She encouraged everyone to follow Bicycle Indiana on social media and stated, “I really hope people are enjoying what I’m doing and kind of exposing all the great things that are going on around the state in cycling.”
Bicycle Indiana is a nonprofit that advocates for bikes, bike safety and education at the legislative level. “But, again, it’s getting people on bikes,” she said.
Cusick concluded the speeches by saying the KCV also sponsors the Winona Lake Trail Fest, which is Sept. 28-29. They have the Tracy’s Trailer education program for third-graders, which they are looking to grow to all the schools in the county in the future. KCV maintains the Winona Lake trails.
“And then the other big initiative that we’ve been talking about is, out at the trails in the new trailhead, we have 15 acres. We’re in phase 1 of our fundraising to build the new bike park. The long-term plan, which should start construction in the next year or two, is to have a pump track, skills line, longer trails working through the new property, as well as some other facilities out there. So we are fundraising for that right now,” Cusick said.
More information on that can be found online at fatandskinnytirefest.com or kcvcycling.org.
While waiting for the ride to start, Barawskas said there were so many things that make the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival unique.
“So, I live in Terre Haute, and when I come up here, it’s, one, it’s super community focused and the infrastructure for cycling and pedestrian and just outdoor recreational activities is just incredible compared to the rest of the state,” she said. “I usually use this as an example of a very community-focused area, but also even Carmel to Fishers, I mean just the infrastructure in certain parts of the state is really neat to watch grow, and Winona Lake and Warsaw is a prime example of hard work, dedication and great community members.”
The Fat & Skinny Tire Festival continues today and Sunday. For more information, including a list of events, visit https://kcvcycling.org/events/fat-skinny-tire-fest/?from=domain
Friday was the first time Dean Wolf, 80, Warsaw, took part in the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival Community Critical Mass Ride from Winona Lake to downtown Warsaw.
“I like organized rides and I like to take advantage of each opportunity,” he said, before the hundreds of riders took off. “It’s a nice day and the Lord has blessed me with good health and the ability to do it at 80 years of age, and it’s a celebration to Him, too.”
Nathan Conley and his daughter Ella, almost 10, also were taking part in the mass ride for the first time Friday.
“We went to the fest last year and we were sitting at Mad Anthony’s eating and everybody rode their bikes in, so the kids thought that was cool and they wanted to do it this year,” he said.
Ella, who was riding a pink bike, said they ride their bikes often.
Scott and Michelle Wickens, Winona Lake, rode in the mass ride in an adult-sized two-seater mid-’70s people-powered vehicle (PPV). He said they ride it in events like parades.
“It’s ‘70s technology so it’s getting old and tired and parts aren’t available anymore at this point,” Scott stated. “It’s heavy, it’s definitely not light weight. It’s a little harder to pedal (than a bicycle). It’s obviously more comfortable.”
The mass ride began at Trailhouse Bicycles at The Village at Winona after some short comments from community leaders and event organizers.
Mike Cusick, festival co-director, welcomed everyone to the 19th annual Fat & Skinny Tire Fest and thanked the sponsors, including major sponsors K21 Health Foundation, Zimmer Biomet and Clearly Kosciusko. He recognized the 15-member planning committee who started planning for this year’s festival after the end of last year’s event.
Bicycle Indiana Executive Director Margaret Barawskas (L) speaks at Trailhouse Bicycles in The Village at Winona before the start of the Community Critical Mass Ride from Winona Lake to downtown Warsaw Friday as Fat & Skinny Tire Festival Co-director Mike Cusick (R) listens in. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union“We also want to thank our 330 volunteers plus that we have this year. It’s a new record,” he said.
The record for the Community Critical Mass Ride was 800 people a few years ago. Cusick said he hoped they would get close to that number or exceed it this year.
“One of the things about the Fat & Skinny is that it was started to create awareness of how great bicycles are and the positive impact that they can have on the community. And we have a lot of momentum going in our community now. Currently with our infrastructure that’s going on for bicycles and pedestrians, and also greenways. We have a Ride+Walk Committee who’s very active in driving these initiatives. The city of Warsaw, the town of Winona Lake, County Parks Board. I’m a board member on that and we actually have our first projects started already, and hopefully we’ll start seeing some construction later this year,” Cusick said.
