Midwest MTB Racing Report
Hard to believe this is the week of Chequamegon! The weather as of late has had it feeling more like August but here we are in mid September and getting in to the later parts of another fantastic mountain bike season. A few folks have made the transition to cross racing but still plenty of great mountain bike racing on tap with the mighty Chequamegon this weekend and a few more series races in Wisconsin and Minnesota plus the high school mountain bike season running until late October. This weeks report includes a recap from the Sawtooth Challenge, a recap from the first Minnesota High School race and a look at the fat tire festival in northwest Wisconsin with an inside look with one of the favorites in the men's 40 race.
Sawtooth Challenge
Minnesota track star Andew Kruse who begin his cycling career with a good amount of mountain bike racing before turning his efforts to the track and finding great success, jumped back in to a mountain bike race, heading up to the north shore to partake in the Sawtooth Challenge. Andy's recap:
The 2013 Sawtooth Challenge was for sure a fun event. It was my first time back with the fat tire crowd, so you'll have to forgive my lack of knowledge on the event's history or the names that were there.
Seemed to be about 50 or 60 total participants with a good-sized delegation (20-25) from Canuckistan. Event staging and rollout from downtown Grand Marais at the boat launch was a fun touch. Rolling everyone out together (regardless of racing category) made it feel like a really fun "fat tire family" atmosphere. The race is a fundraiser for their trail building efforts - they have more planned for Pincushion as well as at another trailhead near Tofte.
The initial climb was pretty significant, maybe a mile and a half or two miles of steady grade up to the Pincushion Mountain area, where the expert class did 3 laps, sport 2 laps, and beginners 1 lap, of the mostly-singletrack trail system there. The initial section of trail we hit was a newly cut section of trail, really ripping fast but pretty rocky (compared to what I'm used to in the cities). From there, a brief stream crossing (which caused some issues with the expert race) and an eventual transition to an older section of trail which was quite rooty/rocky and I'm sure I lost loads of time there, due to my bike choice (full rigid 29er). Coming out of that section was a stairstepping climg and a ripping downhill next to a creek, and some ski trail to close out the loop back to the nordic stadium area.
The expert class race had some confusion, with a trio of guys missing a turn immediately after the stream crossing and inadvertently cutting the course. They were given a time penalty, and their adjusted times reincorporated into the results. Josh Gillingham (who was the only person I recognized at the race) ended up taking home the win amongst the expert guys.
Great event, they even had brats & dogs on the grill and some other snacks laid out at the finish.
If I had to do it again - I might have made sure I had suspension of some sort, at least front. At one point near the start of the second lap I took a few seconds to let some pressure out of my tires, which helped out a lot, for sure. I would definitely recommend anyone to check out the trail if in town.
Minnesota High School Cycling League Race #1 Recap
Official Minnesota High School Cycling League Press Release:
On Sun. Sept. 9, Salem Hills was once again the location for the first race of the MN High School Cycling League and the start of another exciting Fall Season of high school mountain bike racing. Over 300 racers poured in from all parts of Minnesota (Duluth, Crosby-Ironton, Rochester and cities all over the Twin Cities) - the Salem Hills Parking lot was overflowing with 26 team tents!
In Varsity Boys, two new racers to the MN League battled for the top spots. Josey Weik from Duluth Composite team took the Leaders place with seconds to spare in front of Lucas Hieb from Osseo Area Comosite team. Returning racer Rochester Composite Sean O'Donnell took the third slot.
Varsity Girls had newcomer Camille Sjoquist from Apple Valley High School battling returning Season Champion Jordan Horner from Burnsville High School for the top spot. Jordan took the win today with Camille taking second. Claire Ommen from Rochester Composite came in third.
Other close finishes: JV Boys - Sam Hedlund from Washburn Composite beat Erik Brekke from Eastview High School to the finish by 7 seconds! Van Carlson from Apple Valley High School took third. Sophomore Boys - Jake Binkowski took the first spot with 25 seconds to spare in front of Cullen Brode from Washburn Composite. Branden Eisma from Prior Lake High School finished a minute behind in third place.
"Thanks to the help of our staff, volunteers and coaches," said Race Director Gary Sjoquist. "Great weather, strong support from the parents and coaches, and heroic efforts by the student athletes made for an epic day of mountain bike racing in Minnesota. "
WORS Recap
The WORS Report with Todd Nutter checks in after Treadfest, WORS race #10. Also expect top WORS racers Brian Matter and Nathan Guerra to check in to give updates on their racing.
Looking Ahead
The big Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival runs in Hayward and Cable Wisconsin this weekend as nearly 3000 riders take on the hills and forest challenges of the Chequamegon National Forest. Entering its 31st year, now presented by Life Time Fitness, the weekend features main events: the Fat Tire 40 and the 16 mile Short and Fat. Sunday Funday events wrap up the weekend in between the Rough Stuff Poker Ride and the Cable Crit Cross.
Every season I look forward to previewing the top 20 riders or so in the 40 but I just didn't have the time to work that up this year. Like always, it will be an exciting race at the front which has become the Brian Matter show in the male 40 race. Probably the most interesting element to the race this year is the "return" of Jeff Hall to the race scene the later parts of the season. Jeff has posted some solid results and even broke the course record at the Seeley Pre-Fat race back in August. I talked to Jeff during the Laddies Loppet weekend about mountain biking and the Chequamegon, getting the run down on how he got back in to racing and his approach to Chequamegon.
Jeff wasn't planning on racing Chequamegon until approached by Gary Crandall at Pre-Fat who offered him a complimentary entry. Hall stated he got back into racing this year "just for the fun of it" with the bulk of his training occurring on his daily commute to work. Jeff is riding a Foundry frame (to be distributed by QBP) and was rolling a 650b set up at Laddie's Loppet en route to three second place finishes. At the time we talked, Jeff wasn't sure if he would be running the same bike or a 29er version but leaning more towards the 29er.
Another rider to mention that didn't make the Chequamegon list of favorites is Tristan Schouten. He took the win in convincing fashion this past weekend, a minute and a half over Matter and is a rider due one day for a win like TJ Woodruff.
In the female 40 race, a good three way battle should be on tap with Jenna Rinehart, Sara Kylander-Johnson and Chloe Woodruff. Rinehart has had a lighter load of racing this year and might have the freshest legs but faces the race saviness from Woodruff and Kylander-Johnson, including impressive results from Woodruff not only on the National scene but World Cup level. Kylander-Johnson has dominated the local scene.
Have a great race everyone!
 | 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 23rd year of racing and promoting mountain bike races. |