Midwest MTB Racing Recap

by Jay Richards
July 19, 2011

This weeks report includes a recap of the US MTB Championships, reports from the Telemark mountain bike race and Mon Du Lac and the look ahead which includes a couple of events out west.


National Championships

The Place

Last weekend Jake and I made the trip west to the Sun Valley area for the USA Cycling MTB National Championships. The trip out was uneventful (always a good thing) with a stop along the way to open up the legs near Miles City on an abandoned road which was highlighted by Jake "penning" some cattle on his bike and nearly stepping on a big snake.

The first time I was in the Sun Valley area was the summer of 1992 when I competed in the Galena Grinder up on Galena pass, a popular area among Nordic skiers in the wintertime for the fantastic kicking and gliding. It was my first "real" mountain bike race in the mountains and a huge accomplishment just to finish, racing on a 30 mile loop that include the most incredible terrain and riding conditions, on a old school classic rigid 26.

The return back this year found the mountains and area just as beautiful and textbook mountain weather but growth in the towns of Ketchum and Hailey (the place we stayed). The hospitality among the locals was second to none and everyone was eager and pleasant to share their favorite places to ride on the astonishing 435 miles of continuous singletrack woven along the valley. The vibe among the riders was it was one of the best venues with the proximity of the racing to the town of Ketchum and Hailey and everything connected by a bike path which was always loaded with bikers. In fact, there were bikers with all kinds of bikes EVERYWHERE! Both communities are designated "bike friendly communities" and it took a while to make the adjustment of always having the right of way at intersections riding in town and everyone waving and smiling as if they were paid to do it.

The highlight in the town of Hailey was stopping in a few times at the Powerhouse restaurant for some great eats which also serves as a bike shop and general "place of action" for everything bikes, in the area. Even though the dig was getting set for an evening event, owner Billy Olson took the time to share some stories and explain his influence from Midwest legend Gene Oberpriller of OneOnOne in Minneapolis. I picked up a copy of the Sun Valley Guide which featured Olson and was pleased to find online the article link.

The Courses

The original plan for the racing action was for the course to be held at one of the local's favorite riding places north of Ketchum but the area wasn't conducive to large numbers so the venue was switched to Mount Baldy at the Sun Valley ski area. I bumped in to Kelli Lusk, National Events director, and she said the organizers did a great job doing the best they could with available trails and working hard to make new ones to provide a UCI course for the Pro and Cat 1 juniors. The amateur racers competed on a larger loop with not such a intense steep climb off the start like the pro course.

Personally I thought the set up was great. There was a little bit of grumpling among riders of the steepness and continuous nature of the climb but as far as spectating, it was fantastic for watching riders multiple of times in one spot including a steep rock drop, boulder gardens and fast flowing switchbacks. We pre-rode the course Thursday afternoon and just riding easy (in a under rationed gear) I hit 191 heartrate near the top of the climb! It was worth it though as the descent back down was a fast, not too technical flow of pumpy switchbacks and tricky tight turns with loose dirt, dust and rocks, on the switchbacks.

The short track course didn't feature much climbing but was always great racing with a 3-4 minute loop having riders race all out for 17-25 minutes. The Super D course was one of the longest I have seen at a National and done right, time trial style format with interval starts.

The Racing

The Midwest representation wasn't as large this year as past Nationals even though the overall numbers were up among all classes but still some solid results being posted with the large EXPO team waving the flag nicely. Thursday podium finishers include Emily Shull in fourth place in Cat 2 15-18 female. Friday I caught the U23 and Cat 1 Jr 15-16 and 17-18 races. The fields were some of the largest they have been in years. The highlight of the day was Jack Hinkens riding an impressive 2nd place in the U23 race. Jack rode a conservative start eventually working his way up to the second spot, riding steady and smooth among a stacked field. It was a great result for Jack as he has worked hard to put his mark on international mountain bike racing hitting up venues around the world.

Saturday cross country racing continued with Category racing. Midwest based podium finishes in these races include Cedarburg, WI native, Gregg Krieger, a student at Colorado State, placing second in the Cat 1 19-29. Minnesota native Adam Leiferman based now out of Casper, WY took 2nd in Cat 1 25-29 and was followed by Tyler Gauthier of Ishpeming, MI in third. In the Master division 60-64 which included all categories, Lake Elmo and Mr. Fast Wax, Dan Meyer recorded a 4th place to land on the podium. Nice job to all Midwest riders competing on courses not found in the Midwest and managing the elevation.

With no racing on Saturday for Jake, we went to the mountains near Hailey to check out some of the trails. Not looking for anything too technical or taxing, we had a spin on the Deer Creek forest road than took a right up Panther creek trail which presented some nice climbing and brought us up in to some great vistas after 20-30 minutes of riding. Of course, the ride back down was awesome and a dip in the nearby Big Wood river capped off a great morning.