He thanked Bicycle Indiana for the work that they do for the state overall.
Jennifer Stewart, K21 Health Foundation grant manager, said K21 was glad to be a part of the festival. K21 grants funds to nonprofit organizations who promote health and wellness in the community.
“So KCV (Kosciusko County Velo) just totally hits our bullseye in that space, just creating the culture of a healthy lifestyle. So thank you, KCV, for all that you do,” she said.
She then explained that besides the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival, KCV also are advocates “for our biking community for all of you. They do bike education. ... Along with all the trail maintenance that happens for this weekend, they’re in charge of maintaining the trails for the entire year. So your volunteer staff is unbelieveable.”
All the leaders of KCV and the staff for the festival are all volunteers, Stewart noted, and there are no paid staff.
“I just want to commend KCV for the leadership that you guys have done for that. We have been partnering for 15 years,” she said. “... Thanks, KCV, for all that you do for our community.”
Wonder Wheels Cycling provided a stunt show for Fat & Skinny Tire Festival spectators downtown Warsaw Friday evening. They’ll be performing in Winona Lake today. Photo by David Slone, Times-UnionWarsaw Mayor Jeff Grose thanked everyone for being there. He said they were a reminder for him that the city needs to do everything it can to be pedestrian and bicycle friendly.
“Not only in the city of Warsaw, but the entire surrounding area, starting here with Winona Lake,” he said. “So thank you very much for the reminder.”
Grose told the riders he hoped they would enjoy the mass ride and the entire weekend. “It’s really exciting to see all of the activity in downtown Warsaw. More to come here tomorrow,” he said.
He was impressed with the festival having more than 300 volunteers.
“The willingness to give back, the willingness to look in the direction of others. So thankful for them and encouraging all of you this weekend and as we head into the summer to be that neighbor that’s serving, loving, caring for other neighbors regardless of station,” Grose stated.
Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach reported the town this past year just completed about a mile trail on CR 250E and Pierceton Road that’s starting to see a lot of use, and they’re continuing to expand the greenways.
He also mentioned other activities going on in Winona Lake over the next couple days, including the Farmers Market at the Miller Sunset Pavilion.
Bicycle Indiana Executive Director Margaret Barawskas, Terre Haute, returned to the festival for the second consecutive year.
She encouraged everyone to follow Bicycle Indiana on social media and stated, “I really hope people are enjoying what I’m doing and kind of exposing all the great things that are going on around the state in cycling.”
Bicycle Indiana is a nonprofit that advocates for bikes, bike safety and education at the legislative level. “But, again, it’s getting people on bikes,” she said.
Cusick concluded the speeches by saying the KCV also sponsors the Winona Lake Trail Fest, which is Sept. 28-29. They have the Tracy’s Trailer education program for third-graders, which they are looking to grow to all the schools in the county in the future. KCV maintains the Winona Lake trails.
“And then the other big initiative that we’ve been talking about is, out at the trails in the new trailhead, we have 15 acres. We’re in phase 1 of our fundraising to build the new bike park. The long-term plan, which should start construction in the next year or two, is to have a pump track, skills line, longer trails working through the new property, as well as some other facilities out there. So we are fundraising for that right now,” Cusick said.
More information on that can be found online at fatandskinnytirefest.com or kcvcycling.org.
While waiting for the ride to start, Barawskas said there were so many things that make the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival unique.
“So, I live in Terre Haute, and when I come up here, it’s, one, it’s super community focused and the infrastructure for cycling and pedestrian and just outdoor recreational activities is just incredible compared to the rest of the state,” she said. “I usually use this as an example of a very community-focused area, but also even Carmel to Fishers, I mean just the infrastructure in certain parts of the state is really neat to watch grow, and Winona Lake and Warsaw is a prime example of hard work, dedication and great community members.”
The Fat & Skinny Tire Festival continues today and Sunday. For more information, including a list of events, visit https://kcvcycling.org/events/fat-skinny-tire-fest/?from=domain