Midwest MTB Racing Preview
It has been a spring to remember (or one to forget) depending on your perspective. Snow falling as late as last week extended an incredible 2013 ski season that will go down in the history books. Personally it was awesome being able to ski on such good conditions so late into April. But what might of been even more fun, was the handful of mornings the crust was hard enough to ride the fatbike on conditions only possible a few weeks of the year. The adventure factor was high and the fun factor even higher.
The cold and wet spring has made for a very slow start to the mountain bike season and a delay in both Minnesota and Wisconsin series racing. A handful of of trails in the Midwest are starting to open up and the racing season is slowly getting rolling. Like every season, the Decorah time trials provided some early season racing with Iowa staying dry for their last weekend in April event with good conditioned trails for those seeking an early season racing fix. (Check out the report from Devin Curran) This first report will look at the Minnesota and Wisconsin series as well as a couple mountain bike related items to note.
Minnesota Series
The May 5th Buck Hill Birch Bump - Race #1 in the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series was cancelled due to the extremely wet Spring but rescheduled to June 30th. This will make for a busy month of June with three races on the slate. The series will open up over in Wisconsin with the St. Croix Woolly which was the last race in the series last year. Organizers have reported the course is 90% good to go as of Tuesday and hope to have the entire course open for pre-riding this weekend before the series opener on the 19th. After having two key races off the schedule, the popular race at Hillside in Elk River and Afton Avalance at Afton Alps, Afton is back on the schedule for a climbing fest on 28th of July. One new item to note is the addition of a fat bike class in the Sport class. Series organizers report "we are adding an “Open” Fat Bike race. Tires must be a minimum of 3.8 inches. With the growing number of fat bikes, we believe there is enough interest to add this race." The series will conclude in St Cloud at the Jail trail and the Singletrack escape.
Wisconsin Series
The snowy and cold spring forced changes to two races in the Wisconsin Off Road Series as WORS series director Don Edberg reports: Due to the unseasonal temperatures and April snow storms WORS has been forced to postpone the first two events of the 2013 Series. The Iola Bump & Jump has been moved from its original May 5th date to May 19th. On April 20th they were still skiing at Iola, but the 10 day forecast displays more seasonal conditions for the upcoming weekend. The Crystal Lake Classic scheduled for May 19th has been tentatively scheduled for May 26th weather permitting. The Crystal Lake event is held at the Camp Tesomas Boy Scout camp and can only be held prior to the start of scouting activities at the camp. A final determination on it will be made on May 9th. Once again the big Subaru Cup will make stop at Nordic Mountain just outside Wautoma, WI. The Pro XCT draws the top riders in North America and has been one of the favorite stops among the pro racers.
Skills Clinics
Numerous skills clinics are offered throughout the summer and the Loppet organization is offering a women's only clinic led by long time mountain biker and former Breck Nordic ski coach Beckie Alexander. The three-week session focuses on teaching skills to help rid the trails with confidence. Sessions will include how to choose and ride a good line, skills for descending confidently and smooth cornering, tips on how to ride over small natural obstacles, basic bike maintenance (how to change a tire, and fix a broken chain) and much more. The series is designed for any woman that is looking to ride more and independently on the local trails – basic fitness is recommended
High School Racing
WIN Cycling, a new effort to establish mountain biking clubs in Wisconsin schools, is backed by the Wisconsin Off Road Series, the country's largest statewide mountain biking race series.
WIN Cycling is a nonprofit organization that will provide leadership, coaching, training, volunteer fund raising and development assistance for student mountain bike clubs. WORS will support WIN Cycling organizationally and financially, according to a WORS press release.
The goal of WIN Cycling is have 12 to 15 clubs established in 2014 and offer a four-race series that year. The first WIN State Championship race would be held in 2015.
More information on the WIN cycling website.
This comes on the heels of the very successful first year in the Minnesota High School Cycling League which is set for another great year of providing mountain bike racing for high school students and providing a nice feeder for future series racers.
Future Trails
The expansion of trails in the Midwest continue to grow and we will be updating the latest information on future trails to be built in the Midwest including the Duluth Traverse. This weekend there will be a gala with all proceeds go to fund projects related to construction of the Duluth Traverse
Also this weekend
Looking Ahead
Hillside Park in Elk River is once again holding a short notice 5th annual Spring Fling race this weekend. The event will be a very low-key, relaxed race. Rich Omdahl reports: "No big cash purses, no $500 swag items to be given away, just a race, for racers, by racers. Of course even non-racer types are welcome, as always. In fact, this will be the perfect event for the non-racer types. Zero pressure and just a bunch of other really fun people to hang out with that share the same interests. Even if you don't want to race, just come and ride the trail at your own pace." Registration begins at 10am with racing action starting at 11am.
If you have any information regarding mountain bike events, please feel free to pass along to [email protected] or [email protected] and we will be sure to include in future reports. Once the season gets rolling we will be looking ahead to upcoming races and any updates to the key events to the key events during the season.
Keep the wheels moving!
 | About the author... Jay Richards maintains a very active lifestyle. He somehow finds time between managing a full-time resort (Maplelag) and bringing up a family of four boys with his wife Jonell, to compete in both mountain bike and a few cross-country ski races. Jay rides for Maplelag Resort, manages the Maplelag/Paramount mountain bike team and enters his 22nd year of racing and promoting mountain bike races. |