Back up to the venue to catch the Pro men, which was cheered on by some of the largest crowds I have ever seen at a National, Sam Schultz led the charge up the mountain as Todd Wells worked his way up to defend his title. Midwest riders of interest we cheered extra loud for were TJ Woodruff and Chris Peariso as well as Nordic skiing stud, Tad Elliot. Post race we caught up with all three riders and each rider summed up their race. Elliot was totally stocked of his solid place, "podium would of been winning lottery ticket but super, super happy with 6th place. Man, I am so throttled but it was sweet" Woodruff, who placed 15th last year was hoping for similar and improving on that result but settled for an impressive 23rd place, explained; "I definitely rode steady but I just didn't have that little extra to move up near the end like I was hoping". The tireless Chris Peariso, busy helping his Adventure 212 riders throughout the weekend, exclaimed "dude, I've never come apart in a race like I did today, I went for it and that's how it goes sometimes".

Sunday changed gears with Super D action starting off the day early at 8am. If you are unfamiliar with Super D, this event was introduced 5-6 years ago as a downhill intended to race with cross country bike. Most courses include some climbing and not quite so intense downhill racing with big hits and crazy drops, typical in downhill racing. The bikes have changed in recent years with the "all mountain" bike the ride of choice for these courses.

I rode up with Jake to ride the course before the Pros started off the day. Jake accompanied me up the climb portion of the race which took about 7-8 minutes, bringing us up near the top of Mt Baldy. As Jake made his way back to the start, I continued on enjoying some incredible downhill riding on singletrack, and super crazy fast doubletrack.There wasn't anything super scary other than topping out close to 40 on the access roads. I was more afraid of flatting since I was running the tubulars, having forgotten the wheelset for downhill riding. Anyways, took me around 28 minutes to get to the bottom with a few stops, as the ever friendly Adam Craig, who has become the Super D king with multiple national wins, scorched the course in under 20 minutes, one of only three riders to do so.

Midwest placings in the Super D include Peter Karinen of Painesdale, MI 10th in Jr 18 and under followed by Jake Richards in 15th and Riley Kopiskey 45th, among the strong 50+ rider field including shredders mostly from the mountain states. Greg Krieger got the honor to put on the stars and stripes, taking the Cat 1/2/3 19-29 division. Cross country podium finisher Elizabeth Shull recorded a 6th place in Jr 18 and under female.

Next on the racing plate was the exciting short track racing. The scariest moment on the weekend occurred in the opening Cat 1 women race when a rider crashed hard on the flyover. After changing the course to NOT include this feature, racing resumed with rattled nerves. Sara Agena rode strong to place seventh in the opening race with Nina Karinen from Painsdale, MI in 20th. Junior men 18 and under were up next with Jake and Myles Beach (Larsen, WI) having a nice battle at the end with Jake just nipping Myles for 16th. Peter Karinen followed in 19th and Brett Poulton from Lake Forest, IL in 30th. In Cat 1, 19-29, Tyler Gauthier of Ishpeming endured the hurricane of pain for second and Greg Krieger also landed on the podium in fourth. Ryan Voss of Waterford WI, took 12th Tyler Jenema from Marquette, MI 7th, and Daniel Gerow of Grosse Poite, MI in 15th in the same class.
In the Pro Men, Jack Hinkens used a third row call up to fight his way to a solid 20th place finish. Chris Peariso recorded 41st.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. Definitely have to say this was one of the best venues, if not the best, for National Championships. The towns of Ketchum and Hailey really threw down the red carpet making everyone feel so welcome and the locals on the slopes were always quick to introduce themselves and share word. In addition to the USA Cycling National Championship events, the Sun Valley bike festival hosted a fat tire crit (criterium with slicks on the mountain bikes) Thursday night and also had the Idaho state pump track championships on the nearby pump track Saturday night which we also checked out. Sun Valley will once again host next year and in conversation with Lusk, plans are already in the works to mellow out the climb and make changes and additions to all courses.


US Nationals Results

Telemark Mountain Bike Festival

With the Midwest starting to fire up this current heat wave over the weekend, conditions were extra challenging for riders in Birkieland. Aaron Sturgis provides the recap from Telemark:

"Saturday I ventured up to Telemark for the new Telemark Forest race. This is the third of the ‘Three Season Endurance” race (Birkie ski race and the Birkie trail run being the other two) and being the first year for it I didn’t know what to expect. I must say it was a great sight seeing Telemark open for business and rollerskiers buzzing around Telemark.

55 riders informally toed the start line ready to race 46k or 24k. The 46k race did three laps that consisted of Chequamegon Fat Tire course (backwards), Short and Fat race course, and some ski trails mixed in. Right at the start they had us climbing up Mt. Telemark and riding the Fat Tire course backwards. For me, any climbing start is tough but Saturdays was especially tough because of the heat.

