BONDURANT – Strangers gathered around a makeshift table for awards and giveaways while others wandered into the nearby Ice Bar to drink in refreshments and novelty.

An hour earlier most of the crowd distanced themselves along the course Andrew Zook started grooming from scratch months earlier.

Fat tire bikers from Colorado, Utah, Montana and cities further from Wyoming’s borders, as well as cities within them, competed at the 2020 Borealis World Fat Tire Bike Championships. Typically, the annual race is held in Crested Butte, Colo. That couldn’t happen this year because of Colorado health orders. So the race moved to Pinedale until a week before the race when health concerns from board members threw plans up in the air. Officials at Jackson Fork Ranch volunteered on short notice and hosted the event on Jan. 16.

Like a duck, frantically kicking under the projection of calmness on the water, Zook admitted there were times of adjustments to accommodate visitors, competitors and vendors during the all-day event. After the final awards were handed out, though, he said he couldn’t have been happier with the results.

Zook implemented that trail back in November when he first entered into an agreement with Jackson Fork Ranch. It’s part of an activity course that runs near the neighboring Ice Bar. People can come out to the ranch, scan a QR code with their phone to sign a waiver and pay $20 for a day pass that covers fat tire biking trails, Nordic ski trails and a modest ice rink.

Zook returned to the site for grooming at 4 p.m. the day before the race, cooperating weather froze the groom overnight and near-perfect conditions welcomed riders the morning of the race.

“Andrew’s doing a bang-up job,” Jackson Fork Ranch representative Morgan Fischer said. “He’s worked his ass off to get those trails to where they are. It ain’t easy, especially out here.”

Fischer’s helped make things happen at the ranch. He even made the decision to host the championship races since property owner, prominent businessman Joe Ricketts, was away on a spiritual retreat. Fischer said when his call was finally returned and explained weekend plans Ricketts loved the idea.

He trotted out to the course in the beautiful morning and basked in the environment as it came together throughout the day, having planned for accommodations down to hiring three local kids to direct traffic and parking.

“Nice to have the vendors out here, music playing, we had a decent crowd enough parking,” Fischer said. “It really couldn’t have been better.

There were 71 total riders spread across three different classes and each race went smoothly.

Kelly Biscombe of Jackson finished second in the women’s world championship race while Bondurant native Jolee Springman finished seventh and Pinedale’s Shalesa Harber took eighth. Pinedale’s Caitlin Tan finished third in the women’s sport category, Lander’s Kathy Browning finished sixth and Jackson’s Johanna Love was eighth in that category. Misty Saal of Lander finished fourth in the Vanhelga category.

Russell Wilson of Laramie earned silver in the men’s world championship race and Jamison Peacock of Jackson came in seventh. Stafford Polk of Big Piney finished seventh in the men’s sport category, Darren Davison also of Big Piney came in ninth, Pinedale’s Brian Gray was 11^th, Pinedale’s Chase Harber came in 13^th, Lander’s Studd Pyles finished 16^th and Pinedale’s Scott Miller took 19^th.

Zook said after the race ceremonies that Bondurant will likely host another race next year, even if the Borealis World Fat Tire Championships move back to Crested Butte, Colo.

“It could have been a little cool, would have kept the snow a little bit firmer,” Zook said, “but we couldn’t have wished for anything better.”