Before 60 mph winds and a bit of rain paused Friday evening’s Fat & Skinny Tire Festival activities, 650 bicyclists of all ages took part in the community mass ride from The Village at Winona to downtown Warsaw.
The riders met at the Trailhouse in The Village for the festival’s opening ceremony.
“Thank you for coming out. This is already a great crowd. I can imagine the downtown is going to be great, too,” said Mike Cusick, president of KCV Cycling, the host of the event. “This is our 20th year. Amazing, isn’t it?”

    Mike Cusick (L), president of KCV Cycling, presents Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach with the KCV Cycling President’s Award Friday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Cusick, one of the co-directors of the festival, gave thanks to the other two co-directors, Greg Demopoulos and Nick Hauck, who were already in downtown Warsaw making preparations.
“Being our 20th year, we want to include a huge thank-you out to the founders of KCV and the Fat & Skinny Tire Fest. That includes Greg Demopoulos, Robbie Gast, Alan Alderfer and Jim Lancaster and many others. So their vision started KCV but also the Fat & Skinny Tire Fest,” Cusick said.
While the first festival maybe had three events with about 30 volunteers that were mainly family, Cusick said it’s now expanded to over 20 events and over 325 volunteers. It also brings in over 7,000 spectators and participants. “So we really appreciate the vision of the original founders,” he stated.
They host the festival to increase the awareness of bicycling as a healthy alternative, to advocate for improved infrastructure for bicycling and pedestrians and to support the Ride+Walk Initiatives throughout the county.
Cusick then thanked the 15-person planning committee and the 10-person board of directors. He thanked the sponsors, including title sponsor K21 Health Foundation and presenting sponsors Zimmer Biomet and the Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission (KCCRVC), as well as a record number of other sponsors.
Two life-long friends of the festival who passed away in the past year were recognized by Cusick. Mike Hewitt did the road race scoring since the beginning, and Daniel Holland was a photographer for the event. “We appreciate what they did for the festival and just ask everyone to keep them in their thoughts,” Cusick said.
Lisa O’Neill, K21 board member, talked about the Health Foundation celebrating their 25-year anniversary.

    Winona Lake Town Councilman Jason Zaugg takes part in Friday’s Fat & Skinny Tire Festival Community Mass Ride. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“Since that time, K21 has granted $70 million to nonprofits in Kosciusko County that are focused on health and wellness for its community. As part of celebrating these 25 years, K21 has adopted a new phrase: ‘Wellness for the generations.’ And as I look out at the audience here and I see young kids and all ages represented, that ‘Wellness for the generations’ represents everything that the foundation has accomplished in 25 years and what it’s going to accomplish in the next 25 years.”
Mark Skibowski, KCCRVC president, mentioned the commission has a new logo, which can be found on their website.
“The KCCRVC, what we do is distribute the room tax from anybody staying in hotels. The room tax is collected, and our commission is responsible for granting that,” he said. “We’re happy to support, for many years, the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival.”
The festival also gets a lot of support from the town of Winona Lake and the city of Warsaw. Craig Allebach, Winona Lake town manager, and Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose spoke together about the event.
“This has been a great collaboration between Winona Lake and Warsaw over the years, probably for the total of about that 20 years,” Allebach said. “Start out here tonight, have a great day and evening in Warsaw and then be back here and throughout the county, really, tomorrow and then Sunday, of course, a culmination with races on the island.”

    Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose waves as he participates in the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival Community Mass Ride Friday from The Village at Winona to downtown Warsaw. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Grose asked the crowd of bikers for a round of applause for the 300-plus volunteers over the three days of the festival.
Cusick pointed out that Allebach “tried to retire” or “did retire” as town manager Oct. 31.
“So, as the town is still looking for a replacement, he’s still helping out with everything, and the board and I had a discussion about this. Craig has done such an incredible amount in Winona Lake and advocating and supporting the surrounding cities, we wanted to recognize him with what we call the KCV President’s Award. This is just a huge thank-you to Craig because he’s behind every greenway in Winona Lake, as well, as I said, advocating for around the county. So a big round of applause for Craig,” Cusick said.
Allebach responded, “Thank you very much. It wouldn’t have been possible without you. Thank you for all of your support as we worked through various issues, not only here in Winona Lake, but in Warsaw as far as greenways, trying to extend that out and now even extending that out into the county. We’ve got a lot of great things going on.”
He mentioned the Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board just recently approved a master plan for greenways and blueways “so the future is very bright in Kosciusko County.”
In his last announcement, Cusick said, “As many of you know, for the last few years, we’ve been fundraising for the Winona Lake Bike Park, and our first phase goal was $315,000 that would help us pay for the land and some of the initial planning. So, working with Grace College in the past year, they applied for a grant with the Lilly Endowment for what’s called the Catalyst Corridor, so it’s to support development, from essentially where the trails are, down through Winona Lake and into Warsaw.”

Bill Nitschke’s Wonder Wheels BMX Stunt Show entertained spectators in downtown Warsaw during the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival. They also will perform at The Village at Winona at 12:30 and 4 p.m. Saturday, May 17. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union

Toward the end of the past year, it was announced Grace College won that $27 million College and Community Collaboration grant from Lilly Endowment. From that grant, KCV and the bike park are being awarded just over $1 million to support the bike park.
“It’s exciting news because that means it’s definitely going to happen now,” Cusick stated. “Not that it wouldn’t before, but we’re going to start moving dirt and a lot of site preparation and maybe even building some of the elements this year. The exciting thing is, we’ve already had the grant approval that’s going to allow us to pay off the principle on the mortgage, and then the rest of the remaining money is enough to cover more than half of the remaining construction.”
He encouraged people to stay tuned as they work on their next fundraising goal that will allow them to build the entire bike park. He thanked Grace College and Lilly Endowment.
With an escort by police departments, the bicyclists en masse rode to downtown Warsaw for the BMX stunt show, Main Street Warsaw’s Third Friday events, food trucks, restaurants, live music and the Zimmer Biomet Downtown Criterium.
Between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m., however, the wind picked up speed to an estimated 60 mph, blowing over haystacks, picking up tents and sending portable toilets down the road. There was a double rainbow in the sky and all was calm by shortly after 8 p.m.
For a list of the rest of the weekend’s activities and information on KCV Cycling, visit www.fatandskinnytirefestival.org
The riders met at the Trailhouse in The Village for the festival’s opening ceremony.
“Thank you for coming out. This

    The Zimmer Biomet Downtown Twilight Criterium took place Friday night in Warsaw. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

is a great crowd. I can imagine the downtown is going to be great, too,” said Mike Cusick, president of KCV Cycling, the host of the event. “This is our 20th year. Amazing, isn’t it?”

Cusick, one of the co-directors of the festival, gave thanks to the other two co-directors, Greg Demopoulos and Nick Hauck, who were already in downtown Warsaw making preparations.
“Being our 20th year, we want to include a huge thank-you out to the founders of KCV and the Fat & Skinny Tire Fest. That includes Greg Demopoulos, Robbie Gast, Alan Alderfer and Jim Lancaster and many others. So their vision started KCV but also the Fat & Skinny Tire Fest,” Cusick said.
While the first festival maybe had three events with about 30 volunteers that were mainly family, Cusick said it’s now expanded to over 20 events and over 325 volunteers. It also brings in over 7,000 spectators and participants. “So we really appreciate the vision of the original founders,” he stated.
They host the festival to increase the awareness of bicycling as a healthy alternative, to advocate for improved infrastructure for bicycling and pedestrians and to support the Ride+Walk Initiatives throughout the county.
Cusick then thanked the 15-person planning committee and the 10-person board of directors. He thanked the sponsors, including title sponsor K21 Health Foundation and presenting sponsors Zimmer Biomet and the Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission (KCCRVC), as well as a record number of other sponsors.
Two life-long friends of the festival who passed away in the past year were recognized by Cusick. Mike Hewitt did the road race scoring since the beginning, and Daniel Holland was a photographer for the event. “We appreciate what they did for the festival and just ask everyone to keep them in their thoughts,” Cusick said.
Lisa O’Neill, K21 board member, talked about the Health Foundation celebrating their 25-year anniversary.
“Since that time, K21 has granted $70 million to nonprofits in Kosciusko County that are focused on health and wellness for its community. As part of celebrating these 25 years, K21 has adopted a new phrase: ‘Wellness for the generations.’ And as I look out at the audience here and I see young kids and all ages represented, that ‘Wellness for the generations’ represents everything that the foundation has accomplished in 25 years and what it’s going to accomplish in the next 25 years.”
Mark Skibowski, KCCRVC president, mentioned the commission has a new logo, which can be found on their website.
“The KCCRVC, what we do is distribute the room tax from anybody staying in hotels. The room tax is collected, and our commission is responsible for granting that,” he said. “We’re happy to support, for many years, the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival.”
The festival also gets a lot of support from the town of Winona Lake and the city of Warsaw. Craig Allebach, Winona Lake town manager, and Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose spoke together about the event.
“This has been a great collaboration between Winona Lake and Warsaw over the years, probably for the total of about that 20 years,” Allebach said. “Start out here tonight, have a great day and evening in Warsaw and then be back here and throughout the county, really, tomorrow and then Sunday, of course, a culmination with races on the island.”

