Midwest MTB Racing Report
Another busy weekend of mountain bike racing in the books with series racing taking place in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. First hand reports from the Minnesota and North Dakota races, a few mountain bike related items to note and the look ahead as summer starts to wind down and kids get ready to go back to school!
Bike Duluth Festival
The Voyageurs Revenge mountain bike race, which was race #7 in the Minnesota Mountain Bike series was also the final event in the Bike Duluth Festival. In addition to the cross country race, the Festival featured enduro, downhill and mountain bike demo and events in and around Duluth at the vast growing mountain bike trail system on the west side of Gitchi Gummi.
My son Jake who is living, working and training in Duluth this summer as he gets set for his junior year at St Scholastica, raced in the Enduro race on Saturday and sent a report:
Saturday marked the first day of the first ever Bike Duluth Festival weekend. The day started at Spirit mountain for an exciting enduro race...Living in Duluth, I have been lucky enough to ride the sweet new trails at Spirit mountain, and also race the local enduro series. The bike duluth festival enduro had 3 stages, each stage taking about 4min for the leaders. At 9am, 70 riders made the climb up Spirit for the first stage. The first stage was held on "Candy Land", which is a fast, flowy, pumpy trail. I personally thought Candy Land was the hardest stage because it was full on pumping and sprinting all the way down and left your legs burning at the finish. After that stage I got a chance to recover spinning back to the top of the mountain and talking about the previous stage with Scott Kylander-Johnson and Ryan Davis. The second stage was held on some older, raw singletrack, which featured a big rock garden near the bottom. The third stage was held on Blaster and Smorgasbord. Blaster is a very technical, rocky downhill, and Smorgasbord is another flowy downhill with some gnarly rock sections, bridge drops, and table tops. Growing up riding the trails at Maplelag and hitting the dirt jump track every night has certainly helped me in the enduro racing scene. I am pumped to race more enduro races in the future and hope more start popping up in the midwest.
(Photo: Bike Duluth Facebook)
Sunday I made the trip over to Duluth to compete in the Minnesota Mountain Bike series race, Voyageurs Revenge, which was race #7 in the Minnesota Series.
On the way over, I drove through pouring rain for about 1.5hrs of the 3.5hr trip and wondered if the rain would make its way east to the race course. The water was pooling up on the depressed tire track sections causing my car to "hydroplane" and I had to slow down to keep from drifting off the road! This adjustment made for a slight delay in getting to the race venue where Jake was eagerly waiting my arrival to get registered and get a quick pre-ride in.
After registering, we did quick pre-ride checking out the start and climbing up the pavement climb before inspecting the first section of singletrack. Coming in to the race, I had high expectations after reading and seeing glowing reports about the fresh machine built flow trail. During the pre-ride I was definitely "blown away" by the artistic nature of the trail which was perfectly built with big sweeping berms and bridges laced in between. On the way down we went back agains the "flow" (no pun intended) and Jake made a comment about being able to pass riders on singletrack going in opposite directions. We took the high line and the riders we met took the low line.
(Photo: Hansi Johnson)
We made our way to the start line for the Elite race which was set to be interesting with a quick grassy start immediately going to singletrack before the pavement climb to the flowy stuff. Since it was my first race of the year and I wasn't sure where my race fitness was at even though it has been an awesome summer of riding, I started near the back. I was just happy to finally be able to toe the line and race on some fun trails.
At the sound of go, the field scrambled to the singletrack where things quickly bottlenecked. It was relatively short and the pavement offered riders to bust a gut to move up or pace with the speed of the pack. Before we got to the top, I put in a small effort to get around a few riders. Once on the Aaron Rodgers bmx built like track, I settled in with a few riders I would ride most of the race. The riders included Jeff Colbert, Nikolai Anikin and Ross Frabroni.
Not much changed the duration of the race as Jeff and I took turns pulling each other through with Jeff riding quite nicely on the last section back to the start/finish area. This was my favorite section as the final drop before the pavement featured a twisty sandy loamy section that was frothy like the perfect dry cappuccino! The berms and switchbacks built on the steep slope were like nothing I have seen before. What an incredible amount of work! Quick thoughts running through my head were how mountain biking trails have changed so much!
After finishing and getting the run down from Jake and a few other riders in front of me, Scott Kylander-Johnson asked if we were up for a ride back to the top to check out some fall line singletrack, just one small section of many "secret" areas he and the locals ride. We were a bit gassed but Scott was eager as all get out and can't turn down the opportunity to ride sweet track so Jeff, Jake, Scott and I spun to the top. We stopped on the ridge to take in the view and check out a massive slump from the flood in June of 2013. Pointed the wheels down and before we knew it, we were back on the pavement just like that. Quick hitting rush of riding on some tight old school singletrack!