The first lap was calm. Six riders (Sam Oftedahl, Tom Meyer, Tim Swift, Peter Coenen, Robert Edman, and myself) got off the front and built a sizeable gap on the rest of the riders. Sam took his share of pulls but nothing that separated us.

By the second lap, Sam put in a decent effort on the climb and by the time we hit the ski trail section Sam, Tom, and Peter gapped us and kept the pace up. From there on out I was trying to keep pace with Tim Swift and eventually had to let off the gas a bit because I could feel the heat taking its toll.

Lap three was alone time for me. I just worked on keeping consistent pedal strokes on the gravel roads and keeping my bike upright on the rocky ski trail sections. Sam took the first Telemark Forest title followed by Peter and then Tom on his single speed.

The race is a perfect primer for the upcoming events in August. The CXC crew put on a great “first” race and I was surprised by the turnout. The BBQ and beverages were an added plus following the race! Rumor has it that next years race could potentially utilize more ski trails and be one 46k loop. But none-the-less, another great day and another great ride in and around the Telemark area."

Results


Minnesota Mountain Bike Series- Mon Du Lac

Fresh from a trip out west, Denny Barry provides the recap from Duluth and the Mon Du Lac Dirt Spanker Classic.

Sunburn report from The Spanker:  Blessings come in various ways. Unless you like heat, humidity and energy sucking wet trails with squishy red clay, you were very lucky to miss the entertainment!  I don't do well with heat so from the first climb until the back wheel crossed the finish line the fun was out of the bag -- the party was on survive mode and the sweat was in my eyes. I wasn't anywhere near muscle fatigued, or any other type of worn down, just hot, hot and more hot . It was on par with summer pre-season two-a-days at Winona State. I was 212 on the first day and would end up around 195 the next day. Biking, however, doesn't require bruising others and having them follow the golden rule.

My friend and riding partner Todd also isn't fond of 99.9 % humidity. He started in the wave in front of me.  By mid-first lap I was greeting him on a few tightly woven trails.  By mid-second he was toast and I was almost toast. He hung on my back wheel for 3/4's of a lap, quickly we realized that both of us moving at 1.4 mph had no drafting advantage, but the conversation was good and with no breeze under my helmet, hearing was solid and easy. Tossing in the towel after the second big climb was on the discussion list as well as talk of ice cream and air conditioners.

I had dinner with in-laws on Saturday. Brats and spicy potato salad have been proven to be NOT the best pre-race dinner. Second lap had me fertilizing the woods. Good thing the medical team didn't spot or hear that activity, they would of taken my bike away, thinking I was too hot.  But that may have been a gooooood thing, maybe even a blessing.
The mudfest last year was my best overall finish ever so I'm already thinking about 2012 and googling cloud seeding options.

Results

Looking Ahead

Alterra Coffee Bean Classic: WORS racing action resumes with the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic  in Franklin, WI at the Crystal Ridge ski area. A burning switchback climb, dizzying single track, and fast fire roads all in the urban setting of Milwaukee County. The Alterra Mountain Bike Team proudly presents a true mountain bike race, states race organizers as the challenging five to six-mile lap snakes its way up, down and around the Crystal Ridge Ski Area.

Although we don't normally preview races outside the Midwest, a couple of races to note taking place this weekend just in case anyone is traveling out west and isn't aware of and/or is ready to take a break from the sauna conditions in the Midwest and enjoy the dry and cool morning air in the mountains.

Galena Grinder: Like I mentioned in the Nationals report, the Galena Grinder was my first "out west" mountain bike race in 1992. It was truly my first "epic" race as the goal was just to finish and say I completed 30 miles of sweet mountain bike riding on a hardtail coming from "flatland". I bumped into the organizers at Sun Valley who were promoting the race old school, walking around handing out flyers to as many people as possible. Awesome! Although there is a Pro XCT race in Missoula, MT this weekend as well, this is definitely a race to put on the bucket list for the future. Would make for a nice end of trip after spending a week in the Sun Valley area to check out the incredible network of mountain bike trails.

Fat Tire Frenzy:  Red Lodge, MT. is one of my favorite mountain towns and the low key ski area is hosting the Fat Tire Frenzy which has seen riders from the Midwest participate in years past.
In addition to the cross country there is the super fun Super D race on Saturday. Sunday is downhill action. For us, Red Lodge is almost the same distance as heading to the UP and the sweet mountain air is pulling me hard during the crazy heat knowing there is skiable snow up on the Beartooth pass 30 miles from Red Lodge. Again, another race/event to put on the bucket list combined with a week of riding for the future.

Keep The Wheels Moving!!