    When 60 mph winds blew through downtown Warsaw Friday during the Fat & Skinny Tire Festival and Third Friday, community members helped hold some of the tents down. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

Grose asked the crowd of bikers for a round of applause for the 300-plus volunteers over the three days of the festival.
Cusick pointed out that Allebach “tried to retire” or “did retire” as town manager Oct. 31.
“So, as the town is still looking for a replacement, he’s still helping out with everything, and the board and I had a discussion about this. Craig has done such an incredible amount in Winona Lake and advocating and supporting the surrounding cities, we wanted to recognize him with what we call the KCV President’s Award. This is just a huge thank-you to Craig because he’s behind every greenway in Winona Lake, as well, as I said, advocating for around the county. So a big round of applause for Craig,” Cusick said.
Allebach responded, “Thank you very much. It wouldn’t have been possible without you. Thank you for all of your support as we worked through various issues, not only here in Winona Lake, but in Warsaw as far as greenways, trying to extend that out and now even extending that out into the county. We’ve got a lot of great things going on.”
He mentioned the Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board just recently approved a master plan for greenways and blueways “so the future is very bright in Kosciusko County.”
In his last announcement, Cusick said, “As many of you know, for the last few years, we’ve been fundraising for the Winona Lake Bike Park, and our first phase goal was $315,000 that would help us pay for the land and some of the initial planning. So, working with Grace College in the past year, they applied for a grant with the Lilly Endowment for what’s called the Catalyst Corridor, so it’s to support development, from essentially where the trails are, down through Winona Lake and into Warsaw.”
Toward the end of the past year, it was announced Grace College won that $27 million College and Community Collaboration grant from Lilly Endowment. From that grant, KCV and the bike park are being awarded just over $1 million to support the bike park.
“It’s exciting news because that means it’s definitely going to happen now,” Cusick stated. “Not that it wouldn’t before, but we’re going to start moving dirt and a lot of site preparation and maybe even building some of the elements this year. The exciting thing is, we’ve already had the grant approval that’s going to allow us to pay off the principle on the mortgage, and then the rest of the remaining money is enough to cover more than half of the remaining construction.”
He encouraged people to stay tuned as they work on their next fundraising goal that will allow them to build the entire bike park. He thanked Grace College and Lilly Endowment.
With an escort by police departments, the bicyclists en masse rode to downtown Warsaw for the BMX stunt show, Main Street Warsaw’s Third Friday events, food trucks, restaurants, live music and the Zimmer Biomet Downtown Criterium.
Between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m., however, the wind picked up speed to an estimated 60 mph, blowing over haystacks, picking up tents and sending portable toilets down the road. There was a double rainbow in the sky and all was calm by shortly after 8 p.m.
For a list of the rest of the weekend’s activities and information on KCV Cycling, visit www.fatandskinnytirefestival.org