Despite finishing last, Sport rider Denny Barry had a fun time and shares his experience from race day:
The pre-ride on Saturday seemed to be psi perfect; so why mess with perfect?
The first 1/3 of the race on Sunday had little burping noises coming from rear tire, with no air pump attached to my bike , the solution was to ride it in a more upright position to stop the tire slop . This was totally against the laws of nature , they call it a race ,not a ride, getting passed by many riders caused this shift in philosophy. The new strategy then became -it'll hold enough air until I get back to the S/F line and find a CO2 cartridge handily sitting in a seat bag on an unsupervised bike or something along those lines. So I picked up the speed , and attempted to bridge the gap on the blue tape marked bridge, the gap that the blue tape marked letting you know the bridge ended at a poor angle creating that gap : everyone riding saw it and knows which one - that bridge, the one where I heard this loud burp and felt the solid wheel rolling on the bridge and not the rear tire ,the tire which also helps make braking a much easier dynamic than using a crushed tire on a solid wheel . I saw blue tape with wide open eyes and also a few times in my dreams last night.
After a long ways of using shoes and pushing bike , I found that CO cartridge , but had some foggy sunglass , fumbling with the gloves on fun time putting air into the tire . I mostly seemed to have put it other places than into the tire . Away I go on soft tire again ; this time my goal was finish have fun and stay out of the way of the upfront riders about to lap me . The front two came flying by , one responds to my question how far back is the next rider? ( top riders always seem know gaps ,spacing and positioning) He's says it a good gap . I see Ben Olson through the trees far enough behind and a big enough gap for me to get back on the trail to finish my first lap , Ben's a good friend, he won't get too mad if he runs me over and besides it was his birthday !
(Photo: Todd Bauer)
I did get to experience the thrill of being 3rd overall in Sport Class , people were cheering , cowbells ringing kids clapping , general noise of excitement, there's much more commotion going on up front at the finish line than when I usually finish. I had to disappoint the crowd and slide through the finish line , not in 3rd place but onward to start my second lap . A unique experience riding alone, and internalizing the joy of riding , smiling and thanking the course workers for encouraging me to continue on and finish onto the glory of deadlast !
Fun has many definitions for those of us that race the MNMTBSERIES and other races We understand that on so many levels . Today is my birthday , being 65 and being blessed to share the friendship of so many fellow racers is the real bonus !
Bike Duluth Festival Facebook Page
Voyageurs Revenge Results
Scarlet Knights Scramble WORS #8
Todd Nutter reports: Just because Cross Country Nationals are over doesn’t mean the competition quits in Wisconsin. The faithful and energetic racers and fans of the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) proved this on Sunday as the series continued in Mount Morris, WI. The newly renamed, Scarlet Knights Scramble, took place at Nordic Mountain, former site of the Subaru Cup Pro XCT Event. The USA Cycling Pro XCT tour utilized a new venue in Cambridge, WI for the WORS hosted pro events, dubbed the WORS Cup, prior to XC Nationals. But WORS regulars never lost their love for the spectator friendly and rider challenging trails at Nordic Mountain. The venue continues to be a mainstay on the WORS series calendar and drew a crowd this past weekend. (Read Todd's full recap)
(Photos: WORS)
Gear Grinder DORCS Race #3
One of the longest running races in North Dakota, the Gear Grinder, hit up the twentysomething version at Pipestem day for a honest day of "grinding". Grinder was the exactly that! 2.5 hrs of Steep climbs, leg cramping, and good times. Wenzel and I headed over for the day. It was better attended than in years past. Not my strength, but always fun to ride a bike. stated Tom Heilman.
Steve Wenzel files a report:
The 3rd of 4 races in the Dakota Offroad Series, the Gear Grinder was held Sunday at Pipestem Creek north of Jamestown. This race originally started by Dean Vetter and Russ Schmeichel back in the 90's is still going strong under the guidance of the Jamestown Park District.
4 inches of rain fell over night in Jamestown but the race was still on. Racing for all skill levels utilizing the grass trails in around the ridges of the Pipestem Reservoir followed by the Russ Schmeichel influenced switch backs and climbs of the Pipestem "bowl". The expert race was 29 miles of bombing down steep ridges followed by an immediate climb right back up. Nothing too technical but paying attention to gear selection and rocks is required throughout the loop.
For me, the majority of the race was spent riding alone, looking for others to reel in or make sure they stayed back. Long day in the saddle, but there are only 52 Sundays a year - for sure worth the time required to get to an event and race, plus it is a beautiful part of ND.
