The close of the Giro Competition brings about the WorldTour events that come to define June at Speed of Light. First up, it’s Fat Bike Night. June 9 is good for 20 points for the win, -1 points through the rest of the top twenty, and anyone on tires 3.8″ or more can take home double their points total. After the times and performances of spring, the wide tires could be an interesting change of pace, and not necessarily a slower one.

As we saw last year, the fastest times on fat bike night were within 30 seconds of the fastest times posted all season long, and there were slower winning times on three occasions. The big tires don’t equal slow, and with more and more fast riders owning or completely adopting to fat bikes, expect to see the times right on normal pace.

One measuring stick is recent birthday boy Jon Throop, who has been aboard his Bearclaw Bicycle Co. Balthazar and posted times consistently sniffing the 40 minute mark. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him faster this week if he can hold the tail of the front group over the opening salvo of climbs. If his teammate, Ryan Kennedy, can make it on his own fat bike, we should see some very quick times.

A team likely to relax its reign, at least in part, is M22. They’ll be focused on the M22 Challenge this weekend, and there’s certainly a bit of pressure in the team to perform well there. As is tradition, the slowest athlete on the team at M22 is stripped naked, tarred and feathered, and ultimately drummed out of Glen Arbor, with the local population encouraged to throw fecal matter on the disgraced rider. That person’s name is never spoken again.

With so many fast riders, it’s hard to pick a favorite for Fat Bike Night, but Kennedy, Craig Webb, Jason Johnson and Marc Brunette all have the horsepower to feature in any finale. But, hey, it’s the TART fundraiser at Red Mesa after SOL, so maybe we are ALL winners?

Don’t forget, miniSOL starts June 16 for kids under 16 that can ride about 6 miles and have fun. Helmets required. It’s also Singlespeed Night June 16, followed by Cyclocross Night and the KEEN Cook-Out on June 23. The last WorldTour of June is Ladies’ Night.