Thanks to all involved that helped pull off the annual Gear Grinder. Next year, same time and place - if you're in the area, check it out.
Dakota Off Road Cyclists Series
Shredding with Griffin
This week I had an opportunity to ride with a individual new to racing that happened to be in the area and wanted to hook up at Maplelag. Griffin Myslivecek is in his only second season of racing having a great year in the Comp class. Griffin was eager to make a splash last season but broke his leg early on in the year riding off a bridge at Cuyuna during the Cuyuna Mountain Bike Festival. Once recovered, he spent the off season putting in long miles on the fat bike on snowmobile trails near his current place of residency in Grand Rapids, MN. Our ride challenged the skill set with the rocks and roots slippery made by lingering fog and dew from the previous days rain shower. I made a comment to Griffin I was quite impressed with his handling skills for only being in to the sport for a few years. I asked him what his background was as I suspected it might of been one with bmx or moto cross. Griffin hesitated before sharing his story. To keep a long story short and without going in to detail, Griiffin explained his addiction to drugs and alcohol during his younger years. Bottom line it was an amazing ride seeing the energy and positive vibe from this fine young man and how mountain biking has transformed his life and his natural ability on a mountain bike.
The Closet Thing To Flying
Like most people, I was saddened to hear the passing of actor comedian Robin Williams. The movie Aladdin is my all time favorite animated movie. The voice of Williams in the Genie was simply awesome. The Wall Street Journal did a nice article on Williams and his relationship with Italian frame builder Dario Pegoretti. My favorite part of the article is when Williams is asked why he loved riding a bicycle so much and the author states: "I'll always remember his answer, because it was wonderful and true. He said it was the closest you can get to flying."
Looking Ahead
Another busy weekend on tap as WORS and DORCS goes back to back and the popular Seeley Pre Fat provides a nice opportunity for riders to get tuned up for the mighty Chequemegon. Also a look ahead to some rescheduled races events later this fall.
Marathon format of racing to continues to flourish in Suamico, WI at the Reforestation Ramble held at the Brown County Reforestation Camp. WORS continues to offer a variety of different courses to keep the racing fresh, the Ramble is definitely a bit different than the rest with longer laps containing a nice mix of single track, double track…..and the energy zapping rolling hills that have become a must have feature of the Reforestation Ramble.
The final race in the Dakota Series continues east jumping across the river to hit up the flowing trail in MB Johnson Park. Local riders have done a nice job creating a fast flowing loop along the shores and banks of the Red River. With rain in the forecast every day, organizers are telling riders to be aware of possible date change as rain would not suit the course well.
The Seeley Lions hosts its popular point to point race in the Chequemgon land featuring 10, 15 and 25 mile races plus a kids race. The course is a mix of forest roads and some singletrack in the mix for the Expert race. Always well attended for folks looking to fine tune before the Chequemegon and the Saturday race day makes it possible to race on Sunday or check out the area CAMBA trails.
Menacing 40 Mountain Bike Race Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve
Do you have the endurance and mental fortitude to battle 40 miles of single track? Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve in Savage, MN will be hosting a race on Saturday, September 6, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.Compete individually or in teams of up to four riders. Each Menacing 40 consists of four 10-mile loops. Awards, door prizes, and good times to follow each race. Sponsored by Maple Grove Cycling and Freewheel Bike.
Noah Michelson reports: "Everyone's favorite race of the year", The Deer Fly Chase is back for its 4th year!
We are in the midst of preparing for the Deer Fly Chase on SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27. So mark your calendars and plan to race or assist!! From humble beginnings, this is quickly gaining popularity and is a must on many racers calendars. The course will be epic and cover some outstanding terrain, a mix of gravel roads, ski trails and singletrack (new singletrack every year, that's our promise to you). The open class has two race distances: Long course, 28 miles , Short course, 17 miles. New this year: High School race, 17 miles, Middle School race, 9 miles! And discounted entry fee of just $10.
For those familiar with the area, key route highlights are: Rolling paced start on blacktop from Dog Island; the race will start with the Rattlesnake hill equalizer climb; rolling dirt roads offer plenty of fast riding; balanced with technical singletrack and ski trails for passing; a long gravel climb on Deer Fly Trail will further separate the contenders; fast open ski trail finish near Dog Island.
Other unbelievable highlights include: $25 pre-registration, sponsored food and Fat Tire beer to all finishers (ages 21+), prizes and awards to top finishers.
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/Podiumwear mountain bike team and enters his 24th year of racing and promoting mountain bike races. |